Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog and live cattle futures closed higher on Monday, as meat processing facilities began to open after closures of more than 20 plants due to coronavirus illnesses among workers. Rising pork and beef cutout prices have also helped give futures a boost on Monday, said Mark Schultz, chief analyst […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle, hog futures inch up as plants reopen
Rising wholesale prices support futures
Demand soars as consumers find new appreciation for local food
Consumers are stocking up these days and increasingly looking towards local food producers
Reading Time: 3 minutes Demand for local food products has exploded in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. “We’ve seen a very big spike in interest and demand for our products,” said Steph Campbell, who owns and operates Grazed Right, a grass-fed beef company, with husband Ben near Calgary. “People are panic buying, and that’s spilling over into the […] Read more
Hook space at a premium in small rural abattoirs
Pandemic has some producers considering selling direct to consumers
Reading Time: 4 minutes The phone hasn’t stopped ringing at Alberta Prairie Meats since the news broke that Cargill’s beef-processing plant was being temporarily shut down. “The minute that the Cargill situation was announced, our phones started ringing off the hook,” said Jim Johnson, who owns and operates the abattoir in Duchess. “We finally got so inundated with orders […] Read more
Where will all the cattle go?
Reading Time: < 1 minute The cattle sector is facing an unprecedented crisis as COVID-19 forces packing plants to temporarily close or slow down production. Alberta’s two big cattle facilities, which process nearly three-quarters of Canada’s beef, have both been hit hard by the pandemic and that’s already created a backlog. Producers who direct market beef — such as Grazed […] Read more
B.C. health officials order two more poultry plants closed
Over 50 COVID-19 cases found at Superior Poultry
Health officials in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley have ordered two more poultry processing plant closed after multiple cases of COVID-19 were confirmed among employees. Fraser Health announced April 24 it had ordered Superior Poultry Processors of Coquitlam to close after two employees of the chicken processing plant tested positive for the coronavirus. The health district […] Read more
Quota reduction ends dumping of milk in Alberta
A five-per-cut has eliminated excess supply caused by the pandemic, says Alberta Milk
Reading Time: < 1 minute [UPDATED: May 4, 2020] A reduction in quota has ended the need to dump milk, says Alberta Milk. Changes in demand in March, caused by the pandemic, led to a surplus of milk in March. But a total production cut of about five per cent – comprised of a three per cent cut in quota […] Read more
Pandemic threatens federal field research this year
But crop commissions urge AgCanada to follow example of universities, private researchers
Reading Time: 2 minutes COVID-19 threatens to sideline Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s field, greenhouse and lab research this year, but Prairie wheat and barley commissions that help to fund it want as many projects as possible to go ahead. In a statement issued April 24, AgCanada seemed to all but rule out field work this spring. “In response to […] Read more
CFA seeks $2.6 billion in support for producers
Federal officials sought specific numbers from ag industry
Ottawa — Canada’s agriculture industry is seeking an initial $2.6 billion in COVID-19-related emergency relief funding from the federal government. Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) officials put in the ask to the federal government on Thursday. According to second vice-president Chris van den Heuvel, federal officials asked the CFA “to go and put hard numbers […] Read more
As meat plant infections rise, Canada lets packers choose when to close
Beef plants at heart of Alberta's largest COVID-19 community outbreaks
Winnipeg | Reuters — In Cargill’s High River, Alta. plant, supplier of more than one-third of Canada’s beef, 391 workers were sick with COVID-19 when the company suspended operations, according to provincial health officials. But Maple Leaf Foods decided to idle a poultry plant for eight days, in Brampton, Ont., after just three workers were […] Read more
New Brunswick ag groups rip province’s ban on foreign workers
Risk during pandemic 'simply too great,' premier says
New Brunswick farmers who employ temporary foreign workers (TFWs) are calling for the provincial government to reverse its new COVID-19-related ban on entry of TFWs who haven’t yet arrived. The provincial government on Tuesday updated a mandatory order under its pandemic state of emergency to restrict TFWs from entering the province. The new restriction doesn’t […] Read more
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