Insights and Stories on Beef Cattle

Klassen: Feeder cattle market grinds lower

Jun. 23, 2020 at 12:01 pm CDT

Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle prices were steady to $4 lower on average. Small packages were available and buyers were picking away with subdued interest. There were some “green” strings of yearlings in Alberta and Saskatchewan which were well bid; however, most cattle were characterized by medium […]

Klassen: Weaker fed cattle prices weigh on feeder market

Jun. 16, 2020 at 12:25 pm CDT

By Jerry Klassen

Klassen: Canadian feeder market divorces from U.S. values

Jun. 9, 2020 at 12:40 am CDT

By Jerry Klassen

Klassen: Feeder market recovery continues

Jun. 2, 2020 at 12:52 am CDT

By Jerry Klassen

What was learned from BSE and what we’re learning now

May. 29, 2020 at 10:04 am CDT

By Alexis Kienlen

Klassen: Feeder cattle markets reflect mixed tone

May. 27, 2020 at 7:58 pm CDT

Compared to the previous week, western Canadian yearling prices were $2-$4 higher on average while calves traded unchanged to as much as $8 lower. Larger feedlot operations were actively bidding for 800-plus-lb. feeders across the Prairies due to the limited supply. Lower volumes were available this past week which was […]

By Jerry Klassen

JBS resumes second shift at Alberta beef plant

May. 21, 2020 at 4:50 pm CDT

Meat giant JBS’s Alberta beef packing plant has resumed two daily shifts as of Thursday, as fewer than a dozen of its 2,600-plus employees are now sidelined by COVID-19. The JBS plant at Brooks, about 170 km east of Calgary, is “slowly returning to two shifts as of today,” the […]

By Dave Bedard

President’s cattle call finds expected marks in U.S.

May. 21, 2020 at 4:55 am CDT

U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks Tuesday about imports of live cattle into the United States resonated predictably among that country’s various cattle producer groups. At a White House event Tuesday, flanked by U.S. farm and ranch leaders and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue for a multi-billion-dollar COVID-19-related farm aid announcement, Trump […]

By Dave Bedard

Trump floats halt to U.S. cattle imports as pandemic hurts ranchers

May. 19, 2020 at 12:58 pm CDT

Washington/Chicago | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the United States should consider terminating trade deals under which it imports cattle as he looks to help U.S. ranchers hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak. The United States imports cattle from Mexico and Canada to supplement domestic supplies […]

By Steve Holland Tom Polansek

Canadian cattle in a feedlot with a cowboy in the background.

Klassen: Feeder market jumps on renewed optimism

May. 19, 2020 at 11:39 am CDT

Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle over 800 lbs. traded $8-$10 higher while lighter weight categories were up $4 to as much as $12 in some cases. Feeder cattle under 800 lbs. were very well bid across the Prairies; feeder cattle under 700 lbs. are now trading at […]

By Jerry Klassen