Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures tumbled two per cent on Monday, pressured by lower prices for market-ready or cash hogs, traders said. The morning’s average of hogs in the eastern Midwest dropped $1.02 per hundredweight (cwt) from Friday to $110.56, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (all figures US$). Hog […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hog futures sink two per cent with sagging cash prices
Sask. sets up pre-emptive PEDv response fund
Saskatchewan and its hog industry are setting up a contingency fund against the day porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) arrives in the province. The federal and Saskatchewan governments on Thursday announced $200,000, to be matched by industry association Sask Pork, to offset “costs related to disease containment strategies, welfare issues, enhanced marketing efforts and mortality management” […] Read more
Maple Leaf’s Hamilton wiener plant now closed
A wiener processing plant on Maple Leaf Foods’ list of six further-processing facilities tapped for closure in the company’s 2011 “value creation” plan has officially shut its doors. The Toronto meat processing company on Thursday announced its plant on Brockley Road in Hamilton has closed and its production — plus 88 per cent of the […] Read more
USDA to require reporting of PEDv, SDCV
Washington | Reuters –– In an expected move, the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday announced new measures to combat the spread of diseases such as porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) in the U.S. pig population. While PED is not considered a reportable disease according to international standards, USDA will now require reporting of the PED […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME hog futures climb, live cattle fall before holiday
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures on Thursday finished higher on fund buying and short-covering ahead of the Easter holiday, traders said. CME will be closed on Friday in observance of the Good Friday holiday. Some investors bought the May and June contracts in anticipation of a post-Easter uptrend in cash hog […] Read more
Que. flood concerns briefly shut Olymel pork plant
Quebec meat packing firm Olymel called off shifts Wednesday at its Beauce-region pork slaughter plant due to potential flood threats. Olymel, the meat processing arm of agrifood co-operative Coop Federee, said it decided to cancel Wednesday’s evening and night shifts at its plant at Vallee-Jonction, about 60 km south of Quebec City, due to concerns […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Pork price rebound rallies CME hogs
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures on Wednesday settled higher after a choppy day of trading, supported by unexpectedly strong demand for pork at wholesale, traders said. Wednesday morning’s wholesale pork price turned $2.38 per hundredweight (cwt) higher at $124.11, after falling $2.68 the day before, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture […] Read more
PEDv seen pushing U.S. 2014 pork production down two per cent
Reuters — U.S. pork production is likely to decline about two per cent this year due to the spread of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its monthly livestock outlook report. Live hog prices were expected to increase as a result of the pig virus, the report said. As of […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cash price uncertainty weakens CME live cattle
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle turned lower, pressured by profit-taking and uncertainty regarding this week’s slaughter-ready or cash prices, traders said. Bullish participants see packers paying steady to higher money for cattle to be delivered during the first full slaughter week after the Easter holiday. They also cited possible beef cutout […] Read more
USDA seen considering mandatory reports of PEDv outbreaks
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. government is considering rules that would require outbreaks of a deadly pig virus to be reported to the government in an effort to improve tracking of the disease, which has already spread to 30 states, an industry group said Monday. Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) has killed millions of […] Read more