CANADA - Silage can be an expensive way of providing forage to cattle. The extra cost, however, is usually offset by reduced harvesting and storage losses. Furthermore, silage can afford producers an opportunity to salvage a crop that was damaged by hail, frost or drought.

CANADA - The Government of Canada is helping the cattle industry stay ahead of the curve in the global marketplace. It has announced an investment of up to $3 million to support the beef industry by developing new marketing opportunities to help farmers and food processors boost their bottom line.

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure.”

An old adage, but one that continues to ring true for the beef industry according to Brad Wildeman of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. This industry faces unique challenges that contribute to it lagging behind many other agricultural sectors in terms of advancement. Some of the reasons for this include: the segmented nature of the beef industry, selection/culling being more of an “art” than “science,” the impact of environmental factors on management practices, a lack of measurement criteria and poor information flow among segments.

Wildeman made note of new opportunities available that have the potential to improve the current situation, such as DNA genotyping for identification and rapid reproduction of genetically superior stock, and electronic/Internet transfer of data increasing the availability of information to more stakeholders.

Several Canadian industry organizations have joined forces to create the Canadian Beef Advantage program to better market the strengths of Canadian beef in the international marketplace. Canadian product has advantages in animal health and beef safety, genetics, identification, age verification, quality and consistency.

The program will create a central database for information on cow/calf management, performance and health, DNA genotypes, grading and customer intelligence.

For Canadian beef industry partners, the program will provide a means for improved information/feedback sharing and process verification, as well as tools for value-added trade opportunities. Canadian Beef Advantage is going to be built on the principles of:
• Industry control
• Market driven
• Development at the speed of technology
• Producer control of mandatory regulations

The results of this program will be information movement among industry segments; more defined breeding, feeding and marketing strategies; improved overall herd quality.

CANADA & US - Cattle numbers are falling, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, US Department of Agriculture.

CANADA - After consulting with the Manitoba Cattle Producer's Association and the Manitoba Forage Seed Association earlier this week, Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Minister Stan Struthers announced the province will continue to monitor the ongoing livestock feed situation and engage federal counterparts in order to develop appropriate programming for producers affected by excess moisture.

US - Beef exports in June were up 17.8 per cent compared to a year earlier. Our two biggest foreign customers, Mexico and Canada purchased less US beef in June, but most everyone else purchased more than in June 2009. In total, 8.8 per cent of US June beef production was exported.

A coalition of cattle producers and consumer advocates has accused the US of exporting beef to Australia despite a ban due to mad cow disease.

A coalition of cattle producers and consumer advocates has accused the United States of exporting beef to Australia despite a ban due to bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.

A range of beef products have been exported to Australia despite a trade ban since 2003 due to mad cow disease.

CWA also hosts the cumulative RBC Beef Supreme Challenge which invites champions from all the large shows in Canada to compete for the title of being the best in the nation. It's always awe-inspiring to see the quality of cattle in the ring, but this year was particularly outstanding. The Top Ten bulls and females were tremendous individuals, and there were many more left standing who were absolutely worthy of the honour.

The Supreme Champion Female went to Red Lazy MC Bess 12S, a Red Angus cow presented by Lazy MC Angus (see their ad at the top of this page) and Corner Creek Angus.

The Supreme Champion Bull for 2008 is Soo LineYellowstone 6344, exhibited by Soo Line Cattle Co. of Midale, SK.


List of Top Ten: http://www.agribition.com/show_sales_results/2008/results-rbcsupremechallenge.pdf



Photos of the week's champions: Champions Online

Agribition champions:

Black Angus
Bull: SOO LINE YELLOWSTONE 6344
Female: SOO LINE ANNIE K 6271


Red Angus
Bull: RED BRYLOR SDL SQUALL 230S
Female: RED LAZY MC BESS 12S


Charolais
Bull: JSR TROPHY 88T
Female: DBAR ELEGANCE 635S


Galloway
Bull: GLENFIDDICH SAGEBRUSH
Female: DIAMOND B TAZZ 78T


Gelbvieh
Bull: RWG TENNESSEE CAT 7104
Female: DVE DAVIDSON MS JIM 13P


Horned Hereford
Bull: TRIPLE A MAX'S TURBO ET 1T
Female: GH ADAMS NEON POPPY 177S


Polled Hereford
Bull: WLB ELI 10H 83T
Female: JJPH 53K MOLLY 672S


Limousin
Bull: RPY PAYNES DYNAMO 16U
Female: IVY´S PLD SWEET TOUCH 4S


Maine Anjou
Bull: DONARO MR BUSINESS 643T
Female: SW MISS PRIME CHILL 704T


Shorthorn
Bull: GLENFORD REAL WORLD 45S
Female: ALTA CEDAR SILVER MAISIE 59S



Simmental
Bull: YR KING RANCH 13S
Female: TLG FLIRTIN WITH YOU



Speckle Park
Bull: STAR BANK URSA MAJOR 82U
Female: REDNECK RANCH´S ULYSSES 5U

The largest cattle show in Canada has another year in the books, and what a show it was at Agribition! The excitement in the barns was contagious with a week of great shows and sales for all of the breeds.


All results are available at www.agribition.com. Photos are online at www.grantspix.com.

WOW!

The quality at Farmfair International in Edmonton this past week was OUTSTANDING.

I can honestly say that the cattle in the barns were nothing short of impressive. Many visitors commented on the depth of quality in the shows. Saturday afternoon saw the best of every breed compete for the big prizes and money in the Supreme and Legends of the Fall shows, and for the first time ever both the Supreme Bull and Supreme Female came from the same exhibitor -- Garth and Angela Rancier, Rancier Farms of Killam AB. Congratulations!!!

Supreme Champion Bull: SS Ebonys Intuition 802, exhibited by Rancier Farms of Killam AB

Supreme Champion Female: TLG Flirtin With You, exhibited by Rancier Farms of Killam AB

Bull Legend of the Fall: Mader Black Ironman, exhibited by Mader Ranches of Carstairs AB

Heifer Legend of the Fall: HF Echo 49U, exhibited by Hamilton Farms of Cochrane AB

Check out the photos at Champions Online / Grant Rolston Photography

2008 Farmfair Champions:

Black Angus
SAV Wall Street 7091 - Serhienko/Michelson/Gerrard/Poley-Hall, Maymont SK
DMM Top Lass 18P - Miller Wilson Angus, Bashaw AB

Red Angus
Red Brylor SDL Squall 230S - Brylor Ranch, PincherCreek AB
Red Corner Creek Cherokee 198S - Corner Creek Angus and Northline Angus, Ardrossan AB

Charolais
SVY Worldwide Pld 621S - Serhienko Cattle Co, Maymont SK
DBAR Elegance 635S - New Country Livestock, Donalda AB

Gelbvieh DVE Davidson Leadtime 89T - Davidson Gelbvieh, Ponteix SKSLC Smoke 193P - Severtson Land and Cattle, Innisfail AB

Horned Hereford
CLI Domino 796T 1ET - Adams Hirsche Herefords & Angus, High River AB
Peak Dot Capacity 318T - Adams Hirsche Herefords & Angus, High River AB

Polled Hereford
DXB 35M Torque 26T - K-Cow Ranch, Elk Point AB
TLELL 36N Kema 8S - Jamie Richardson, Tlell BC

Limousin
HSF Watcha Swingers Club - Greenwood Limousin / Highland Stock Farms Limousin, Olds AB
TMF Pillow Talk 907P Greenwood Limousin, Lloydminster SK

Lowline
BM Curious 3T - BM Lowlines, Storthoaks SK
ALTA Marie BIL 5N - Big Island Lowlines, Edmonton AB

Salers
SC PLD BLK Unlimited 14U - Spring Coulee Salers, Carstairs
ABPAX Java 10L - G I T, Langdon AB

Shorthorn
DR Royal 20T Kenlene Shorthorn, Ponoka AB

Simmental
SS EBONYS INTUITION 802 - Rancier Farms, Killam AB
TLG Flirtin With You - Rancier Farms, Killam AB

Junior FuturityRed Lazy MC Bess 12S - Laurie Morasch/Lazy MC Angus, Bassano AB

Lloydminster hosted another first-class Stockade Roundup!

LivestockXchangeOnline.com had the pleasure of sponsoring at the event -- congratulations to Hopewell Charolais and McIntosh Livestock on winning the two $500 gift certificates to advertise on the site!

Exhibitors brought out a phenominal set of cattle and the Supreme Show lineup included several bulls and females that will likely be in the hunt all fall. Supreme Champion Bull went to SAV Wall Street 7091, owned by Serhienko Cattle, Michelson Land & Cattle, Gerrard Livestock and Poley-Hall Partnership. The Supreme Champion Female was won by LLB Lady Burgess 499R & AFA 362U, owned by Justamere Ranches.

Check out the champion photos at ChampionsOnline.com.

In the multi-breed calf jackpot shows, Payne Livestock's Limousin bull calf took home one buckle and Northline Angus' Black Angus heifer calf received the other.

Congratulations to all the exhibitors, and thank you to the Stockade staff and directors for all of their hard work!

Top Meadow Farms averaged $4,499 on their production sale Oct. 4 at Clarksburg ON. The high-selling animal was Lot 1A, going to Corle Land & Cattle for $20,500. Great sale!

Kudos to the Beef Beyond Borders organizers for putting on an educational, fun event! Also a huge thank you to the sponsors who made it possible. With close to 400 participants from around the world having the opportunity to network and learn from each other, the BIF 2008 conference was an extremely successful event!

World food production will have to increase 50% by 2030. Yet the North American cowherd continues to decline.

Certainly, beef production has become more challenging with the cost of raising a calf going up 56% in just the past three years.

Dr. Mark Enns, Colorado State University, posed the question, how can we become more profitable? Through changes in management practices, changes in marketing and genetic improvement.

From a genetic standpoint, the easy stuff is done. The industry has EPDs to select for all the traits that are easy to measure. Now the focus needs to shift to Economically Relevant Traits.

ERTs are traits directly related to income and/or cost of production. One example of an ERT that is already being measured is calving ease. Calving ease has a direct impact on income as it relates to the number of live calves, as well as labor costs. Birth weight on the other hand is an indicator trait – it has the ability to influence calving ease, but is not the entire equation.

ERT traits for immediate focus are:
• Feed intake
• Health and survival traits
• Consumer acceptance traits, such as eating quality and nutritional content
• Regionalized adaptability, and
• Male fertility traits

Remember that genetic improvement is long term and the decisions you make today will be most apparent 20 years from now.

Rather than providing summaries on the individual presentations this morning, the following is a synopsis of the common theme that was apparent from all the speakers.

The North American beef industry is once again in the midst of significant change. Factors such as fuel prices, labor shortages, technology advances and consolidation are having a huge impact on everything from daily management to end product marketing.

So, how can we take advantage of the opportunities and overcome the challenges?

COLLABORATION.

Collaboration among industry segments. Collaboration across borders. Collaboration between producers.

Industry Segments
Sharing of information among the various levels of the industry will allow everyone to improve the quality and consistency of the final beef product at a much faster pace than has previously been possible. Increasing the availability of genetic, performance and management information for all those involved will allow each player to make adjustments to their niche that can enhance the entire chain.

Across Borders
Collaboration on projects such as genetic evaluation and research between Canada and the United States has become more common during the past 20 years. This ensures more efficient collection and interpretation of information, increased data accuracy and better use of financial and human resources. There is certainly opportunity to expand these partnerships as breed associations are forced to re-evaluate expenditures and look at ways to become more efficient.

Between Producers
Gone are the days when commercial customers were happy with their seedstock providers selling them a pedigreed bull and showing an interest in their farm and family. Commercial producers have become value-driven business people with sharp pencils, and a need for more information and customer service. They are utilizing the most current technology and looking for innovative ways to market their calves. Collaboration between seedstock and calf suppliers is a natural partnership that has the potential to greatly influence the quality of the cattle and beef produced that should lead to improvement in their bottom line.

North America should be the genetic source for the world. The industry cannot afford inefficiencies or duplicate efforts. In the words of John Pollak, let’s begin to take small steps toward… someday.

The presentations this morning from Dr. Kent Andersen, Sean McGrath, Dr. Bob Kemp and Dr. Mark Enns on this final morning of Beef Beyond Borders were EXCELLENT! Full summaries will be posted this afternoon at the latest.

Dave Nichols of Nichols Superior Beef Genetics, Iowa, believes the beef industry is changing from a supply-driven market to a demand-driven market.

This transition is going to require seedstock producers to focus their genetic selection and production on several key factors:

• Exploiting heterosis
• Improving rapid early growth
• Taking advantage of current technology to improve the beef end product
• Use of DNA profiles in selection and systematic culling
• Aggressively pursuing marketing partners
  

Canada has a very vibrant, energy-driven economy. But the math is simple, it’s in trouble.

If Canada doesn’t increase its markets outside North America, the country will become a domestic producer. This will equate to a significant downsizing of the beef industry.

“The blend of politics and science creates strange offspring,” said Dr. Kee Jim. Rather than the past all-or-nothing approach Canada has had to re-establishing trade, Jim thinks the country should pursue incremental access.

Even though Canada and the United States have the same BSE classification with the OIE, Canada lacks the trade leverage with other countries to force open market access. Canada has struggled to regain meaningful, economically effective access to the markets that closed as a result of finding BSE in 2003.

Whether Canada regains overseas market access in the next three to five years will determine whether its current beef industry survives.