Reading Time: < 1 minute Maple Leaf Foods says breeding sows in company-owned barns will have transitioned to open sow housing by the end of the year. The company had pledged to end its use of gestation crates in 2014 but said it would take a decade. Accomplishing it three years earlier than planned shows the company’s “commitment to world-class […] Read more
Maple Leaf ends use of gestation crates
Pork seminar adopts dual format
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Banff Pork Seminar will be a hybrid conference this winter. Organizers are planning to have live broadcast of the plenary sessions, with breakout sessions to be taped and available following the Jan. 11-13 event. “The safety of our delegates is of utmost importance, and we are taking steps to ensure that in-person delegates have […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Live cattle end higher, lean hogs eases
Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures finished higher on Friday and gained about 1 percent for the week, helped by solid export demand, traders said. Demand from China has been particularly strong, fueled by the appetites of a growing Chinese middle class and diplomatic tensions with rival supplier Australia. The U.S. […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Lean hogs climb on strong exports
Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures climbed to their highest in nearly two weeks on Thursday, supported by strong weekly export sales and tighter supplies of market-ready hogs, analysts said. “Hog numbers are still running below last year. If that continues to tighten up, I think that boosts the back months […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Live cattle firms on stronger cash, wholesale market
Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures firmed on Wednesday, underpinned by stronger cash trade as packers pull more cattle forward, while wholesale beef prices added support, analysts said. “It does seem like the packers have picked up the production for cattle lately,” said Doug Houghton, technical analyst at Brock Capital Management. […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Lean hog futures slip amid export demand doubts
Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures slipped on Tuesday, as uncertainty over Chinese pork demand continued and animal weights were expected to increase on cooling U.S. temperatures, analysts said. Meanwhile, Chicago’s cattle futures firmed a bit on Tuesday, amid steady slaughter rates and market expectations that cash prices should continue to […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME feeder cattle futures slide to five-month low
Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures hit a one-week low on Monday on bigger-than-expected U.S. supplies, while feeder cattle dropped to a five-month low, analysts said. Traders have been expecting cattle supplies to tighten but did not see signs of it in October, said Rich Nelson, chief strategist for agricultural commodities […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures fall; hog futures rise as traders look at cash prices
Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures fell for the second day in a row on Friday, with traders saying that prices were still too high compared to cash market. High prices for corn and wheat that weighed on cattle producers’ profit margins added further pressure. But traders noted the opposite in […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures fall after three days of gains, hogs firm
Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures fell on Thursday, snapping three sessions of gains on some profit-taking, traders said. Fresh signs of strength in the cash cattle markets had already been priced in, a trader said, and sharply higher prices for grain raised concerns about increased feeding costs. Hog futures were […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures hit near two-month high as cash markets firm
Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures rose for the third day in a row on Wednesday, nearing a two-month high on signs of improving cash markets. Traders also said a stepped-up pace of slaughter in recent days indicated demand for beef remains high. CME lean hog futures closed lower, with the front-month […] Read more
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