When a heifer calves, she’s hopefully worth at least as much as when she was a bred heifer — and probably retains that value for at least a couple of years.

Flipping cow depreciation on its head

Costs of Production: Open cows have a huge effect — especially when they are two-year-olds

I am keenly interested in cow depreciation and in fact have written about it in past Grainews columns. It is one of the largest direct expenses on a cow-calf operation — usually only behind feed — and it is worth touching on again in the wake of current record-high prices. First as a reminder, Figure […] Read more


feedlot strathmore alberta

Feeder cattle prices should remain at historical highs in 2025

The Markets: Heifer retention is expected this year in both Canada and the U.S.

At the time of writing this article in the latter half of December, U.S. and Canadian feeder cattle prices were trading at or near historical highs. I’ve received many inquiries from cattle producers regarding the price outlook for feeder cattle in 2025. The benchmark for the western Canadian feeder market is central Alberta. During December […] Read more






Gregory and his mare, Reba, go around the cows as we round them up to sort their calves off to take to market or take home for weaning.

Good weather holds through harvest

Eppich News: Wandering cows and calves made rounding them up a challengee

On Sept. 30, Gregory drove John and Barb to Saskatoon because Barb was experiencing severe pain in her side. She’s had trouble with her gall bladder for quite a while, but this time it was too much. She was supposed to have emergency surgery that day but ended up being pushed off until the next […] Read more