It is really hard to find analysts, feeders and ranchers that are bearish on this cattle market. The industry as a whole is pretty bullish in comparison to prior years and especially in comparison to two years ago. Everyone is bullish prices in 2011 but are they bullish margins and if they are not, should… Read More
Category: Livestock
When you look back at 2010 it was a real turnaround year for the cattle markets. Both the Canadian feedyard and the rancher did quite well considering all the volatility in the marketplace. We saw higher calf prices and fat prices throughout the fall run which was much needed and required more some people to… Read More
Last weekend I was at a shop party with many of my neighbours in Picture Butte. Get a bunch of farmers, ranchers and feedyard owners together and what else is there to talk about other than grain prices and hockey. Barley was definitely the topic of discussion at several tables. For me its very interesting… Read More
You can look at volatility in two ways. Volatility in the cattle markets means that you may be exposed to risk that you did not plan for. For example, earlier this decade when the CDN dollar moved from the low 70’s to par in a violent upward fashion which caught many people off guard. The other… Read More
Managing risk is a major part of running any farm or livestock operation. Alberta recently tried to aid it’s provincial livestock producers by launching the Cattle Price Insurance Program (CPIP). Recently Ontario Provincial Ag-Critic, Mr. Ernie Hardeman, MPP, questioned why the Ontario government was stalling in implementing a similar program to ensure Ontario producer competitiveness…. Read More
I have never owned a hog or participated in the business at all but from the outside it does appear to be a very tough financial business. I have had several chats with producers that have been in the business for a long time and the concerns are real for the long term sustainability of… Read More
Some things change and some things just stay the same. Some things are predictable and some things are not. As expected carcass weights have peaked for the fall as the trend downwards has begun. While at the same time basis levels have been strong resulting in stronger pricing. According to Anne, pre-2003 basis levels were… Read More
The last seven years have not been kind to the income statement and balance sheet of the cattle feeder in Canada. With that has come a harsh reality for many small to mid €“sized feeders that were dealing at schedule one banks. Many on the schedule ones have decided to focus on the larger feeders… Read More
We thought it would be cool to do something for the Beef Market Update this week. This week I collected some questions from viewers and gave them to Anne. We are going to call it JUST ASK ANNE !!! We think that you will really like this segment and we plan to do it more… Read More
The American market is very important to the Canadian cattle industry. Domestic policies in the United States can greatly impact the Canadian industry. Just think about Country of Origin Labelling (COOL) and the discussion in Canada in terms of mitigating its impact. There are some proposed changes to GIPSA potentially coming and questions and several… Read More
After last weeks two posts on the Canada / EU free trade agreement I received several emails from people saying that they believe that this deal will provide limited benefit to the farmer or livestock producer in Canada. The NFU has been very vocal but I find it hard to take much that they say… Read More
Not since the early 2000’s have Canadian feedyards imported US feeder cattle in great numbers. Rumours are swirling that 2010 may be the year that this practice becomes popular again. There is no doubt that this will not sit well with Canadian ranchers due to the possible extra supply dragging down the current healthy calf… Read More
Canada has been working at increasing the access of Canadian beef into Europe for quite some time. If the EU / Canada free trade agreement is ratified later this year the benefits will be very positive for Canadian beef producers. Gaining access for hormone free beef into Europe will have large benefits for the industry… Read More
We have lots of cows in Canadian Agriculture, but we also have some sacred cows a well. One of these is the ability to shelter income through the cash method of reporting farming income. For those who don€™t know how this works, it is a simplistic formula whereby as long as you have more expenses than… Read More
With the US market moving higher this week, Canadian producers have also enjoyed some higher fat sales as well. Immediately the resulting question is whether or not there is follow through in this market or will the price slowly slide down. The United States has done well exporting beef this year with its weaker dollar…. Read More