(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Beef cattle sector weighs in for federal food processing study

Cattlemen's Association makes recommendations to Commons' ag committee

The House of Commons’ standing committee on agriculture will soon be wrapping up its study into Canada’s processing capacity. Since November, MPs have heard from more than 50 witnesses on the matter — including representatives from the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, whose president Bob Lowe and executive vice-president Dennis Laycraft testified at a committee meeting Tuesday.

The Karim Allah, a livestock ship carrying over 800 Spanish cattle stranded with suspected bluetongue disease, is docked at Escombreras in Cartagena, Spain on Feb. 26, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Juan Medina)

Spanish report calls for cull of over 850 cattle on pariah ship

Cattle were bound for Turkey but turned away over bluetongue fears

Cartagena | Reuters — More than 850 cows that spent months aboard a ship wandering across the Mediterranean are not fit for transport anymore and should be killed, according to a confidential report by Spanish government veterinarians seen by Reuters. The cows were kept in what an animal rights activist called “hellish” conditions on the


Keep a close watch for these issues when calving

Keep a close watch for these issues when calving

Beef 911: Recognizing the signs of trouble and acting quickly can be a true lifesaver

This column is my attempt to summarize the many ways we can hopefully maximize calf survivability and productivity starting at calving time. Each of you will have different management styles, strategies, and numbers — but if there are one or two new things, techniques, or observations you can learn from, the read will have been

Indonesia to import cattle, beef to plug domestic supply gap

Indonesia will import 502,000 cattle and 85,500 tonnes of beef to help plug a supply gap of meat in the domestic market, Fadjar Sumping Tjatur Rasa, an Agriculture Ministry director said Jan. 28. In addition, Indonesia is also planning to issue import permits for 100,000 tonnes of Brazilian beef and water buffalo meat from India,


This cow is showing hair loss because of lice.

Resistance suspected in lice woes

Lice populations in cattle have become much more difficult to control

In the midst of one of the mildest winters in the region’s history, many cattle producers are faced with lice infestations in herds even though they have treated their cattle. Some even have treated more than once and still are seeing the effects of lice in their livestock. “We are experiencing lice populations that are

There are a host of factors to take into account if you’re thinking of changing your calving season, but the main question to answer is: What works best for you?

The right time for calving depends on your farm — and you

While many producers are calving earlier, some have gone the other way

Calving season looks different on every operation — there is no one right method or time of year to calve a cow herd. While more producers in Western Canada have moved to later calving, some have gone the other way. Here are the experiences of three ranching families. Late-summer/fall calving Taralea Simpson has been calving


What to do when the expiry date has passed

What to do when the expiry date has passed

Beef 911: While there are some grey areas, products have an expiry date for a good reason

We as veterinarians and you as producers run into many questions in our careers regarding whether we can or cannot use expired medications in cattle production. Veterinary clinics cannot sell product that has been expired, so if you see that a product has expired, simply take it back as a mistake has been made. In

(Lovelyshot/iStock/Getty Images)

Ontario calls off final intake for beef set-aside

'Threshold not met' for further cattle intake

Ontario has called off the last intake for its federal/provincial beef cattle set-aside program. The Beef Emergency Feed Maintenance Initiative, an AgriRecovery program launched after the temporary shutdown of Cargill’s beef slaughter plant at Guelph, was to have its “final potential intake week” opening Monday (Jan. 18), for cattle to be set aside starting Jan.


Canada’s largest grocer is
 hopping on to the sustainable 
beef value chain bandwagon.

Loblaw joins sustainable beef marketplace

The supermarket chain announced the purchase of one million pounds of certified sustainable beef Dec. 18

Canada’s sustainable beef value chain has its first product commitment from a retailer. Loblaw Companies, one of the founders of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB), has now joined the companies actively sourcing meat certified through the roundtable’s framework. The supermarket chain announced the purchase of one million pounds of CRSB certified beef Dec.

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Cattle set-aside programs winding down

Final enrolment deadlines set for Saskatchewan, Alberta programs

AgriRecovery programs set up in Saskatchewan and Alberta to help cover feed costs for cattle producers unable to ship livestock to slaughter are gearing down, while Ontario’s program begins a third intake. Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. announced Friday that the province’s AgriRecovery set-aside program will end March 31, 2021, with Jan. 19 now set as