Livestock
Alberta’s government proposes to discourage future on-farm protests — events in the style of an occupation held early last month at an Alberta Hutterite colony’s turkey farm — on pain of new penalties. Speaking Thursday at the Jumbo Valley colony near Fort Macleod, Premier Jason Kenney, Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer and Agriculture Minister Devin Dreeshen […] Read more
Alberta proposes heavier penalties for on-farm trespassing
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures rise on cash market strength
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. cattle futures firmed for the second day in a row on Thursday, with the most-active December live cattle contract holding support near a two-month peak on strong cash prices. “The cash market has been moving up steadily,” said Don Roose, analyst with U.S. Commodities in West Des Moines, Iowa. “The […] Read more
Small cheque and big excitement for animal science students
Reading Time: 2 minutes An $18.52 cheque caused excitement among Lakeland College animal science technology students earlier this year. Students involved in the commercial beef unit of the student-managed farm received the payment in March after an animal they sold was processed through certified sustainable operations of the beef-supply chain. That triggered Lakeland’s first cheque through the Canadian Beef Sustainability Acceleration […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures hit highest since Aug. 9
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. livestock futures were mixed on Wednesday, with hog contracts easing for the second day in a row on technical follow-through selling while cattle futures firmed. The most-active December live cattle contract hit its highest in nearly two months. Traders said futures prices for hogs had rallied too sharply compared to […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs retreat from Monday’s two-month high
Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. livestock futures fell on Tuesday as hogs retreated from a two-month high reached a day earlier. December lean hog futures sank 2.675 cents to 69.925 cents/lb. at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (all figures US$). The setback came after the contract reached its highest price since July 31 on Monday amid […] Read more
Klassen: Yearling prices remain firm
Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling markets were relatively unchanged with the exception of southern Alberta where 800-plus-lb. feeders traded $5 to as much as $8 higher. Strength in deferred live cattle futures and weakness in barley prices were the main factors driving demand in the Lethbridge area. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s bullish […] Read more
McDonald’s reiterates beef support during Beyond Meat test-drive
The world’s biggest burger chain has aimed to reassure Canadian beef producers that its trial run of a plant-based burger doesn’t mark a retreat from the company’s primary protein. McDonald’s CEO John Betts, in a statement issued Friday directly to “our valued partners in the beef industry,” said he wants beef producers “to hear from […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs up on technical buying, demand hopes
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. hog futures touched a two-month high on Monday on technical buying and hopes for more export sales to China, brokers said. Traders are waiting for confirmation of Chinese buying as the Asian nation is struggling with an outbreak of African swine fever, a fatal pig disease that has decimated its […] Read more
Review of red meat’s risks spurs scientific food fight
London | Reuters — Cutting back on red and processed meat brings few if any health benefits, according to a review of studies involving millions of people, a finding that contradicts dietary advice of leading international agencies and raised immediate objections from many health experts. Most people can continue to eat red and processed meat […] Read more
Major veal processor launches new brand, non-GMO label
Quebec veal, lamb and beef processor Delimax-Montpak is set to launch a new consumer brand across Canada featuring what it bills as the only GMO-free milk-fed veal on the market. The company said Tuesday it expected to have the new brand — Fontaine Family, named for the company’s founding family — available via “most major […] Read more