Beef 1

Question 1

Meat consumption

Answer 1

STABLE

-beef and pork= 16-18kg/person

-poultry= 35kg/person

Question 2

Canada’s role in beef production

Answer 2

-small role on the world stage but large exporter of beef
**exporter nation depending on US market
-We cannot eat all the beef that we produce

Question 3

Top beef producing agent

Answer 3

1.USA
2. Brazil
3.China
4. EU
10.Canada

Question 4

Top 10 exporting nations

Answer 4

1. Brazil
2. Australia
3. India
   4.USA
   8.Canada
   **but significantly higher in exporting grain finished, high quality beef

Question 5

Where do we import beef from?

Answer 5

-USA
-Uruguay
-New Zealand
-Australia
-Mexico
-Brazil

Question 6

Beef cattle contraction

Answer 6

-been in a long term phase of contraction (3.5mil currently, was 17mil; 54,000 beef producers and dropping)

-typically a 7-13yr “cattle cycle”

-but last 15 years, cycle has been disrupted

Question 7

What influenced the cattle cycle?

Answer 7

-price, production, profit
*biological lag from price signal due to reproduction constraints

-drought has also played a role

Question 8

Where does most of beef production occur?

Answer 8

Western Canada >80% of cows
-mostly Alberta (2/3rd of cattle; ranked 4th when compared to USA states), SK, MB
-BC decreasing, likely due to cost of land

Question 9

Segmented beef industry- 3 phases

Answer 9

1. Cow calf industry- small herds
2. Intermediate stages of backgrounding and stocker operations
3. Feedlot industry- larger commercial operations= South Alberta

Question 10

Cow calf production

Answer 10

Basic production unit (small numbers per herd)
-often secondary or tertiary enterprise
-use land unsuited for farming

Question 11

When are calves born?

Answer 11

Canada: Jan 15-June 30

South USA: Year round

Question 12

Cow calf farm herd sizes

Answer 12

Avg 69 cows
-61% farms have less than 47
-23% between 47-122 cows
-15% have more than 122 cows

Note: less than 600 farms with more than 500 cows (this would be their primary income)

Question 13

Beef cattle per farm per province

Answer 13

-Very minimal in East coast
-Largest in AB, SK, MB, then BC

Question 14

Cow calf operation steps

Answer 14

-Most sell calves at weaning, few will wean calves and sell at a later date

-sell directly to feedlot
-auction market system used to get fair price OR satellite/internet sales

Question 15

Backgrounder system

Answer 15

Feed cattle for growth (1kg/day) prior to going into a feedlot for finishing
-may occur on original cow-calf ranch or may involve a change in ownership
-medium to low energy rations used (forage based)

Question 16

Stocker

Answer 16

*intermediate phase option

Utilize forage and crop residues
-grain stubble, wheat pasture, grass
-often calves that were backgrounded over winter and will then go to pasture for stocker period

Sold as yearlings for short period of finishing in feedlot

Question 17

Backgrounder/stocker locations

Answer 17

-limited infrastructure, may include confinement in pens, grazing pasture, or a combination

-located where forage and grazing areas are abundant

-used by feedlot operators and cattle feeders to ensure cattle provided to beef processor year round

Question 18

Feedlot

Answer 18

-fed in pens where harvested feed brought to them

-fed high energy diet (barley and barley silage

-cattle may be 12-24 mths old at time of slaughter

Question 19

custom feeding vs. owning cattle

Answer 19

Custom feeding:
Farmers buy cattle at feedlot and pay feedlot to custom feed them= money write off

Owning cattle- own production and undergo the 3 phases

Question 20

Feedlot feeding

Answer 20

Calves= 180-280 days

Yearlings= 100-180days

**high energy, low roughage diets

Question 21

Target slaughter weight

Answer 21

1250-1550 lbs for steers

Question 22

How many animals in feedlot?

Answer 22

100-350 animals per pen
-up to 150,000 per site

Question 23

Cattle fed market per province

Answer 23

1.AB
2. ON
3. BC/SK/MB

Question 24

Why is feeding industry concentrated in AB?

Answer 24

-access to grain
-access to weaned calves
-dry semi-arid climate which is ideal for cattle production
-established infrastructure with the meat packing industry concentrated in AB

Question 25

Bunk capacity

Answer 25

Less than 200 feedlots total
-Massive narrowing down of cattle (54,000) into just 200 lots

Question 26

Increased prices in cow-calf industry

Answer 26

-Due to contraction and droughts
*high demand and low volume

Question 27

What are prices quoted in?

Answer 27

$/cwt or $/100lbs

Question 28

Feedlot profitability

Answer 28

Depends on grain prices, canadian dollar and cattle prices
*highly volatile with low margins

Question 29

Packing industry

Answer 29

4 major packing industry members: Cargill, Guelph, JBS (Brooks), Smaller packers like Harmony Beef
*still considered competitive
*carcass weights continue to increase which helps efficiency of production

Question 30

Canada Food retailer

Answer 30

1. Loblaws
   2.Sobeys/Safeway
2. Metro
3. Costco
4. Walmart (would be larger in USA)

Question 31

Steer carcass weights

Answer 31

Increasing. More beef with less animals
-6-7 lbs per year increase

Question 32

Various beef pathways

Answer 32

many pathways for cattle to move through from birth to slaughter
*depends on market conditions
*backgrounding/stoker industry allows for temporary holding pattern of cattle to slow down growth