Reading Time: 2 minutes Red Deer’s Olymel plant remains closed following three deaths linked to the COVID-19 outbreak at the hog processing facility. The plant closed temporarily but indefinitely on Feb. 16, and as of press time, it remained closed, with more than 500 confirmed COVID cases linked to the facility by Alberta Health Services. That’s more than a […] Read more
Olymel closure due to COVID creates costly backlog for hog producers
Backlog of hogs tops 100,000 and it will take weeks to work through it when plant reopens
Canada’s active PED case count dwindling
Affected Manitoba farms now all presumptive-negative
The number of active outbreaks of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) on hog farms in Canada has shrunk to a few in Eastern Canada, with affected sites elsewhere now believed negative for the disease. Manitoba Pork announced Wednesday that the last of the premises to report a PED outbreak in that province in 2020 has now […] Read more
Olymel shipping backlogged hogs to U.S.
Company-owned hogs to go south after COVID closes Red Deer plant
Winnipeg | Reuters — Olymel said Friday it was shipping pigs to the United States to help clear a backlog of hogs after it had to temporarily close its Red Deer, Alta. slaughter plant because of a coronavirus outbreak. Olymel shut the plant on Wednesday and declared force majeure — unforeseeable circumstances that prevent contract […] Read more
Contaminated feed a risk that can’t be ignored, says expert
It’s clear that viruses, including African swine fever, can be transmitted via feed ingredients
Reading Time: 3 minutes New research is showing that animal feed can carry viruses, including the one that causes African swine fever. It’s a threat that must be thwarted, Scott Dee, veterinarian and director of applied research for Minnesota-based Pipestone Veterinary Services, told attendees at the virtual 2021 Banff Pork Seminar in January. “We’ve got to work together,” said […] Read more
Olymel to close Red Deer hog plant against COVID-19
Hog deliveries suspended 'until further notice'
Meat packer Olymel plans to temporarily close its hog slaughter and pork processing plant at Red Deer, Alta., winding down that facility’s operations starting this week against a rapidly spreading COVID-19 outbreak among workers. The plant, one of Canada’s largest by slaughter capacity at over 45,000 hogs per week, has notified its hog suppliers and […] Read more
Pork producers eye an average year — which would mean more losses
Barns are already being shut down, and this exodus will accelerate, says industry veteran
Reading Time: 3 minutes The past year hammered the already struggling hog industry — but is there hope on the horizon for 2021? “I don’t want to be doom and gloom, but I have to say no,” said Brent Bushell, general manager of Western Hog Exchange. “In Western Canada, on average, producers haven’t made money since about 2015. Guys […] Read more
Former F. Menard hog plant upgrading for second shift
Olymel announces $9 million in renovations
Pork and poultry packer Olymel plans to dial up its pork output with a new evening shift at a Quebec hog plant it now owns in the province’s Monteregie. Olymel, the meat packing arm of Sollio Co-operative Group, said Friday it will invest $9 million in renovations at its slaughter, cutting and deboning plant at […] Read more
China’s 2020 pork output higher than expected
Reported slowing of ASF-induced decline beats expectations
Beijing | Reuters — China’s pork output posted significant signals toward recovery last year after the sector was decimated by an incurable hog disease in 2019, official data showed Monday. China’s 2020 pork output fell 3.3 per cent from a year earlier, to 41.13 million tonnes, after plunging 21 per cent in 2019, the National […] Read more
USDA unveils more COVID-19 aid, mostly for livestock farmers
Funds earmarked for farmers under contract
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Friday it will pay an additional US$2.3 billion in COVID-19 aid to farmers, directing more money to livestock producers suffering from disruptions in slaughtering and restaurant demand for meat. The aid, which comes from money allocated to USDA from previous pandemic stimulus legislation, follows […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Live cattle futures ease as corn prices soar, raising feed costs
Chicago | Reuters – U.S. live cattle futures declined on Wednesday for a second session as surging corn prices signaled rising feed costs and pressured feeder cattle futures, traders said. Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) February live cattle futures settled down 0.125 cent at 114.450 cents per pound, while CME March feeder cattle tumbled 1.475 cents […] Read more
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