Livestock
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture within weeks will begin testing sick and dead pigs for a hog virus that has killed herds across Asia in an effort to minimize devastation if the disease enters the United States, the agency said on Thursday. Increased testing aims to help U.S. officials detect cases […] Read more
U.S. to begin testing sick and dead pigs for African swine fever
China cancels U.S. pork import order as trade war drags on
Chicago | Reuters — The same week U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping increases on tariffs against Chinese goods, Chinese buyers dropped orders for 3,247 tonnes of U.S. pork — the biggest cancellation in more than a year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data released on Thursday. The cancellation came during the week ended […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Lean hogs up as swine fever fuels export hopes
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) rose for a second day on Wednesday, supported by expectations of increased demand for U.S. pork as African swine fever spreads in China’s hog herd and elsewhere, traders said. “The African swine fever news and talk was everywhere today,” said Dennis […] Read more
New Trump aid plan for U.S. farmers to rely on direct payments
Washington | Reuters — The Trump administration’s second package of aid for U.S. farmers hit by the trade war with China is expected to have a similar structure to last year’s program, using direct payments and commodity purchases, industry sources briefed on the plan said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is still finalizing the plan, […] Read more
PED mystery unsolved, but outbreak may have ended
Officials hopeful there will be no new cases of deadly hog virus
Reading Time: 5 minutes Alberta’s lead veterinarians are cautiously optimistic the spread of a deadly hog virus has slowed — or maybe even stopped entirely. “It’s now been eight weeks since our last case of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv), and we’re ever hopeful that we will not be getting any more cases for the next while,” said Dr. […] Read more
Restaurant Brands to boost outlets by 54 per cent within 10 years
Reuters — Restaurant Brands International said on Wednesday it plans to expand all three of its brands to more than 40,000 restaurants globally, a 54 per cent jump, over the next decade. Big fast food chains, including McDonald’s and KFC owner Yum Brands, have been aggressively expanding their international operations to counter slowing growth in […] Read more
Co-op Feeds to shut two Prairie plants, sell another
In the face of “industry challenges,” Federated Co-operatives’ livestock feed manufacturing division plans to pull its operations from six plants down into three. Saskatoon-based Federated Co-op announced Monday it will consolidate its production of bulk and bagged cattle, horse, sheep and poultry feed into three of its existing plants, at Calgary, Saskatoon and Moosomin, Sask. […] Read more
‘Show’ and ‘grow’ synonymous for Ag in Motion
Langham, Sask. — Living up to its name, Glacier FarmMedia’s Ag in Motion has reached its five-year anniversary with no sign of slowing down. “It’s very exciting for me personally to have a show that the group of us started from a canola field into an event that’s now grown to the size that it […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Lean hog futures bounce, cattle end lower
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) closed higher on Tuesday in a technical rebound after Monday’s limit-down close, with firm cash hog values lending support, traders said. Technical traders were encouraged that the benchmark June hog contract was able to hold above Monday’s low, a supportive chart […] Read more
What to watch for with a physically immature horse
Be mindful of the young horse’s developmental stages to protect its future health
Reading Time: 3 minutes Given the increasingly common occurrence of arthritis in today’s horses, it is worthwhile to consider the choices that are made in a young horse’s life that are large contributors to the outcome of that horse’s soundness over its lifetime. Oftentimes arthritis is viewed as a condition of the aging horse, mostly because the outward clinical […] Read more