Livestock
Baoding, China | Reuters — When pigs on the Xinda Husbandry breeding farm in northern China began dying in growing numbers in early January, it looked increasingly likely that the farm had been struck by the much feared African swine fever, an incurable disease that has spread rapidly across the country since last year. But […] Read more
Piles of pigs: Swine fever outbreaks go unreported in rural China
U.S. livestock: Live cattle hit contract highs on weather woes
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures rose Tuesday, with the benchmark June contract hitting a high as poor feedlot conditions in portions of the U.S. Plains raised concerns about beef supplies, traders said. Lean hogs closed lower in a profit-taking setback from contract highs set a day earlier. Fat cattle futures […] Read more
Livestock, pets among victims in U.S. Midwest flooding
Reuters — The floods that have devastated large swaths of Nebraska and Iowa since late last week left house pets homeless, inflicted an unknown toll on livestock and led to several daring water rescues of animals from dogs to horses. Rescuers in the Omaha area, where the Platte, Elkhorn and Missouri rivers began spilling over […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder market continues consolidation pattern
Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle markets traded $3-$5 on either side of unchanged. The market was quite variable across the Prairies. Demand from south of the border evaporated due to adverse weather while southern Alberta experienced favourable spring conditions. Alberta packers were buying fed cattle at $260 on a dressed basis, up […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hog futures rise on pork export optimism
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. front-month hog futures surged on Monday, extending last week’s advances on expectations of additional export sales to China, where African swine fever has decimated the world’s largest hog herd, traders said. “We had that huge sale of pork to China last week, and the market is anticipating more sales,” said […] Read more
Alberta confirms fourth PED outbreak
Alberta took another punch last week in its fight with porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), having confirmed the province’s fourth on-farm case of the disease. Officials with the provincial ag department and Alberta Pork haven’t said where the fourth case is located, nor how far it is from the three southern Alberta properties where outbreaks in […] Read more
U.S. seizes pork from China on swine fever concerns
Washington | Reuters — U.S. border agents have seized around one million pounds of pork from China, a spokesman for the agency said on Friday, over suspicions that it might contain African swine flu disease which has hit Chinese pork output. Federal agents have seized the supplies over the past week in New York. “The […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs limit up as swine fever cuts Chinese herd
Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. hog futures rallied to a five-month high on Friday, closing at their daily trading limit on improving export prospects due to a sharp reduction in China’s domestic supplies, traders said. China’s pig herd slid 16.6 per cent in February from the previous year, as African swine fever swept the country, […] Read more
Canada to boost airport detector dog corps
With African swine fever top of mind, the federal government plans to more than double the total number of detector dog teams at Canada’s airports within five years. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, speaking in Montreal Thursday, announced new funding of up to $31 million over five years to add 24 Food, Plant, and Animal Detector […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hog futures rally on improving export prospects
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. hog futures jumped 3.5 per cent on Thursday, supported by signs that exports could pick up due to rising Chinese demand, traders said. China bought 23,846 tonnes of U.S. pork last week, its biggest purchase in nearly two years, U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed on Thursday. Chinese hog prices […] Read more