A climate change activist plays a violin in New York City’s Times Square as Manhattan is shrouded in haze and smoke which drifted south from wildfires in Canada, on June 7, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Maye-E Wong)

International help rolls in to fight unyielding Canadian wildfires

Almost 80 of Quebec's fires currently out of control

Ottawa | Reuters — Allies around the world are promising to boost support for Canada’s fight against hundreds of blazes amid the country’s worst-ever start to wildfire season, which is fueling concerns about the worsening consequences of climate change. Forest fires continued to burn across Canada on Thursday, forcing thousands of people from their homes

“The overall economy to me is going to be slowing down. It’s just a matter of when and the extent of it.” – J.P. Gervais.

With crop in the ground, keep an eagle eye on cost of production: management specialist

With crop in the ground, keep an eagle eye on cost of production: management specialist

Canadian farmers may have received more for what they sold last year, but they paid a pretty penny to get it to market. It showed in their profit margins. Overall farm income fell by nearly 10 per cent in 2022, according to a recent report from Statistics Canada. Canadian farmers’ realized net income — the difference between cash


Frost on land in Brazil’s Santa Catarina state. (Edson Hardt/iStock/Getty Images)

Brazil justice grants Congress more time on bill limiting Indigenous rights

Case pits Indigenous against Big Ag

Brasilia | Reuters — A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Wednesday asked for more time to study a case pitting the country’s Indigenous people against its powerful farm sector, a decision that is likely to give lawmakers more time to pass a measure favouring Big Agriculture. The decision by Justice Andre Mendonca, an Evangelical pastor

CME August 2023 feeder cattle with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle weaken off new contract highs

Lean hogs down off highest since mid-May

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures weakened on a technical setback on Wednesday, closing in negative territory after rising to fresh contract highs during the session. Hog futures were also weaker. Benchmark CME August live cattle futures settled down 2.3 cents at 173.2 cents/lb. after posting a fresh contract high of 175.95


BCRC board member Melissa Atchison represents the beef sector at the 2023 Royal Manitoba Winter Fair.

New vaccine tools launched for cattle

Clear guidelines and infographics aim to streamline vaccination management

Cattle farmers have a new set of tools to help manage vaccination programs for their herds, courtesy of the Beef Cattle Research Council. “Vaccine schedules can be so overwhelming, and knowing when to use modified live or killed vaccines and the schedule for boosting them can be so overwhelming,” said BCRC member and Manitoba cattle

(Getty Images)

Ontario extends deadline to lock in RMP coverage

Final date to secure coverage moved to June 30

Grain and oilseed growers and cattle, hog, sheep and veal producers in Ontario now get until June 30 this year to secure coverage under that province’s Risk Management Program (RMP). The province on May 29 announced the deadlines for grain and oilseed producers to submit their completed RMP applications and make any coverage changes —


CME August 2023 live cattle with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle rally to contract highs

July lean hogs also higher

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures rallied to fresh contract highs on Tuesday, supported by technical buying and strength in the cash market, traders said. Livestock traders did not see any reason to disrupt the recent trend at a time of strong seasonal demand, with traditionally active grilling holidays such as Father’s

Limiting the use of mRNA vaccines would mean losing a new way to protect animals from pathogens that current vaccines can’t fend off.

Comment: Beware misinformation on livestock mRNA vaccines

Vaccines using mRNA can protect farm animals — and there are safeguards to keep them out of food

Effective vaccines for COVID-19 should have heralded the benefits of mRNA vaccines, but fear and misinformation about their supposed dangers circulated at the same time. These misconceptions have recently spilled into worries about whether their use in agricultural animals could expose people to components of the vaccine within meat or milk. In fact, a number


Fair attendees of past generations at the Portage Ex cattle show.

PHOTOS: History and community as Portage Ex celebrates 150 years

The fair circuit staple marks the major milestone this July

Many things have changed in the century and a half since the Portage Ex was established, but the Trimble family has been a constant for the bulk of those years. “I think somebody from our family has been on the board since it was incorporated in 1907,” said Paul Trimble, a current Portage Ex board

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Texas flooding lifts Canadian feeder market

Fed cattle in counter-seasonal trend

For the week ending Sunday, western Canadian feeder cattle markets traded $6-$8 higher. In some cases, quality yearling packages traded as much as $10 above week-ago levels. Live and feeder cattle futures closed the week US$8-$9 higher as traders monitored flooding conditions in Texas. Alberta packers were buying fed cattle on a live basis in