Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham met Wednesday in Victoria. (Photo courtesy AAFC)

Options weighed for AgriRecovery in B.C. fire zones

Officials in British Columbia are now gauging what sorts of damages and expenses can be covered through an AgriRecovery plan for ranchers and farmers affected by wildfires. The federal and B.C. governments announced Wednesday they’re “working together to quickly assess the extraordinary costs farmers are incurring and what additional assistance may be required to recover






Giving young producers a route into the business will help meet the goal of expanding the provincial beef herd.


Beef producers cautious about herd expansion proposal

Lack of profitability and uncertainty over where to market animals are two key challenges

Manitoba cattle producers aren’t against a government plan to substantially increase the province’s beef herd but have a lot of questions about how to get there. Growing those numbers will require more producers, larger herds and more acres, according to Manitoba Beef Producers. Exactly where those will come from isn’t clear, especially considering the cost

Both farmed and wild elk, like these photographed near Glenboro, and other cervids such as deer, are frequently blamed for disease outbreaks in cattle herds despite all evidence to the contrary.

Comment: Elk not responsible for TB outbreak

Too often farmed animals and wildlife are blamed for outbreaks, despite evidence to the contrary

In recent months, several cattle from herds in Alberta and Saskatchewan have tested positive for exposure to tuberculosis. The index animal — a beef cow — was identified at slaughter at a U.S. processing plant. Since then several more suspects have been identified by skin testing. Over 22,000 cattle are affected by quarantines. A common


Manitoba is developing a reputation for its grazing research efforts.

Showcasing the value of the forage industry

The Canadian Forage and Grassland Association will highlight Manitoba’s 
unique forage research initiatives at the organization’s national conference

If you want to talk about grasslands and forage, go to where the action is — and lately a lot of that action is in Manitoba. In the eyes of the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association (CFGA), Manitoba has been a standout in its efforts towards forage research and the ideal place to hold this

cattle on a pasture

BeefTalk: Lower prices need lower costs

The first step to lowering costs is knowing the costs

The daily CattleFax report just popped into my email and was not the positive news one would like. The Oct. 10 values were $98.87 for live cattle and $124.65 for feeder cattle (all figures U.S. funds). I had a simple thought: “What, two-digit live-cattle prices!” My second thought: “We have got to get costs down!”


Holy cow, if today’s devastatingly low-and-going-lower cattle prices continue for two and, possibly, three more years, will any independent cowboys even be around in 2020?

Livestock’s bleak industrial future

There’s not even a hint of light at the end of the tunnel

The more the American meat and milk sectors industrialize — via integrated contract production, fewer bigger players, machine-centred scale — the more these key parts of American agriculture resemble industry itself: commoditized products, razor-thin margins, and extended periods of steep losses. This shift from what we once quaintly called animal husbandry has also shifted economic

The cattle industry could benefit from genetic modification but the technology faces hurdles.

GM cattle could have many benefits

Genetic modification for cattle is under investigation at the federal level

Genetically modified cattle can offer both producers and consumers benefits. They won’t be seen in grocery stores for the foreseeable future, but it’s worth laying the groundwork for them, Andrea Brocklebank, executive director of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, told the Commons agriculture committee recently. “Beef from GM cattle is not likely to be on the