The beef house was built with a central feed alley where silage is fed on both sides so the cattle in holding pens can reach through and eat.

New beef house for finishing cattle

In a part of the world that receives 30 to 40 inches of rain per year, it’s common practice to finish beef cattle indoors

A young farmer and agricultural contractor in Northern Ireland has built a high-tech livestock house in which to finish beef cattle, with emphasis on safety. With so many farm accidents with livestock these days, when James Kennedy, 27, needed a new beef house, he decided it must be safe to work in and last his […] Read more



(JBSs.infoinvest.com.br)

JBS to help fund home purchases for Brooks staff

Company offering zero-interest loans for down payments

One of the biggest beef packers operating in Canada is pledging $1.7 million for a one-year pilot program to help employees buy or upgrade homes. JBS Foods Canada, which operates Brazilian meat packer JBS’s plant at Brooks, Alta., on Tuesday announced the launch of what it calls the “Homebuyer Dream Fund,” providing zero-interest loans to […] Read more

Employees walk around with face masks at the JBS USA meat packing plant at Greeley, Colorado on April 14, 2020. (File photo: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)

JBS reaches ‘icebreaker’ settlement of beef price-fixing claims

Reuters — JBS has agreed to pay US$52.5 million to settle litigation accusing meatpacking companies of conspiring to limit supply in the $63 billion-a-year U.S. beef market in order to inflate prices and boost profit. The preliminary settlement by the Brazilian company and its U.S. units with so-called direct purchasers was disclosed on Tuesday, and […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder market establishes short-term stability

Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle traded $2-$4 on either side of unchanged. Steady demand was noted on 800-plus-pound cattle, but calves and lighter weights experienced softer buying interest. Favourable weather and optimal pen conditions along with firmer live cattle futures supported the yearling market. Imports of U.S. corn continue to run 10-14 […] Read more

The sole purpose of these cold winter-feeding strategies is to increase the plane of nutrition to help the cowherd cope with frigid weather and to maintain vitality and optimum body condition.

Cold-weather feeding strategies help overwinter beef cows

Cattle acclimatize themselves by eating more to increase their metabolic rate

After New Year’s, I was driving just south of the Trans-Canada Highway in southern Manitoba and noticed a 100-cow beef herd swath-grazing just along the fence line. Most of these cows were in good body shape, despite it being -25 C and a 25 kph wind (-40 C windchill) on open prairie. I could only […] Read more


Photo: iStock/Getty Images.

Transport strains pile on drought-induced feed shortages

Importing U.S. corn not cheap

Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian farmers say they are just days away from running out of feed for cattle, due to severe drought last summer damaging crops needed to fatten them over winter and transportation bottlenecks. The drought devastated Prairie pastures and has now forced feedlots in Alberta, the main cattle-producing province, to buy more […] Read more

CME February 2022 lean hogs (candlesticks) with 20- and 100-day moving averages (pink and black lines) and CME cash lean hog index (dark red line). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hog slaughter hits five-month low on Omicron spread

CME hogs up, cattle down

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures rose on bargain buying on Wednesday, traders said, though U.S. pig slaughtering sank to its lowest level since August as rising cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant hit meat plants. Live cattle and feeder cattle futures slumped as traders remain concerned that the highly contagious […] Read more


A microscope-level view of damaged brain tissue from a cow infected with BSE. (USDA photo via U.S. Food and Drug Administration)

‘Atypical’ BSE shows up in Alberta cow

Spontaneous case won't affect Canada's 'negligible risk' status, CFIA says

Updated –– Canada’s first case of BSE since the country achieved “negligible risk” status for the brain-wasting cattle disease isn’t expected to affect trade in Canadian beef. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Friday it has notified the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) of a case of “atypical” bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in an […] Read more

File photo outside Cargill’s beef slaughter and packing plant at High River, Alta. on May 6, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Todd Korol)

Cargill beef plant workers to vote on new negotiated offer

High River workers otherwise headed for strike or lockout Monday

Workers at Cargill’s major beef slaughter and packing plant in Alberta will vote this week on a new offer which it’s hoped will avert a strike or lockout, both due to start Monday. The new offer follows a “marathon” of negotiations Tuesday between Cargill representatives and the bargaining committee for United Food and Commercial Workers […] Read more