A government minister pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges he had incited violence in a dispute over land and water in Kenya’s coastal region in which over 100 people have been killed, but was later sacked from the cabinet anyway. The scale and intensity of the unrest over the past month has left many […] Read more
Kenya livestock official sacked over deadly land clashes
USDA finds drought hurt world’s crops less than feared
Searing droughts in the United States and Russia will deplete harvests of wheat, corn and soybeans, the U.S. government said on Wednesday, but global food supplies were not hurt as badly as many had feared. With the U.S. harvest off to a fast start, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the country’s corn crop would […] Read more
Cash hope floats U.S. live cattle to six-month high
U.S. live cattle futures rose to a six-month high for a second straight day on Wednesday fueled by cash cattle price optimism and rising wholesale beef values, analysts and traders said. Live cattle at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) garnered additional support from fund buying, traders said. December futures led advances as funds in CME’s […] Read more
High feed costs push Big Sky into receivership
Canada’s second-biggest hog producer, Big Sky Farms, has entered receivership as the North American hog industry struggles under the bruising costs of animal feed. Big Sky Farms, based at Humboldt, Sask., produces roughly one million pigs annually and accounts for 40 per cent of Saskatchewan’s total hog production. Under receivership, an outside party controls a […] Read more
U.S. live cattle jump to six-month high on fund buying
U.S. live cattle futures settled higher on Tuesday as fund buying and short-covering lifted the market to its highest level in six months, said analysts and traders. Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) October live cattle received an added boost from an adjustment to losses during Monday’s Goldman Roll, said traders. Monday was the first of five […] Read more
Canada seen too dependent on cattle, beef sales to U.S.
Canada’s dependence on cattle and beef sales to the United States leaves it at risk of becoming a net importer of beef from the U.S. as it buys back higher-value processed products, a report on the $6 billion industry said on Monday. Canada, the No. 5 beef exporter, ships 85 per cent of its beef […] Read more
Raiders kill 38 in latest grazing land clashes in Kenya
Hundreds of armed raiders killed at least 38 villagers and torched more than 150 houses on Monday in the latest fighting between rival tribes in a dispute over land and water in Kenya’s coastal region. In an attempt to stem the bloodshed, President Mwai Kibaki introduced a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Tana River County where the […] Read more
U.S. hogs rally as shorts cover; live cattle mixed
U.S. hog futures rallied more than one per cent on Monday, boosted by short-covering and sentiment the market was overdone to the downside after plummeting to a 20-month low last week, said analysts and traders. Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) October hogs closed up 1.225 cent, or 1.72 per cent, to 72.575 cents. December ended 1.075 […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder cattle prices ratchet higher
Western Canadian feeder cattle prices were $2 to $4 per hundredweight (cwt) higher than week-ago levels. Auction markets are starting to experience larger volumes and feedlots are running with seasonally low numbers. Feedlot managers are stepping forward more aggressively with the deferred feeder and live cattle futures pointing to higher prices into the fall period. […] Read more
Lower Manitoba oat yields boosting cash market
Farmers in Manitoba are nearly finished the oat harvest and have reported lower-than-anticipated yields, which has helped to boost cash bids for oats in the province, an industry official said. "A lot of Manitoba farmers reported yields in the 80 to 100 bushel per acre range, which is a little less than normal," said Warren […] Read more