CME June 2021 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Live cattle futures extend slide

CME lean hogs rebound

Chicago | Reuters — CME Group live cattle futures fell on Monday, extending their slide to eight straight sessions on long liquidation and signs that surging wholesale beef prices may have reached a seasonal top, analysts said. Feeder cattle futures felt additional pressure from a jump in Chicago Board of Trade corn futures, a sign […] Read more

CME August 2021 feeder cattle with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hogs down on demand concerns

'We got a little bit ahead of ourselves'

Chicago | Reuters — CME Group hog futures fell sharply for the second day in a row on Friday, with the most-active June contract sinking 2.9 per cent to its lowest since March 23. Cattle futures also were weaker, with the June live cattle contract notching its seventh straight losing session. The market was correcting […] Read more


CME June 2021 lean hogs with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hogs limit-down on profit-taking

Cattle futures continue lower

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures sank by their daily exchange-imposed trading limit on Thursday as profit-taking overwhelmed the market following blistering rallies, analysts said. The setback is a turnaround from gains that have lifted profits for pig farmers after they struggled last year when the COVID-19 pandemic reduced restaurants’ demand for meat […] Read more

Since you can’t ask a cow if it’s happy, Irish researchers came up with an innovative way to try and figure out if they suffer from “livestock lockdown.”

Researchers ask, ‘Do you feel lucky, cow?’

Apparently cows on pasture do, according to an experiment that attempted to measure ‘judgment bias’

Reading Time: 2 minutes Irish researchers say they’ve been able — sort of — to show that cows that aren’t allowed out on pasture “may have damaged emotional well-being.” But the research from Queen’s University Belfast relied on a roundabout method to come to the conclusion that “livestock lockdown” takes a mental toll on cows. The researchers set up […] Read more


(Saskatchewan Polytechnic video screengrab via YouTube)

Saskatchewan to incentivize rural vet techs

Remote learning, loan forgiveness on offer

Saskatchewan plans to clear a few new paths for veterinary technologists and veterinarians in training to take up work in underserved rural areas. The province on Tuesday announced the two-year registered veterinary technologist program at Saskatchewan Polytechnic will offer a distance delivery option, starting this fall, for vet techs to train in rural and remote […] Read more



“We have to step it up. We have to find ways of making more veterinarians of our own.” – Dr. Pat Burrage.

No light at the end of the tunnel for rural vet shortage

The number of vet school grads willing to work in a rural practice barely keeps up with retirements

Reading Time: 6 minutes Veterinarian Pat Burrage tried to retire back in 2018. But so far, he hasn’t had much luck. There just aren’t enough new vets out there to take up the mantle. “The veterinary shortage is the reason a geriatric like me has a job,” he said with a laugh. “Currently in Alberta, we’re producing graduate veterinarians […] Read more

CME June 2021 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hog futures edge higher after limit down move

CME cattle futures weak

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures firmed slightly on Tuesday after falling their daily trading limit in the previous session. Traders said the market had run out of steam after rallying to their highest since June 2014 last week. “There no doubt remains questions about the belly’s staying power at these levels […] Read more



CME June 2021 lean hogs with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Lean hogs limit-down off highest in nearly seven years

Follow-through selling drags on live cattle

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile exchange lean hog futures dropped sharply on Monday, with numerous contracts closing down the daily three-cent limit on a round of profit-taking after the front-month contract hit its highest since June 2014 last week. “We have had a strong run and we are coming up a little bit short […] Read more