Reading Time: 4 minutes Canadian pork producers need “immediate help” from government to deal with a price plunge sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff wars with China and Mexico. “What we’re seeing right now is really bad,” said Darcy Fitzgerald, executive director of Alberta Pork. “And a lot of it has to do with what’s going on with […] Read more
Pork producers slammed by tariff war call for government aid
The bottom fell out of the pork market this summer and Alberta producers are suffering huge losses
Canadian hog prices on rebound
CNS Canada — Improving trade relations and the emergence of swine fever in China have made their presence felt on the Canadian hog market. Weekly signature No. 5 base slaughter weight cash hog prices averaged $117.83 per 100 kg as of Friday, up by roughly $15 over the past two weeks. Those numbers are a […] Read more
Price plunge spells disaster for Alberta hog farmers
Demand is strong, Canadian packers are short 70,000 hogs weekly, but prices have plunged
Reading Time: 5 minutes A crash in prices — fuelled by Washington’s tariff war — could spell the end for many of Alberta’s dwindling number of hog operations. The sector has already lost half of its hog farms in the past decade and with producers losing $50 on every animal they ship, more are looking at throwing in the […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle futures down for 3rd day
Chicago | Reuters – U.S. live cattle futures fell Friday for a third straight session, with the benchmark CME October contract notching a six-week low on disappointing cash cattle values, traders said. Slaughter-ready cattle traded Thursday at $109 per cwt in Texas and Kansas, down from $109 to $110.50 last week. Some traders had been […] Read more
China culls more pigs as authorities race to trace African swine fever source
Beijing | Reuters – China is culling over 1,300 pigs as authorities rush to control a fourth outbreak of African swine fever and try to trace the origins of the virus that first struck the world’s largest hog herd three weeks ago. Authorities in the eastern province of Zhejiang said they would slaughter 1,332 hogs […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle futures decline after weaker cash trade
Chicago | Reuters – U.S. live cattle futures declined on Thursday after cash cattle traded in Kansas and Texas at mostly lower prices than a week ago, traders said. CME Group feeder cattle futures edged higher while lean hog futures ended mixed, with the nearby October contract down more than 2 cents per cwt, or […] Read more
Trade uncertainty weighs on Manitoba pork prices
CNS Canada –– An ongoing trade battle between China and the U.S., along with general uncertainty in global trade, is starting to put a damper on Manitoba pork prices. In Canada, the formula price used by domestic farmers is based on the national base price in the U.S. That price is determined by a formula […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hog futures fall to new contract lows on heavy supplies
Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures tumbled about 3 percent to fresh life-of-contract lows on Wednesday as cash hog and pork prices extended declines amid abundant supplies and worries of sagging demand, traders said. Most active October lean hog futures fell 1.575 cents to 48.400 cents per pound while front-month August […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Feeder cattle fall on technical selling; hogs mostly lower
Chicago | Reuters – U.S. cattle futures fell on Tuesday, with feeder cattle easing about 2 percent on pressure from technical selling and abundant supplies, traders and analysts said. Lean hog futures also were mostly lower on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, weighed down by declining prices for hogs in cash markets and lower wholesale pork […] Read more
Couple weren’t millionaires — so they found a different way to farm
It’s not for everyone, says Ben Campbell, but direct marketing is a low-cost route to farming
Reading Time: 3 minutes Although Ben Campbell is a third-generation rancher, he didn’t have an operation he could take over. And when he looked at the math for starting his own ranch, it was worse than ugly — he figured he’d need $3 million in assets to generate an income of $50,000. “I didn’t have enough money to do […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
