Farmers and cowmen

The latest release from the George Morris Centre “Feed grains and livestock in Canada – a reconciliation” brings to mind the lyrics from a certain operetta performed by the Carman Collegiate High School back in the 1970s. “Oh, the farmer and the cowman should be friends… one man likes to push a plow, the other

Lots of barley to feed western cattle

Large domestic feed grain supplies should help underpin the Canadian cattle sector for the time being by giving it a competitive advantage compared to the U. S., according to an industry analyst who thought the Canadian cattle market was looking reasonably well supported heading into the new year. Market analyst Herb Lock of Farm$ense Marketing


U. S.-fed cattle supply up, still historically low

The number of cattle being fattened in U. S. feedlots rose in November, but the tally is still near a historical low due to concerns the weak economy will hurt beef demand, analysts said. “Cattle-on-feed numbers grew seasonally from November to December, but the number of cattle-on-feed will be one of the lowest levels since

Hamster wheel business

”The worst business of all is the one that grows a lot, where you’re forced to grow just to stay in the game at all and where you’re reinvesting the capital at a very low rate of return. And sometimes people are in those businesses without knowing it.” Warren Buffett, 1998 Between 1990 and 2003,


Bad feed to blame

An official investigation into Canada’s 13th case of mad cow disease said on Thursday infected feed was most likely to blame – the same reason given in many previous cases. The animal, a five-year-old dairy cow from a farm in British Columbia, was identified in June 2008. Since then an additional instance of bovine spongiform

Publicity stunt or junk science?

The press release from the University of Manitoba’s National Centre for Livestock and the Environment last week spoke volumes. Unfortunately, it said very little about science. It said a lot about sensationalism and just how politicized science has become. “WHEN IT COMES TO FEEDING COWS, GRASS IS NOT GREENER – GRAIN IS,” the boldface, capitalized


Study measures methane in belching

“What we want to find out is, what is the safe level of corn to supplement without having to compromise the productivity of the cow, and what happens to methane.” – ERMI AS KEBREAB Less methane is belched into the atmosphere by grain-fed cattle, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to lower greenhouse gas reduction. A