Livestock
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. cattle futures rose to a two-week high on Thursday, their second straight day of gains, on technical buying, traders said. Hog futures were weaker despite signs of strong pork exports and firm demand from China. Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) February live cattle futures settled up 0.675 cent at 114.45 cents/lb. […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures firm
Hogs weak despite big pork exports
Guelph beef plant idled against COVID-19 outbreak
Cattle set-aside plan en route, BFO says
Agrifood giant Cargill is temporarily halting production at its beef processing plant at Guelph, Ont. in the wake of a significant COVID-19 outbreak among employees. The company announced it would “begin the process to temporarily idle” the Dunlop Drive plant effective Thursday (Dec. 17). “This was a difficult decision for our team who are operating […] Read more
China drives surge in pork exports
Reading Time: < 1 minute Thanks to surging sales to China, pork exports were up by more than 18 per cent in volume (nearly 21 per cent by value) from January to September, says provincial livestock market analyst Jason Wood. Total year-to-date pork exports were $3.75 billion (1.1 million tonnes), with China accounting for close to half of that — […] Read more
Tyson fires seven managers after probe into COVID-19 wagering
Employees had been suspended following lawsuit
Reuters — Tyson Foods said Wednesday it had fired seven managers at an Iowa pork plant after investigating allegations that they took bets on how many employees would catch COVID-19. The independent investigation, led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, came in response to a lawsuit filed by the son of a worker at […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures firm despite weak cash markets
Hogs down on technical selling
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. cattle futures firmed on Wednesday, shrugging off weakness in the cash market in anticipation of tightening supplies in the coming months, traders said. Hog futures eased on a round of technical selling. Traders were expecting a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report on Friday to show an 8.6 per cent […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder cattle market volatility continues
Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle markets traded $3 lower to $3 higher. Prices were generally steady to $3 higher on Friday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered its estimate for second-quarter beef production by 125 million lbs. in Thursday’s world agricultural supply and demand estimates (WASDE). Fed and feeder cattle futures […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hog futures rally on technical buying
CME cattle futures lower
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures rose slightly on Tuesday on follow-through buying from a rally on Monday, traders said. Cattle futures eased, pressured by recent weakness in the cash markets as well as some technical sales. Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) February lean hogs rose 0.775 cent to settle at 66.45 cents/lb. (all […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hog futures rally on technical buying
February live cattle futures lower
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures rose 3.8 per cent on Monday, notching their biggest daily gain since September, in a technical bounce from the three-week low they hit on Friday, traders said. “We hit the bottom end of the range so we are just bouncing back,” said Don Roose, president of brokerage […] Read more
Slimmed-down cattle organization looks forward to better days
During a dark year, there have been some silver linings, say officials with Alberta Beef Producers
Reading Time: 4 minutes Alberta Beef Producers is heading into the new year by celebrating some wins, and by proceeding with the slimming down of the organization’s governance model. The province has approved the governance changes, chair Kelly Smith-Fraser said at the organization’s virtual town hall, held at the end of November. “The geographical zones have been reduced from […] Read more
COVID outbreak shuts Nova Scotia poultry plant
Province closes Eden Valley for at least two weeks
Provincial officials have temporarily shut a chicken and turkey slaughter and processing plant in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, citing recent cases of COVID-19 among employees. Eden Valley Poultry’s processing plant at Berwick will be closed “for at least two weeks,” the provincial health department said in a release Friday. “We know this will be a […] Read more
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