Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures ended lower on Friday after a choppy session, dragged down by profit-taking that trumped steady-to-higher prices for market-ready or cash cattle, traders said. On Friday, cash cattle in Texas traded at $146 per hundredweight (cwt), up $1 from last week, feedlot sources said. Cash cattle […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle end lower after volatile day
CME fines Ont. Teachers for hog trades
Chicago | Reuters — The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, which manages investments for Canada’s largest single-profession pension plan, violated speculative position limits in CME Group’s lean hog futures market, the exchange operator said Friday. Chicago-based CME fined the board $15,000 and ordered it give up nearly $18,000 in profits for exceeding position limits on […] Read more
France to ban pigs, byproducts from N. America, Japan over PED
Paris | Reuters –– France will ban imports of live pigs, pork-based byproducts and pig sperm from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Japan to protect against a virus that has killed millions of piglets in North America and Asia, a farm ministry official said on Friday. The ban, which is due to be introduced on […] Read more
Maple Leaf books Q1 loss under PEDv cost pressure
A rise in pork prices due mainly to porcine epidemic diarrhea’s effects on the U.S. hog herd has bit deeper into Maple Leaf Foods’ bottom line for its first quarter ending March 31. “Pork markets have been impacted in an unprecedented way due to a virus in the U.S. hog industry, which has renewed pressure […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME feeder cattle at record high on strong calf prices
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures on Thursday closed at an all-time high, with some contracts up by the three-cent price limit, fueled by costly prices for young calves for fattening, traders said. Prices for light-weight feeder cattle are “on fire,” said Jim Clarkson, a broker with A+A Trading Inc. This […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cash price woes drop CME hogs
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures on Wednesday closed down more than two per cent, pressured by the recent decline in cash and wholesale pork prices, traders said. Although the morning’s wholesale pork prices inched upward, mixed cash hog returns left traders uneasy about those prices in the near term. “Packers are […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Fund buying helps CME hogs close mostly higher
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hogs closed mostly higher on Tuesday, with support from fund buying that helped most contracts beat back early-session losses, traders said. Short-covering contributed to overall CME hog advances. May futures could not overcome their bearish premium to CME’s hog index, at 116.83 cents, and lacklustre demand for market […] Read more
Another off-farm Manitoba site turns up PEDv
Another unnamed “high-traffic” off-farm site in western Manitoba has been found to have the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) present — albeit briefly, the province reported Monday. Manitoba’s office of the Chief Veterinary Officer on Monday did not mention any cases of the virus in hogs that had been at the site. The latest confirmation […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME feeder cattle hit record high as supplies tight
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures spiked to a record high on Monday, driven by tight supplies of young calves for fattening at feedlots, traders said. Fewer cattle are available now following years of drought in parts of the United States that have forced ranchers to downsize their herds. The U.S. […] Read more
Alta. gathers GF2 funding for PED prevention
The Alberta and federal governments have assembled $1.35 million in funding for the province’s hog sector to further build up biosecurity against diseases such as porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED). The money, budgeted for Alberta Pork from the Growing Forward 2 (GF2) ag policy funding framework, is on top of previously-announced GF2 grants for farmers and […] Read more