Nearly 1,000 workers at Cargill’s beef processing plant in Guelph were on strike at the end of May, and there’s a possibility that workers at the Cargill Case Ready plant in Calgary could also hit the picket lines. “I think the possibility of a strike at the Cargill Case Ready plant is very, very real,” said Chris O’Halloran, executive director of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 401 that represents workers at the Calgary plant. Strike votes were set for June 5-6. O’Halloran said the workers have three main issues they want to resolve, among them guaranteed hours to help with ..read more

Glacier FarmMedia—Feed grain bids in Western Canada lack any clear direction for the time being, as farmers finish up spring seeding around consistent rains. “There’s been very minimal (price) movement in the last month, give or take five dollars a tonne,” said grain trader Jay Janzen of Cornine Commodities in Lacombe, Alta., adding “it’s status quo at this point.” While showers have caused some seeding delays, he estimated that farmers in most regions were into the planting the last 20 per cent of the 2024 crop. The rains will allow fields to get off to a good start, although Janzen added tha ..read more

In the week ending May 25, Western Canadian feeder cattle markets were trading $4 to $8 higher compared to seven days earlier. Some higher quality genetic packages of 700-pound plus cattle were up as much as $10 from week-ago levels. Pen conditions are rated poor to very poor in many regions of Western Canada, but this didn’t stem buying interest. Order buyers reported full decks across all weight categories. Certain finishing operators who were quiet over the past month came out in full force this past week. Alberta orders stretched across the Prairies and stepped up competition from Ontario ..read more

Glacier FarmMedia—Nearly 1000 workers at Cargill’s beef processing plant in Guelph hit the picket lines this morning, as workers strike in an effort to gain better compensation. Union United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 175 cited issues such as the Dunlop Drive facility failing to keep up with the cost of living crisis as motivation for the strike. In an online statement, UFCW president Kelly Tosato said that “members aren’t satisfied with what the company has brought to the table.” According to Guelph Today, the company and the union reached a recommended settlement that provided ..read more

Glacier FarmMedia—A project to increase the use of data in cow-calf operation decision-making has brought together organizations and researchers from across the sector. The Data Literacy for Cow-Calf Producers project aims to give farmers and ranchers the chance to discuss best practices and learn from experts and peers about how to use data to make better business decisions. Data management has varied adoption in the cow-calf sector. “It’s all over the map. Some are tracking a lot of data, like how many animals they get out on pasture over a period of time, so they get some productivity and p ..read more

Glacier FarmMedia—Farmers and the animal nutrition industry need to understand that feeding livestock today requires thinking about what comes out of an animal as much as what goes in, according to many at the Animal Nutrition Conference of Canada. Demands around the world to restrict greenhouse gas and nutrient emissions from all forms of livestock mean feed formulators need to ensure that animals are efficiently pulling all they can out of both macro and micro-nutrients to reduce the amount of harmful substances that end up in the air, water and soil. “They look at livestock and see pollutio ..read more

Chicago | Reuters—Tyson Foods cannot predict exactly when U.S. ranchers will start rebuilding the cattle herd in a meaningful way, CEO Donnie King said on Wednesday, as tight supplies squeeze the meatpacker’s beef business. Producers slashed the herd to its lowest level in decades due to high feed costs and drought in the western United States, increasing the prices Tyson must pay to buy livestock for processing. Lower costs for grains fed to cattle and improved conditions for grazing are encouraging factors for increasing the U.S. herd, though high interest rates are a headwind, King said at ..read more

It’s so far, so good when it comes to Canada’s milk testing efforts against bird flu as all samples have tested negative thus far. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed April 14 it had tested 142 retail milk samples from across the country to date. All tested negative for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) fragments, and there was no evidence of disease in dairy cattle detected in the milk. The testing is in response to a U.S. outbreak of HPAI in dairy herds, which have occurred in nine states to date. Fragments of HPAI have been detected in one in five samples of commerci ..read more

Compared to last week, Western Canadian feeder cattle markets were steady to $5 lower on average. It’s that time of year when available supplies start to decline. At the same time, demand is limited. Most backgrounding operators have sufficient numbers and demand for grassers is waning. Ontario interest was noted in Manitoba and Eastern Saskatchewan, which appeared to sustain prices near last week’s levels. Southern Alberta has received over 200 per cent of normal precipitation over the past 30 days, and pen conditions are rated poor to very poor. Markets in Alberta and Saskatchewan were sligh ..read more

Forage seed production may not receive the attention of many other parts of the beef industry, but it plays a crucial role. Nathan Siklenka and his father, Darrel Siklenka, own and operate Siklenka Seed Farm together near Glaslyn, Sask. The farm has been in operation since 1985. Siklenka Seed Farm is well known for its production of a variety of forage seeds. Darrel says producing a quality product is the most important thing to them as forage seed producers. “You’re as close to being weed-free as possible,” he says. “So stuff isn’t getting spread around the country, as we have to live here an ..read more