Anne Wasko of Gateway Livestock, in conversation with guest host Kelvin Heppner. . It’s an interesting time for cattle markets, with the Canadian dollar hitting record lows, weather in the United States putting pressure on supply estimates, and the recent repeal of country-of-origin labelling (COOL). In fact, as we start off the new year, we’re seeing a pretty… Read More

J.P. Gervais, chief agricultural economist for Farm Credit Canada, in conversation with RealAgriculture’s Debra Murphy at the 2015 Canadian Forage and Grasslands Association Conference in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (before mCOOL was repealed). 2015 saw some pretty incredible market pressures in the livestock sector, amidst overarching trade stories with the ongoing battle over country-of-origin labeling and the conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. But… Read More

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack declared on Friday afternoon that “effective immediately” the U.S. Department of Agriculture would not be enforcing country of origin labeling rules for beef and pork. It’s been over seven years since American packers were forced to segregate Canadian animals and meat. How quickly can they go back to operating how they… Read More

After 13-plus years of opposition — the last seven of those in legal and trade disputes, Canadian livestock producers and their organizations are celebrating the end of U.S. country of origin labeling legislation for beef and pork today. Both the U.S. House and Senate voted in favour of the omnibus appropriations bill that includes text… Read More

Update Dec 18, 2015: Both the U.S. House and Senate voted in favour of the legislation, including the text to repeal COOL, on Friday. The bill now heads to the White House for President Obama’s approval. With retaliation from Canada and Mexico looming, the U.S. government took a step late Tuesday toward repealing its mandatory country… Read More

The World Trade Organization has given Canada and Mexico the go-ahead to retaliate against the U.S. for the discrimination caused by American country of origin meat labeling rules. The arbitrators’ decision issued Monday gave Canada permission to implement retaliatory tariffs worth up to C$1.055 billion per year. While the approved figure is less than the C$3.1 billion… Read More

In this episode of the Beef Market Update, Gateway Livestock’s Anne Wasko joins Shaun Haney in-studio for an update on the extreme volatility in the beef market since September. The duo talk about the changing market, sluggish U.S. exports, diminishing Canadian feeder cattle exports (down 67% since July) and the aggressive inventory expansion efforts of… Read More

Cattle markets, led by the futures in Chicago, took another tumble this week. “It’s been discouraging, disappointing, but again markets have shown us this this fall, when they make a move, it tends to be pretty violent or erratic,” says Anne Wasko of Gateway Livestock in this latest Beef Market Update. “We don’t seem to move… Read More