Beef cattle feeding in Ontario. (DebraLee Wiseberg/iStock/Getty Images)

Ontario’s beef set-aside AgriRecovery plan underway

Applications for first intake due Dec. 22

A set-aside program has formally been launched to help Ontario’s 6,800-odd cattle producers maintain market-ready animals while Eastern Canada’s biggest beef slaughter plant remains closed. Federal and provincial officials on Monday announced applications are now open for the Canada-Ontario COVID-19 AgriRecovery Beef Emergency Feed Maintenance Initiative, with applications for the first intake period due by

(Dave Bedard photo)

Guelph beef plant idled against COVID-19 outbreak

Cattle set-aside plan en route, BFO says

Agrifood giant Cargill is temporarily halting production at its beef processing plant at Guelph, Ont. in the wake of a significant COVID-19 outbreak among employees. The company announced it would “begin the process to temporarily idle” the Dunlop Drive plant effective Thursday (Dec. 17). “This was a difficult decision for our team who are operating



Individual animal treatments are often worth pursuing

Individual animal treatments are often worth pursuing

Beef 911: We focus on the herd, but it’s often worth it to treat problems specific to one animal

We focus on herd medicine, herd reproduction, production, biosecurity, animal welfare and marketing — and these, without a doubt, have a big impact on profitability as well as consumer acceptance. However, in cattle production there are still the individual cases which require our attention and can have favourable outcomes. Early detection and treatment increase our


Year-round grazing requires year-round planning and management.

Winter grazing not just about winter

Regenerative grazing key to year-round pasture management

Whenever Steve Kenyon gives a presentation on year-round grazing systems, producers immediately think only of winter grazing. Bale grazing, swath grazing, crop residue grazing — Kenyon knows that producers who graze their cattle over winter love to talk about these things. But he cautions that, despite their importance, these methods are only a small part



Photo: File

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hog futures fall as accelerating pandemic stirs demand concern

Chicago | Reuters – U.S. cattle and hog futures fell on Monday as cash beef and pork prices weakened and as accelerating coronavirus infection rates prompted tighter restrictions on restaurants and other food service outlets, threatening meat sales. Meanwhile, renewed tensions between the United States and China, after fresh U.S. sanctions on 14 Chinese officials,

Beef is on display at a Walmart in Beijing on Sept. 23, 2019. (File photo: Reuters/Tingshu Wang)

China’s coronavirus testing chokes beef trade

Additional inspections, disinfections costly for importers

Beijing | Reuters — In a supermarket in downtown Beijing, refrigerator shelves normally filled with steak from around the world sit empty as tougher testing for the novel coronavirus creates supply bottlenecks and raises prices for importers. Fresh supplies of beef won’t arrive for days, a salesman at the Suning.com-owned Carrefour outlet told Reuters —


Intercrops peek out between the corn rows of MBFI’s latest look into corn grazing practices.

Spicing up the mix in MBFI’s corn fields

Corn grazing at MBFI will see a few new species in the undergrowth, part of a project on intercropped corn grazing

Corn grazing at MBFI will see a few new species in the undergrowth, part of a project on intercropped corn grazing

For most of Manitoba’s cattle, it’s time to settle into the yard. The herd at Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives (MBFI) north of Brandon however, is getting ready to hit the cornfield. Corn grazing itself is no surprise at MBFI. It’s how the applied research and demonstration farm, which has a goal of keeping cattle

Nelson Fagan Jr. greets 10 Charolais cows at his ranch near Conception Bay South in October. (N. Fagan Meats video screengrab via Facebook)

Newfoundland beef producers backed to develop abattoirs

Three proposals get six figures each; breeding cows also provided

A provincial call for proposals to boost beef slaughter capacity in Newfoundland and Labrador has yielded three successful applicants. The provincial government on Nov. 5 announced its Beef Industry Enhancement Initiative will provide just over $1.8 million in total to its three successful proposals: $719,750 for Troy Humber of Northern Arm, about 40 km northeast