Livestock
An animal welfare activist has died while attending what’s been described as a “vigil” outside a southern Ontario hog packing plant, as new provincial limits on such activity around livestock are set to take effect. Halton Regional Police Service reported receiving a call Friday morning that a person had been “struck by a transport truck” […] Read more
Animal welfare activist dies outside Ontario pork plant
Protestor reportedly hit by transport truck
U.S. livestock: Futures drop ahead of USDA data
Cattle on Feed report could be bearish Monday
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. livestock futures fell on Friday, as hog producers and cattle ranchers continue to struggle with a massive backlog even as many slaughterhouses come back online. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s monthly Cattle on Feed report, released Friday after the market close, showed May feedlot placements at 99 per cent compared […] Read more
Record-keeping tool for beef producers available
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Beef Cattle Research Council has released Level 2 of its online record-keeping and benchmarking tool. The tool allows producers to collect and save data so it can be analyzed and used for better management decisions. Level 1 was designed for producers who are new to record-keeping or who keep records but are unsure of […] Read more
Uruguayan shearers flown in to relieve sweltering Spanish sheep
Expert shearers authorized to enter country amid COVID-19 pandemic
Villafale, Spain | Reuters — Brought to Spain on a special flight amid the coronavirus lockdown, some 250 Uruguayan sheep shearers race against time to shear millions of Spanish sheep as sweltering summer temperatures hit. The Uruguayan shearers come to Spain every year, where farmers value them for their skills, their speed and particular care […] Read more
Fall quota level based on ‘rebound’ in chicken demand
National allocation trimmed two per cent for September-October period
A relatively small tweak to national chicken quota allocation has been set for much of this autumn, following a stretch of heavy pandemic-related cuts. At a Chicken Farmers of Canada meeting Tuesday, national allocation for quota period A-165 (Aug. 30 to Oct. 24, 2020) was set at minus two per cent from its adjusted base. […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures, beef prices decline
Lean hogs up amid technical buying
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures fell Thursday as boxed beef prices tumbled under pressure from rising production. Beef output has increased as meat companies increase slaughtering after temporarily closing processing plants in April and May because of outbreaks of the COVID-19 coronavirus among workers. Processors killed an estimated 120,000 cattle on Thursday, […] Read more
Oh, give me a home: Canada’s bison have nowhere to go
Restaurant closures have rocked the bison sector, with prices down by a quarter and a backlog building
Reading Time: 4 minutes The pandemic’s effect on the bison industry has been “absolutely staggering” over the past two months. “Our slaughter numbers in federal plants are down 81 per cent over this time last year,” said Steven Lunty, chair of Bison Producers of Alberta. “That means if we processed 100 animals in April of 2019, we processed 19 […] Read more
Hog sector hit hard by pandemic
Market weakness seen likely to push some farmers out of business
MarketsFarm — COVID-19 has hit the hog sector hard, with the double-edged sword of large supplies and reduced demand weighing heavily on the market. “The prospect of profitability at current forward prices and at current cash prices is nil… and there’s really no prospect of making anything this year,” said Tyler Fulton, director of risk […] Read more
COVID-19 knocks Agribition off 2020 calendar
Organizers look to 2021, plan 'new digital experiences' in meantime
Another of the Prairies’ major agricultural exhibitions has removed itself from the 2020 schedule. The 50th edition of Canadian Western Agribition, which was scheduled for Nov. 30 to Dec. 5 this year at Regina’s Evraz Place exhibition park, has been postponed to Nov. 22-27, 2021. Organizers of the not-for-profit event said Wednesday they made the […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hog futures still face headwinds over demand questions
Cattle futures mixed on USDA report expectations
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures traded choppy on Wednesday, amid ongoing pressure from large domestic supplies and rebounding pork production, analysts said. Meanwhile, concerns over a potential slowdown in U.S. pork exports kept markets jittery for a second session, traders said. China’s meat importers fear clearing delays and a hit to demand […] Read more
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