Surgery on a horse at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine’s equine veterinary medical centre in Saskatoon. (WCVM video screengrab via YouTube)

Saskatchewan’s livestock vet loan plan expanded to bigger centres

Urban vet clinics' work with rural producers noted

Saskatchewan’s program to forgive provincial student loans for veterinarians and vet techs serving livestock producers at rural clinics will now also cover those doing the same work out of bigger communities. The province’s Loan Forgiveness for Veterinarians and Veterinary Technologists program was first announced in April last year, offering forgiveness of 20 per cent of

File photo of a field pea crop in western New South Wales, Australia. (Alfio Manciagli/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Australia’s winter pulse production mixed

MarketsFarm — Australia’s 2022 winter pulse crop will see its ups and downs, according to a quarterly crop report released Tuesday by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES). Chickpeas saw the largest projected production decline, dropping 41.5 per cent from the 2021-22 marketing year to 621,000 tonnes this year, Australia’s


File photo of wheat south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2022. (Dave Bedard photo)

Prairies’ high-pressure ridge should give way by mid-month

Brisk harvest pace expected meanwhile

MarketsFarm — While there’s not one specific cause of the hot September the Canadian Prairies has generally been having so far, Weatherlogics chief scientist Scott Kehler notes one particular shorter-term factor. “There is a fairly strong upper-level ridge of high pressure across the Prairies right now,” he explained, adding it should dissipate by mid-month. The



CBOT November 2022 soybeans (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, green and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybean futures fall 1.5 per cent

CBOT corn, wheat firm

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures fell 1.5 per cent on Tuesday as Argentina’s decision to offer farmers a better exchange rate for their crops threatened to raise export competition at a time when U.S. offerings typically dominate the market. “It just makes more product readily available short-term,” said Mark Schultz, chief analyst at

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder market ratchets higher

Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling prices markets traded $2-$5 higher on average. Calves were quite variable. This was the first week when larger groups of calves were featured on the internet sales. Prices on the internet appeared to be significantly stronger than smaller groups under 10 head moving through auction rings. Feedlot operators


File photo of piglets at a hog operation in China. (KuLouKu/iStock/Getty Images)

Federal funding lined up for programs, planning against swine fever

Two-year package to go toward pork industry work

The federal government is putting up an eight-figure funding wall to help prevent African swine fever from ever reaching Canada’s hog farms — and to prepare against any breach. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said Aug. 26 the government will provide up to $45.3 million toward a three-pronged effort to boost disease prevention and preparedness: pork

(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Bids mixed headed into long weekend

MarketsFarm — Despite projections that Canada will have a large wheat harvest this year, Western Canadian wheat bids were mixed for the week ended Thursday, largely due to a weakening Canadian dollar. Statistics Canada (StatCan) on Monday released its satellite imagery-based July principal field crop production estimates, which projected a total wheat harvest of 34.6



CME December 2022 live cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, dark red and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle climb on cash market optimism

CME lean hogs slip on cash market pessimism

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures ended higher on Friday on expectations of higher cash cattle prices next week and position-squaring ahead of a long U.S. holiday weekend, traders said. Benchmark CME October live cattle futures settled up 1.75 cents at 144.55 cents/lb., with December up 1.675 cents at 150.25 cents