The federal government has lined up eight projects to source and distribute perishable produce, meat, eggs and seafood piling up across Canada due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the federal pandemic response, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in early May that Ottawa would budget $50 million for a food surplus purchase program. The […] Read more

Feds line up projects for surplus food program
NGOs backed to gather, distribute 12 million kg of food

McDonald’s resuming all-Canadian beef supply
'Supply adjustment' ends next month, company says
Updated, Aug. 18 — McDonald’s Canada’s pandemic-related “supply adjustment,” in which the burger chain cut its Canadian beef purchases to below 100 per cent, is set to end next month. The Canadian arm of the U.S. fast food giant announced Thursday it will resume its pre-pandemic policy of sourcing 100 per cent Canadian beef, starting […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Live cattle gain as slaughter rates, beef exports rise
October lean hogs up three-quarters of a cent
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures continued to rally Thursday, holding to a nearly six-month peak in prices, as exports to China also grew, traders said. China was a big buyer of U.S. beef in the latest week, with sales of 1,927 tonnes for the period through Aug. 6, the most […] Read more

Alberta Beef Producers prepares for delegate elections
Reading Time: < 1 minute Nominations are being accepted for Alberta Beef Producers’ 2020 delegate elections. The number of zones has been reduced to five (from nine previously) with seven delegates to be elected in each. Four will serve two-year terms, and three will serve one year so there will be staggered elections in the future. Individuals standing for election […] Read more

Bovine TB probe wraps with no exact point of entry found
'More stringent' tests now being run on U.S. rodeo cattle imports
Federal inspectors have formally closed the book on a 2018 outbreak of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in a British Columbia cattle herd, but with “no definitive source of infection” found. The probe dates back to October that year, when a beef cow of an unknown age, from a cow-calf operation in B.C.’s southern Interior, was culled, […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Live cattle set five-month high, beef prices rise more
USDA cuts pork production forecast
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures leapt to a five-month high on Wednesday and feeder cattle futures neared a six-month peak as boxed beef prices continued to rise. Meatpackers are paying more for cattle due to the strength of the beef market, traders said. Prices typically rise heading into Labour Day, […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures rise with U.S. beef prices
Chicago lean hogs retreat
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures advanced on Tuesday, supported by increasing beef prices, traders said. Beef prices usually rise heading into Labour Day, and there is a feeling the market has bottomed after recent volatility, said Don Roose, president of Iowa-based broker U.S. Commodities. Prices for choice cuts of boxed […] Read more

Klassen: Weaker feed grains drive feeder market higher
Compared to last week, western Canadian yearlings traded $2-$4 higher. This was the first week of the fall yearling run with larger groups of quality packages and there was no shortage of buying enthusiasm. Heavier yearlings were readily trading at 52-week highs. Feed barley prices collapsed in southern Alberta as the harvest started in the […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Live cattle up on cash market strength
Lean hog weights 'coming down a little bit'
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures gained on Monday, as the cash market strengthened and packers looked to pickup slaughter rates, brokers said. Feeder cattle also gained, while lean hog futures added as producers looked to offload market-weight animals early to reduce feed costs. CME October live cattle added 0.7 cent […] Read more

Hog sector is grim, cattle is recovering
Cattle backlog is being cleared but hog producers are losing upwards of $50 on every pig they sell
Reading Time: 4 minutes The beef sector is regaining some optimism, but pork producers are still fighting to stay afloat. “Our producers are losing a lot of money,” said Darcy Fitzgerald, executive director of Alberta Pork. “It truly is, right now, related to COVID-19. The price that we’re seeing that they’re being paid, is related to what is going […] Read more