Livestock
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange livestock markets weakened on Monday, with lean hog futures nearing their lowest price in more than four months. Concerns about lacklustre demand for U.S. pork continued to hang over the market, analysts said. Seasonally, hog futures also tend to decline around this time of year as pigs fatten […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME hog, cattle futures decline
Pigs seen bulking up on new-crop corn
The arrival of virtual fencing?
Alberta researchers explore how well the technology withstands harsh Prairie winters
Reading Time: 5 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – An Alberta livestock researcher wants to see if virtual fencing lives up to its promises once winter hits the Prairies. “If you have a technology that can’t work in -40 or -45, it has no place in Alberta,” said Lakeland College’s Obioha Durunna. Virtual fencing could fundamentally change the labour and infrastructure […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle retreat as energy rally dents beef demand outlook
Lean hog futures mostly also lower
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures fell on Friday as traders banked profits and squared positions ahead of the weekend as geopolitical turmoil riled energy markets and stoked concerns about beef demand. Crude oil rallied more than five per cent on Friday on the escalating Middle East conflict as the Israeli military […] Read more
Bleak 2024 for Canadian beef sector, says U.S. report
Only two things will save national cow herd, said analyst: feed and moisture
Reading Time: 3 minutes The United States Department of Agriculture has dropped a report painting a grim picture of the Canadian beef industry in 2024. And according to an Alberta market analyst, most of its forecasts check out. The Canada: Livestock and Products Annual report predicts an ongoing contraction of the Canadian cow herd driven by a dwindling heifer […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME cattle, hogs rise on technical buying
USDA supply data seen as priced into market
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures rose on Thursday as technical buyers stepped into the market after prices weakened earlier in the session. Traders said the massive supplies reported by the U.S. Agriculture Department have been priced in and speculators were likely to buy any dip in the market at current levels. […] Read more
Australia buys vaccines for lumpy skin disease to safeguard cattle exports
Recent scares halted some live export trade
Canberra | Reuters — The Australian government said on Wednesday it had bought a supply of vaccines for lumpy skin disease (LSD), a highly infectious condition affecting cattle, as part of efforts to control the disease and maintain live animal exports. The government says Australia is free of LSD but infection scares in recent months […] Read more
Saskatchewan expands wildlife testing to include bovine TB
CFIA probe of cattle herd finds 10 infected so far
Recent confirmed cases of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in a Saskatchewan cattle herd have led the province to expand its annual wildlife monitoring program for chronic wasting disease (CWD) to also include TB. The province each year since 1997 has asked hunters to submit heads from harvested deer, moose and elk to test for CWD. It […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Chicago cattle turn higher
CME lean hogs mostly lower
Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) cattle futures turned solidly higher Wednesday while lean hogs mostly continued lower. Most-active December live cattle closed 1.975 cents higher Wednesday at 186.975 cents/lb., erasing two days’ losses, but not before touching a one-month low of 184.25 (all figures US$). Both front-month October 2023 and February 2024 turned 1.925 cents higher, […] Read more
Brazil needs mandatory cattle tracking
Reading Time: < 1 minute Brazil needs a mandatory government program to track cattle being raised for beef to prevent deforestation, says the head of the world’s largest meat company, Brazil’s JBS SA. Cattle ranching, along with clearing land to sell timber or grow crops, is driving deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. The destruction of rainforests, which serve as carbon […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Live cattle mostly lower
Lean hogs also down a second day
Most-active December live cattle on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) turned lower for a second day in a row Tuesday, as did lean hog and deferred-month feeder cattle futures. December live cattle closed Tuesday at 185 cents/lb., down 0.35 cent on the day, while lightly-traded front-month October ended up 0.2 cent at 182.575 cents/lb. (all […] Read more