This is a U.S. publication and some of the vaccines may not be appropriate in Canada. Preconditioning, by definition, is a vaccination, nutrition, and management program designed to prepare young cattle to withstand the stress associated with weaning...
In the case of feeder cattle, a grading system allows one to predict the feedlot performance and carcass characteristics of the finished cattle. They can also be used by the owner of cattle to evaluate the current breeding program.
In marketing your beef cattle enterprise, you must make numerous decisions, including what types of cattle to produce, how many cows to maintain, when to calve, when and where to sell, what to feed, and whether to background. None of these...
Ownership Identification Inc. (OII) was designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands in 1997 to administer a brand registration and inspection program for livestock (cattle and horses) in British Columbia. Brand inspectors directory also listed.
Marketing, for managers of beef cattle enterprises, means two things. First, it is using market information, such as prices and trends, to direct the farm and provide information for good management decisions.
How do you decide what a cow is worth? The answer is not always as simple as what you have to pay for a like age and quality cow over the scale at your local auction barn. In fact, a cow is just like a machine in a factory, and as such she has both a...
By the mid-1980's cattle producers had faced a period of low prices, severe financial stress and declining demand for beef. Consumers were expressing more concerns about health issues. These health concerns, coupled with lower priced substitutes such...
Fed cattle marketing and pricing have changed dramatically over the last decade. Grid pricing has increased in importance while cash marketing of fed cattle has decreased.
Structural and behavioral changes and their implications for price discovery have been significant concerns for many in the beef industry for at least two decades. However, structural changes (e.g., increased consolidation and concentration) make it...
Formula pricing is neither new nor unique to the fed cattle industry. And while formula pricing has several advantages, it creates potential problems for price discovery.