Goodbye and good riddance — 2022 was not kind to cattle feeders

Jan 18, 2023

The fed cattle sector couldn’t catch a break in 2022 and it wasn’t any one thing that created the problem.

“This has been going on for sure since February/March,” said Jacob Bueckert, who operates Driland Feeders near Warner and is chair of the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association. “I don’t know if we ever fully caught up from the slowdowns we had during COVID-19.

“We got close to catching up, and then we ended up getting more cattle in feed yards. There’s been problem after problem facing the feeding industry. It’s a tough go for sure.”

Market analyst Anne Wasko of Gateway Livestock Services has the same take, saying the initial problem was packing plant shutdowns and slowdowns during the height of the pandemic.

“One thing leads to another – you can’t hang it on any one thing,” she said. “We came into 2022 not completely cleaned up from the COVID backlog. We were reasonably cleaned up, but there were record numbers on feed in Western Canada to start 2022.”

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Video: WARNING! Rough Start To Breeding Season!!

WARNING! Sheep Breeding Season Begins With A Bang! Breeding season is officially underway at Ewetopia Farms, but it didn’t exactly start the way we planned!

This vlog begins with us sorting through our rams to find the perfect match for a customer’s breeding program. What should have been routine quickly turned dangerous when one of our more nervous rams panicked. In seconds, Arnie’s knee was injured, and then I was slammed hard onto the concrete floor — both of us taken down by one ram!

Thankfully, it was just bruises, but it’s a reminder of how unpredictable and powerful mature rams can be. Once we recovered, it was time to get back to the real work — the start of breeding season.

We sorted the ewes into four breeding groups (two Suffolk and two Dorset), checking parentage as they ran through the chute, deworming those that needed it, and setting aside thinner ewes for session two of breeding season in a month’s time.This staggered approach keeps lambing organized and prevents overcrowding in the barns.

From rogue rams to the excitement of new breeding groups, this episode is full of action. Stay tuned for the next vlog, where we’ll share how we chose the rams for each group!