Category: Canadian Beef Industry Conference

Trade and market access are always major topics at cattle industry meetings, but with the renegotiation of NAFTA becoming reality, there was a little extra emphasis on the politics of trade this week at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference in Calgary. If there were any questions about how unified cattle producer groups from Canada, the… Read More

According to the Western Canadian Cow Calf Survey completed in 2015, 72 percent of calves in Western Canada are sold at weaning, with 80 percent being sold via an auction market. The combination of stressors calves face in that short time from weaning to auction to entering a feedlot has major health and economic implications, says Brenna… Read More

Although he sees minor improvement in the cattle industry’s work towards mitigating the risk of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), Cody Creelman, managing partner and DVM, Veterinary Agri-Health Services, says there’s much more work to be done to understand the extent of AMR. “There needs to be more dedicated research,” Creelman told RealAgriculture, in an interview filmed… Read More

We’ve all heard that phrase, often used to console in the gruff way most ranchers know best. “When you have livestock, you have deadstock.” But that phrase places too much emphasis on the notion that the death is out of our hands. It’s not. While we must not beat ourselves up for lost animals, there’s still something that… Read More

For some ranchers procedures like dehorning/disbudding, castration and branding are necessary evils of the job. But necessity doesn’t make the work any easier. In an effort to improve animal welfare, and to respond to consumer concerns, the beef industry is addressing procedures like these with pain mitigation, and improved genetics. The Code of Practice for the Care… Read More

Anti-trade messages from both U.S. presidential candidates are undoubtedly troubling for the future of the Canadian economy, especially in export-oriented sectors like agriculture. “That to me would be the number one concern when we look over the next six months — what happens in the U.S. election and what happens afterwards,” said Douglas Porter, chief economist… Read More

23 Cattlemen’s Young Leaders (CYL) semi-finalists headed to Calgary for the Canadian Beef Industry Conference earlier this month, and this week, 16 finalists were announced, including: British Columbia: Ryan Scorgie – Kamloops Alberta: Becky Tees – Cochrane, Grayden Kay – Lloydminster, Jessica Sperber – Rimbey, Jesse Williams –Hanna, Katie Songer – Sylvan Lake, Luke Marshall – Innisfail,… Read More

With blurred lines between how pets and food animals should be treated, concerns about the use of growth promotants and antimicrobials, serious questions about environmental impacts, and let’s not forget, the cringeworthy moniker ‘pink slime,’ the beef industry has its work cut out for it when it comes to helping consumers understand how beef gets… Read More

Cattle markets will likely continue to trend lower, although at a slower rate than we saw for much of 2015 and early 2016, according to the senior analyst with Canfax. “We’ve been through such a massive adjustment here, I think the bulk of the pain is over,” says Brian Perillat in this interview at the Canadian… Read More

We often speak of best practices in agriculture as they relate to decisions made in the field or in the barn, but they go beyond that, to the office, to the meeting room, and even to interactions with the public. In his presentation at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference, Marty Seymour, director of industry and… Read More