Los Angeles | Reuters –– A McDonald’s Corp. shareholder group is renewing its call for the fast-food chain to stop buying any meat from animals raised with antibiotics vital to fighting human infections. The move from the Congregation of Benedictine Sisters of Boerne, Texas, comes amid growing concern from public health experts that the overuse […] Read more
McDonald’s investor wants it to cut antibiotics in all meats
NAFTA countries debate COOL harm at WTO
Canada and Mexico have made their case before a World Trade Organization arbitration panel on how much tariff revenge they’re allowed to impose on U.S. goods over country-of-origin labelling (COOL). The WTO “has ruled four times that the U.S.’s COOL rules are discriminatory,” Canadian Pork Council chairman Rick Bergmann said in a council release Wednesday […] Read more
Regulatory wrangling ups the threat of PEDv in Canada
Livestock trailers coming from the U.S. could spread the virus across Western Canada, say pork officials
Reading Time: 3 minutes Washing hog transports in the U.S. before they return to Canada sounds good in theory — but it may actually increase the threat of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus here. “We are extremely concerned about this because essentially we’re going to be sending trailers to be firehose washed at some point in the U.S. where they […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME live, feeder cattle ease to 16-month low
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures on Thursday hit a 16-month bottom, falling to contract lows for a second straight session, on lower wholesale beef values and further cash price weakness, traders said. Spot-October closed 0.75 cent/lb. lower at 136.85 cents, and earlier marked a contract low of 136.525 (all figures […] Read more
Pork prices set to soften, analyst says
CNS Canada — As the North American barbecue season winds down for another year, so too goes some strength in the pork market. For instance, cash slaughter-weight hogs in Saskatchewan, based on the Maple Leaf Signature #3 contract, averaged $162.55/cwt last week, down $7.95 (4.7 per cent) per 100 kg, according to Brad Marceniuk, a […] Read more
Study alleges U.S. fast food still mostly raised on antibiotics
Los Angeles | Reuters –– Most large U.S. fast-food chains still serve meat from farm animals that have been routinely fed antibiotics, consumer groups said in a new report, which concluded that many companies have not yet laid out plans to curb the practice. Subway, Starbucks, KFC and Domino’s Pizza were among the industry leaders […] Read more
Yukon to help cover livestock vets’ travel costs
The Yukon government has launched a pilot program to help cover veterinarians’ travel and service expenses for farm calls. The territory government on Tuesday announced it will accept up to 30 farmers for the pilot of the Veterinary Services Program, running from now to the end of March 2016. The program will reimburse participating veterinarians […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME hogs climb as cash prices firm
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hogs climbed four per cent on Tuesday, pulled up by short-covering following the recent bump in cash prices that may have ended their two-week losing streak, traders said. Spot October ended up 2.55 cents/lb. at 69.375, and December 1.6 cents higher at 63.85 (all figures US$). Tuesday […] Read more
How the pork sector survived the attack of a killer virus
PEDv decimated the U.S. hog herd, but Canada showed how to do biosecurity right
Reading Time: 4 minutes If you want expert advice on biosecurity, talk to a Canadian hog farmer — and cattle producers should probably do just that. The country’s outstanding record on controlling the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus has a host of lessons for the cattle sector, says a swine veterinarian who was deeply involved in Alberta’s battle against PEDv. […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Short-covering pares early CME live cattle losses
Chicago | Reuters –– Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle closed higher on Monday after short-covering trumped follow-through selling that initially pressed futures to a 15-month low, traders said. Spot-October closed up 0.875 cent/lb. at 141.475 cents, and December was 0.8 cent higher at 143.175 cents (all figures US$). October was further supported by fewer cattle […] Read more
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