Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle rose on Wednesday, driven by anticipation of higher cash prices this week, traders said. For now, there is more confidence in better prices for cash cattle given record-high beef values and positive packer margins, said R.J. O’Brien floor manager Jim Brooks. Cash cattle bids in Texas […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Live cattle futures rise on hopes for cash prices
Hog cash prices nearing record highs
CNS Canada –– Cash prices for Canadian hogs are nearing record levels due to concerns about reduced North American supplies because of the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) that’s plagued U.S. farmers and a handful in Canada this winter. Futures prices for hogs reached record levels in the U.S. in early March, with prices rallying […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME hogs peak at new high in volatile action
Chicago | Reuters –– Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures on Tuesday reached a new high for a second straight session as buying pegged to a deadly pig virus offset profit-taking, traders said. The porcine epidemic diarrhea virus sweeping across U.S. hog farms is already hurting production in parts of the Midwest. The virus is expected […] Read more
PEDv-related supply woes drive U.S. hogs up 6.5 per cent
Chicago | Reuters — Hog futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange surged 6.5 per cent this week on tightening U.S. supplies as a deadly pig virus sweeps the country, traders and industry sources said on Friday. CME lean hog futures finished the week at 113.75 cents per pound, down from a record high of 114.675 […] Read more
Hog code calls for group sow housing, pain control for piglets
Animal welfare advocates call Canada’s new code of practice for the care and handling of pigs — which commits farmers who follow it to adopt group housing for sows in any new barns built after July this year — a “watershed moment” for the industry. The revised code, replacing the previous version released in 1993, […] Read more
Alta. biosecurity funding boosted under PED pressure
Alberta Farmer Express — As Alberta’s hog industry braces for the seemingly inevitable arrival of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), the province has announced an early opening to a program to boost on-farm biosecurity. “Even though we do have some connections with feed now, biosecurity is still our best tool in preventing the spread of PED,” said […] Read more
PEDv infectiveness not confirmed in piglet feed: CFIA
Federal lab tests still can’t rule piglet feed in or out as a possible source of the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) in Canada. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Monday announced its findings after testing an Ontario company’s hog feed pellets containing U.S.-origin blood plasma from PEDv-infected hogs as an ingredient. [Related story] While […] Read more
PEDv arrives in Sask. on soiled boots, not yet in hogs
Saskatchewan has now officially had a close encounter of the third kind with the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) — but not in hogs. Saskatchewan’s chief veterinary officer Dr. Betty Althouse on Friday reported a confirmed “positive environmental sample” of both PEDv and transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE) in a livestock trailer returning to the province from […] Read more
PEDv arrives in North Dakota
North Dakota has become the seventh U.S./Canadian border state with a case of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) in its hog herd. The lone case so far was confirmed this week on a hog farm in the eastern part of the state, North Dakota State University said Thursday. As of Sunday, before North Dakota’s confirmation, the […] Read more
Maple Leaf posts loss on production revamp costs
Reuters — Canadian food processor Maple Leaf Foods, which has been replacing production facilities and setting up a new distribution system, reported a quarterly loss that it blamed on the “tremendous” costs of the restructuring. Maple Leaf’s multi-year program to revamp meat operations to boost profits and better compete with U.S. rivals such as Tyson […] Read more