Insights and Stories on Pastures

cattle and a barbed wire fence at sunset

How barbed wire transformed ranching in the West

Jan. 24, 2025 at 9:42 am CST

Ranching in southern Alberta can be divided into two eras. One before the fence, and the one that came to stay, after the fences. From D. Larraine Andrews’s book, Ranching Under the Arch: “Responding to the new lease legislation, four corporate ranches, dubbed the Patriarchs, arrive under open range practices dependent on […]

South Dakota farmer focuses on soil biology

Dec. 13, 2024 at 10:52 am CST

By Melissa Jeffers-Bezan

Livestock watering systems for parched prairies

May. 24, 2024 at 12:27 am CDT

By Melissa Jeffers-Bezan

U.S. livestock: October live cattle futures lowest since July

Aug. 17, 2023 at 6:55 pm CDT

By Tom Polansek

Klassen: Weaker feed grains drive feeder market higher

Aug. 11, 2020 at 3:00 am CDT

By Jerry Klassen

Hay shortage in Manitoba Interlake reaches tipping point

Sep. 5, 2019 at 3:45 am CDT

MarketsFarm — A state of agricultural emergency has been declared in 12 municipalities, mostly in Manitoba’s Interlake region, due to chronically low hay yields. Drought and grasshoppers have hindered crops to the point that hay production is about 25 to 30 per cent of average. “We’ve moved cows out of […]

By Marlo Glass – MarketsFarm

Prairie drought reaches tipping point

Jun. 19, 2019 at 11:34 am CDT

MarketsFarm — The Prairie provinces have been under the influence of a large ridge of high pressure for a number of weeks, which has produced prolonged dryness with little precipitation. That high pressure system has pushed low-pressure, precipitation-carrying systems to the south, where the U.S. Midwest has already received significant […]

By Marlo Glass – MarketsFarm

Forage supplies starting to dip on dry Prairies

May. 16, 2018 at 8:21 pm CDT

CNS Canada — Forage supplies are starting to dwindle across Western Canada following a long, cold, winter and rain is needed soon to make for a good forage crop this year. “People tended to kind of blend hay this year and they managed to get through. But the prolonged cold […]

By Ashley Robinson - MarketsFarm

U.S. cattle placements hit 16-year high for February

Mar. 23, 2018 at 5:35 pm CDT

Chicago | Reuters — Ranchers drove 7.3 per cent more cattle into U.S. feedlots in February than a year ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported on Friday, the most for the month in 16 years. Persistent drought in the U.S. Plains withered winter wheat grazing pastures, which forced beef […]

By Theopolis Waters

Hay shortage could make for difficult winter

Oct. 3, 2017 at 7:48 pm CDT

CNS Canada — Many cattle producers looking for local feed this winter might have a difficult time, according to a Saskatchewan provincial forage specialist. However, producers further north in the grey and black soil zones, and those in Alberta producing high-quality feed for export, saw near-record hay production. Terry Kowalchuk […]

By Terry Fries

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