Farmscape for August 9, 2012  (Episode 4212)

The Executive Director of the Western Canadian Feeds Innovation Institute says, as feed grain prices rise, livestock producers will be scrambling to source affordable feed grains.
The Western Canadian Feeds Innovation Institute, located at the University of Saskatchewan, focuses on the feeds industry and feeds.
The institute's web site, located at WCFIN.Ca, contains a feed pricing page which lists a number of web sites that provide feed ingredient pricing information that livestock producers can use to compare to the prices offered by the brokers or private companies that they're working with.
Institute Executive Director Dr. Colleen Christensen notes, on average, it's estimated 60 to 70 percent of the costs of raising livestock are associated with the cost of feed.

Clip-Dr. Colleen Christensen-Western Canadian Feeds Innovation Institute:
As feed grain prices go higher it's pushing profitability margins that much more so, at 60 to 70 percent of total costs, livestock producers are going to be starting to be pushed for remaining profitable when feed grain prices are so high.
I know there's a lot of interest out there to search and try to understand what feed grain prices exist and what's available through out western Canada.
With the droughts that are going on in central Canada and in the U.S. we're seeing less and less ingredients available there and so people are starting to look to western Canada and the western states for ingredients.
I know feed grain prices are starting to increase everywhere and the numbers of brokers or feed ingredient suppliers even calling the university, the number of calls that we're seeing here are increasing as well.

Dr. Christensen says, in addition to price, livestock producers will need to keep a close watch on quality and she encourages producers to check samples closely for pathogens or mycotoxins.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council