Analysts wonder when, how feeder demand will break

Feeder cattle moving through Manitoba’s auction yards continued to see good demand and firm prices during the week ended March 2. “Prices are staying very strong,” said Keith Cleaver of Heartland Livestock Services at Brandon, citing the continued firmness in U.S. futures together with a reduction in cattle numbers in Western Canada as supportive influences.



Economics versus culture

Dermot Hayes, a respected livestock economist from Iowa State University, is admittedly flummoxed over the question of whether it will be grain producers or the livestock sector benefiting from the growing demand for protein in emerging economies. Hayes was in town last week delivering the annual Kraft Lecture, a memorial to the late University of

Australia to probe new Indonesia cattle cruelty video

Canberra / Reuters / Australia will investigate new video appearing to show cattle being mistreated at an Indonesian abattoir, and could reimpose an export ban on the slaughterhouse if it broke animal welfare rules, said Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig. Australia suspended live cattle exports to Indonesia for a month in 2011 after a video showing cows


When cost is no object, things can get weird

What happens when cost of production is removed from the equation in beef ranching? The results can end up being bizarre, said Bart Lardner, a research scientist at the Western Beef Development Centre in Lanigan, Sask., who recently visited beef operations in Finland. In that Scandinavian country, which lies north of 60 degrees latitude, European






Germany to seek EU animal welfare label on meat

Germany will press the European Union to introduce a label on meat saying it came from humanely raised farm animals, said German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner. The move would be part of a new German government program to improve farm animal welfare, she said. “Transparency changes buying behaviour and then the production processes and manufacturing

UN calls for more efficient livestock

World meat consumption will rise 73 per cent by 2050 Milan / Reuters / Livestock farms should use natural resources more efficiently to meet ever-growing demand for meat and dairy products in a way friendly to the environment, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Dec. 14. Global meat consumption is projected to