Debbie McKay is doing the computer equivalent of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on Canada’s first Cattle on Feed report.
McKay, who works for Canfax, the market information service of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, is making the final adjustments to a computer program that will gather and analyze data from feedlots.
Once the computer spits out its first official report in mid-October, cattle producers in Canada and the United States will know just how many cattle Canadians feed.
While the feed report is important information for Canadians, it is also another way to try to convince Americans that Canadians are not dumping cattle across the border.
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A Canadian cattle on feed report was specifically requested by the American cattle industry at the Canada-U.S. cattle industry summit held in Denver, Colorado, in October last year.
McKay, who is co-ordinating the report, has been gathering data from feedlots for four months to be used in tests with the new program.
She wants all feedlots with more than 1,000 head in Alberta and Saskatchewan to voluntarily send in monthly data. About three-quarters of Canada’s cattle are finished in those two provinces.
McKay said feedlot operators have been co-operative.
There have long been calls for a Cattle on Feed report, but it was only made possible recently through funding from Agriculture Canada.
Canfax won the contract to manage the report.
Because of confidentiality issues around the number of cattle from competing feedlots, McKay is the only one allowed to see the raw data.
The report should allow cattle producers to understand market trends and determine expected market dates, she said.
The United States Department of Agriculture has produced a monthly cattle on feed report for years.
Producers and market watchers use it to monitor the number of cattle being placed in feedlots and determine the future supply available to packers.
