Food safety in the beef industry was a topic that was front and centre at this years Canfax Cattle Market Forum. Producers and industry members were left questioning just how far the impact of the recall would reach and how long the hangover would last. As we found out when we sat down with Brian… Read More
Soil is a magnificent thing. It’s the medium that makes crop production possible. It’s also rather mysterious. Even now, scientists are just beginning to scratch the surface of naming all the microbes that live in soil and understanding their functions and interactions. There’s also much we do know and understand about soil and its ability… Read More
Todd Hirsch, ATB financial senior economist, spoke at the Canfax Cattle Market Forum. The outlook he provided was one of cautious optimism mixed with a little bit of wait and see. The cautious optimism stems from the overall stability of the Canadian economy and the growth in provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan. The wait… Read More
The hog industry in Western Canada has been knocked to its knees in recent months by high feed prices and negative margins. A large hog breeder, producer and feed company — Manitoba-based Puratone Corporation — is in the process of being bought by Maple Leaf Foods, the company’s largest hog buyer. Amidst the fall out… Read More
The Canadian cattle industry has made continual gains in beef quality and safety and production efficiency, year over year, even in the face of significant challenges in the past decade. That’s due in no small part to the tenacious nature of Canada’s beef producers, but it’s also a result of significant gains made through extensive… Read More
After a year-over-year doubling of traffic to the site, RealAgriculture.com hired its first full-time editor this spring. Now, the site continues to expand in the form of a new school. Joining the line up RealAgriculture’s production-focused Schools is the new Beef Research School — a series of 30 videos produced in partnership with the Beef… Read More
The world is a much smaller place than it ever was. When it comes to areas like feed grains, what was once a very localized trade is now increasingly international. That requires a new level of international awareness for producers, especially in times marked by historic highs and increasingly tight supplies. So what should we… Read More
The optimism cattle producers started off 2012 with has become a little less broad and a little more cautious as 2012 starts to wind down. High commodity prices, a brutal US drought and high replacement costs among other factors have really dampened the high enthusiasm seen at the beginning of the year. It was February… Read More
Utter the words “supply management” and those involved in the agriculture industry are likely to have strong opinions for and against. The same can be said for the U.S., where an expired Farm Bill and recent run-ups in feed costs have converged to make a whole lot of farmers and industry folk nervous about the… Read More
In September, Bernard Tobin, RealAgriculture.com’s Ontario correspondent, explained in this interview that the Slots-at-Racetrack program was ending and ending quickly. As of March 31, 2013, the slot machines would be pulled from Ontario racetracks, and the revenue generated by the slots (and shared with the province) would walk out the door with the machines. The… Read More
After a very dry growing season, farmers in eastern Canada are hurting for hay. Western Canadian farmers know all to well what that’s like, having experienced a similar situation in 2002. Farmers, private companies and governments have come together to form Hay East — a program to send much-needed forage from the west to the… Read More
Maple Leaf Foods has announced it will buy the Puratone Corporation, the cash-strapped Manitoba hog production company, for approximately $42 million. The purchase includes Puratone’s livestock, facilities and interests in some joint ventures. The transaction is expected to close within a month, subject to court and regulatory approvals, according to a news release. . “This… Read More
The markets are volatile and could be described liked standing inside a hurricane at times. Only this time the hurricane was real. With Hurricane Sandy ripping through the east coast, the impacts on beef demand must be questioned. With the XL Foods hangover working its way out, feed yards and ranchers are trying to get… Read More
Quebec-based Olymel has officially made a bid for Big Sky Farms, the Saskatchewan-based hog producer that recently entered receivership. Olymel has made a bid of $65 million to purchase the company. If successful, it’s likely operations would not change significantly, as Olymel processed much of Big Sky’s production. While this is the only current bid,… Read More
Saskatchewan agriculture minister Lyle Stewart announced today the first 10 federal community pastures to be transferred to the province and to patron-controlled operation for the 2014 grazing season. Patrons (current users of the community pastures) will be given the opportunity to own or lease these pastures. “Patrons have had cattle grazing these pastures for years;… Read More
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