When Bill Leask and Mark Olson met at a Lion’s Club meeting about four years ago, Leask was a cow-calf operator with a need and Olson was an information technology expert who could build him a solution. Why it matters: The technology is made for cattle farmers but the company now requires seed money to take the invention into commercial production. That meeting resulted in the development of Flokk Systems, a durable hardware and software solution that can work for people who need to record data in the sometimes harsh weather conditions of the cattle business in Canada. Flokk now has a product ..read more

Chicago | Reuters—The U.S. government will require dairy cattle moving between states to be tested for bird flu starting on Monday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Wednesday, as federal officials ramp up their response to an outbreak in herds. Vilsack said all laboratories and state veterinarians in the country must report positive tests, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) would pay for increased testing. The measures aim to boost USDA’s understanding of the virus and contain the spread of the disease that has infected 33 dairy herds across eight states over the past month ..read more

Canada has a growing nation-wide shortage of veterinarians, particularly in rural and remote areas. An Ontario start-up has launched a solution aimed to lessen the burden on struggling veterinary practices and make services available to more farmers. Colin Yates and his father, Glen, who has been a mixed practice veterinarian for more than 45 years, have launched VETSon, an artificial intelligence-powered virtual healthcare platform designed to let veterinarians service more clients and give more animal owners access to care. Why it matters: The shortage of food animal veterinarians, particula ..read more

Compared to last week, backgrounded yearlings traded $4-$8/cwt higher on average. Calves were quite variable with prices quoted from unchanged to as much as $10 higher. Overall, there appeared to be stronger buying interest this week across all weight categories. Pen conditions remain poor to very poor in Southern Alberta but feedlot operators were managing accordingly. A few warmer days in Southern Alberta from April 11 through April 15 helped tremendously. There was a minor pullback in prices for backgrounded cattle and some buyers felt this was good opportunity to secure ownership. The feed ..read more

Recent detection in the United States of a highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza  virus in dairy cattle is the first instance of this strain in bovines. The World Organization for Animal Health said the detections “have raised concerns since such infections of cattle could indicate an increased risk of H5N1 viruses becoming better adapted to mammals, and potentially spilling over to humans and other livestock.” So far, the virus has not been lethal to cattle and causes very different symptoms than it does in poultry.  For that reason, the American Association of Bovine Practitioners ..read more

Glacier FarmMedia—Domestic birds that live in and around barns have been confirmed as the avian hosts of an outbreak on dairy farms in the United States of highly pathogenic avian influenza. An April 16 update from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service confirmed the avian host in this outbreak wasn’t migratory birds, as has been common with confirmed North American outbreaks on domestic poultry farms, but rather pigeons, grackles and blackbirds. Investigations are ongoing about the exact vectors taken by the virus that led to deaths in several barn cats, a mild infection in one ..read more

Recent detection in the United States of a highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza  virus in dairy cattle is the first instance of this strain in bovines.  The World Organization for Animal Health said the detections “have raised concerns since such infections of cattle could indicate an increased risk of H5N1 viruses becoming better adapted to mammals, and potentially spilling over to humans and other livestock.” So far, the virus has not been lethal to cattle and causes very different symptoms than it does in poultry.  For that reason, the American Association of Bovi ..read more

Comparing the climate impact of grass-fed versus grain-fed beef isn’t straightforward, according to panelists at the Guelph Organic Conference. A recent study claimed grain-fed beef has less of a carbon impact, but Chepstow-based farmer Ted Zettel believes it failed to account for the long-term capacity of pasture-based farming to sequester carbon from the atmosphere. Why it matters: Cattle groups say beef production can mitigate climate change. Zettel, who runs Zettel Family Farms with his sons Mark and Sam, spoke on a panel about grass-fed and organic cattle production. “I realize there is a ..read more

Southern Alberta has received over 200 percent of normal precipitation over the past 30 days. Pen conditions are rated poor to very poor in the main feeding pockets of Alberta. Saskatchewan and Manitoba have received less than 40 per cent of normal while Central Alberta has normal to below normal precipitation. For the week ending April 13, replacements in Southern Alberta over 750 pounds were down a solid $10/cwt from a week earlier. In other areas of Western Canada, backgrounded yearlings were unchanged to down $5/cwt. Calves under 750 pounds were unchanged to down $10/cwt across the prairie ..read more

The fundamentals still look strong for cattle prices, despite recent hiccups in the futures market, says a market analyst, but for those buying stockers, a little risk management can go a long way. The bovine influenza A virus has infected one person so far but the risk to people and cattle seems low, says Brian Perillat, agribusiness specialist at Bullseye Feeds. However, it has introduced unwanted risk to a red-hot cattle market. “Some of these people have bought very expensive calves anticipating much higher prices. And now there’s some question as to whether those high prices will actually ..read more