Concerns about lacklustre demand for U.S. pork continued to hang over the market, analysts said.

Seasonally, hog futures also tend to decline around this time of year as pigs fatten up on newly harvested corn, said Don Roose, president of brokerage U.S. Commodities.

“Supplies are picking up,” he said. “Weights are picking up with fresh corn.”

Farmers have harvested 45 per cent of their corn crop so far this autumn, above the five-year average of 42 per cent, according to U.S. government data.

CME December lean hog futures ended down 1.2 cents at 68.3 cents/lb. and hit a session low of 68.125 cents (all figures US$). A fall below 68 cents would bring the contract to its lowest price since it set a low in late May.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture quoted the wholesale pork carcass cutout at $91.22 per hundredweight (cwt), up 72 cents, as belly values soared $7.18.

USDA said separately that meat processors slaughtered an estimated 485,000 hogs on Monday, down slightly from a week ago and a year ago. Cattle slaughtering was also a bit lower, after U.S. ranchers have reduced the size of theirs herds due to drought.

CME December live cattle futures settled down 0.2 cent at 186.55 cents/lb. November feeder cattle futures ended 1.65 cents lower at 249.925 cents/lb.

In other news, Tyson Foods workers and activists rallied outside the U.S. meat company’s headquarters in Arkansas to protest the industry’s use of child labour and push for improved working conditions in processing plants.

— Tom Polansek reports on agriculture and ag commodities for Reuters from Chicago.

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The province and federal government on Tuesday announced such work now qualifies as a beneficial management practice (BMP) covered under the program.

Eligible beef cow-calf producers can apply for up to 75 per cent of project costs, up to $15,000 max, for “development of preventative run-off control measures.”

The new BMP “will encourage beef producers to implement surface water protection on cow-calf operations,” the governments said in a release.

Applicants will need to seek pre-approval for funding before the work in question begins on a property. The pre-approval application deadline will be Aug. 31, 2022.

Applications at that point need to include a “detailed site diagram of the project and area requiring run-off control,” including winter feeding areas, corrals, pens, manure storage, composting areas and existing water sources such as wells, dugouts and/or nearby watercourses.

Approved projects must submit their claims by no later than Dec. 31, 2022 for payment; eligible invoices can be dated no earlier than April 1, 2021.

Generally, the program will cover costs of runoff control works on new or existing livestock confinement, winter feeding or sorting and handling sites. Technical, surveying and/or engineering costs may be eligible for funding even if a project doesn’t go ahead, the province said.

Eligible costs include work and approved materials to build holding ponds, ditches or berms, re-grade pens or otherwise divert or collect runoff, as well as related well head protection and extension of well cribbing. Projects such as dugouts, household lagoons and/or field drainage are not covered.

“I feel for the many Saskatchewan producers dealing with moderate to extreme drought conditions across much of the province this year,” federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said in Tuesday’s release.

“Producers can now access this program which will help them to protect their valuable water sources and support their adoption of sustainable management practices.”

Other BMP streams already eligible under the federal/provincial program include grazing management in native rangeland and riparian areas; permanent forage; drainage stewardship; invasive plant biocontrol; and livestock stewardship, each with their funding level percentage and total claim limits. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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*Across the Prairies, flea beetles are an oft-seen pest that feeds on both canola and mustard seedlings, damaging crops and, in some cases, forcing growers to re-seed.

There are two main species: the striped flea beetle which thrives in cooler, wetter conditions, and the crucifer flea beetle which enjoys warm and dry weather. Adult populations are also known to feed on crops in late summer and early fall, but damage past the four-leaf stage is not considered as serious.

“A percentage of the acres in Western Canada have flea beetle pressure, enough that causes concern. If you’re in an area that has high populations and you also have poor growing conditions or something else is wrong with your crop, flea beetles really become a management challenge,” Keith Gabert, agronomy specialist for the Canola Council of Canada, said.

Current hot spots for flea beetles, he said, are in north-central and east-central Saskatchewan as well as southern Manitoba. However, it’s difficult to predict where they may appear.

“It’s simply a numbers game,” he added. “If you have far too many flea beetles for the number of plants you’re trying to offer them or the leaf material that’s there, then the amount of damage that they do is pretty substantial.”

Temperatures between 17 and 25 C are when flea beetles can do the most damage. Anything else, they will move closer to the soil and underneath plants, according to Gabert.

In Saskatchewan and Alberta, flea beetles are prevalent in some areas. Near Regina, the crucifer type — a rarity in those parts — has been spotted. Northeastern Alberta has also been identified as a hot spot.

Growers are urged to scout fields for damage and to keep track of leaf area loss. Insecticides can be used in-crop once numbers pass the economic threshold.

“Folks need to start doing a little scouting, especially in the fall when the adults emerge before overwintering, to see what those numbers look like. That may give some perspective as to what’s coming in the spring,” Alberta’s acting provincial entomologist Doug MacAulay said.

— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man.

*Update: An earlier version of this story said flea beetle larvae feed on canola and mustard seedings. In fact it’s adult flea beetles.

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Olymel, the meat packing arm of Sollio Co-operative, reopened its plant at Red Deer this week after announcing Feb. 15 it would temporarily close the facility due to a major COVID-19 outbreak among plant staff.

According to local media, over 510 cases of COVID-19 are believed to be connected to the Olymel outbreak, including over 90 currently-active cases, along with the deaths of three plant workers and one other person. The provincial opposition New Democrats said Thursday three plant employees “are currently fighting for their lives in intensive care.”

Officials with Alberta Pork this week estimated the total slaughter backlog stemming from the shutdown at more than 100,000 hogs.

The new set-aside plan, to be cost-shared 60-40 between the federal and Alberta governments at a total budget of $4 million, is to support producers who had hogs booked for processing at Olymel in Red Deer between Feb. 8 and March 31 and held them back from shipping.

At the end of the program, eligible participants are to get payments based on the number of days eligible animals were fed within the scope of the initiative, up to a maximum of 23 days.

Applications are “tentatively” expected to be available March 12 through the province’s Agriculture Financial Services Corp. (AFSC) and the program is expected to remain open until March 25.

For program purposes, “the first seven days of delayed marketing is not considered extraordinary, and is often a normal course of business for producers,” AFSC said.

There will be two components to the program: maintenance feed costs, and destruction and disposal costs. “We are currently focused on the maintenance component of the program, and will address emerging needs over the next month as the situation unfolds,” AFSC said.

That is, if slaughter capacity “continues to be an issue” and a producer can’t wait any longer to market animals, the second component would then compensate for “extraordinary costs associated with the humane slaughter and disposal of non-marketable hogs.”

“The AgriRecovery program is designed to help producers in emergency situations, and the shutdown of the Olymel plant certainly constitutes an emergency for Alberta hog farmers,” Alberta Pork chair Brent Moen said Friday in a release.

Many Alberta hog farmers ship to Red Deer weekly basis, the hog farmers’ agency said, and the shutdown left them carrying out contingency plans and “alternative solutions” for marketing.

Those alternatives “have created unexpected financial burdens for producers, especially related to additional feed costs and marketing charges over-and-above normal expenses,” Alberta Pork said, putting costs per producer anywhere between “a few thousand dollars (and) tens of thousands of dollars.”

The hogs covered under the set-aside must have been scheduled for slaughter at the Olymel plant at Red Deer between Feb. 8 and March 31, must be fed in Alberta and must have been delayed from shipping specifically due to the COVID-19-related plant shutdown.

Only market-ready hogs are covered, AFSC said Friday. That excludes boars, sows and any hogs not considered market-ready.

Set-aside participants will only need to provide one application per producer for the duration of the program, AFSC said. To be eligible, a producer must be an Alberta resident and either a Canadian citizen or permanent resident at least 18 years of age, or be a corporation actively operating in Alberta.

The producer also must have an Alberta Pork producer number and be responsible for paying the feeding costs of the eligible animals located in Alberta.

An eligible producer must report farm income and expenses in Alberta for income tax purposes, AFSC said. If not required to file farm income tax, an applicant must provide documentation showing production and sale of ag commodities.

“Alberta’s government is committed to protecting lives and livelihoods. We want to make sure that hog producers are getting the supports that they need so that they can continue to do what they do best, which is producing safe, high-quality food, not just for Alberta families but for families all around the world,” provincial Agriculture Minister Devin Dreeshen said in a statement Friday.

Meanwhile, Alberta’s NDP on Thursday called for an “immediate” public inquiry into the COVID-19 outbreak at the Red Deer plant, and for a pledge from the provincial justice ministry that it won’t bring in legislation to “protect potentially negligent corporations from lawsuits launched by victims’ families.”

“People with no choice but to continue working in unsafe conditions have gotten sick and died,” NDP leader Rachel Notley said in a release. “We need to hold those responsible accountable and develop new practices to prevent tragedies like this in the future.”

Federal Ag Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, in announcing the hog set-aside program on Friday, said the government “also care(s) deeply about the health and safety of food production plant workers, who are doing essential work, and we have implemented a range of emergency safety and worker benefit programs to support their safety and wellbeing.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The federal and B.C. governments on Tuesday laid out more details for the 60-40 cost-shared program, which was announced in principle in mid-August.

AgriRecovery is the disaster relief arm of Growing Forward 2, the federal/provincial ag policy funding framework, with programming rolled out on an as-needed basis to help producers recover from specific natural disasters.

Through the new program, dubbed the 2017 Canada-British Columbia Wildfires Recovery Initiative, affected producers can seek funding to help cover “extraordinary costs” incurred during and following the damaging fire season in the province’s Interior.

Eligible costs include re-establishing “safe winter feeding facilities” and “general cleanup” on affected ranches, to be covered for up to $80 per head.

The program is also expected to cover up to 70 per cent of “extraordinary feed costs,” including transportation to feed livestock through the recovery period, and 70 per cent of the costs for veterinary, mustering and transportation services and rental of temporary production facilities.

Up to 70 per cent of the market value of breeding animals for mortality will also be covered, the governments said Tuesday.

Affected crop and forage producers can seek up to 70 per cent of the “extraordinary” costs to return to normal crop production, including repair of “critical” infrastructure not covered by insurance; labour costs to repair private fences; and re-seeding and re-establishment costs for any tame forage or other perennial crops damaged by fires.

Industry organizations supporting producers in the affected areas can also seek up to 70 per cent of extraordinary costs they incur that aren’t paid by another agency or government department.

Federal and provincial officials said Tuesday they’ll continue to work with industry in coming weeks on the program’s specifics, “to ensure that it meets producers’ needs, while being delivered in a simple and timely manner.”

Producers and industry groups needing more information on the initiative are asked to call 1-888-332-3352.

B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham said Tuesday the program “is the result of listening to the needs of B.C’.s farmers and ranchers and supporting them as they start rebuilding their lives and recovering from the significant losses brought on by this summer’s wildfires.”

The province, she said, is “committed to ensuring British Columbians have the tools and resources at hand to return to their land and their livelihoods.” — AGCanada.com Network

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Closure of Western’s feeding operations, likely early in 2017 once its current cattle are sold, will make it more difficult for ranchers to find markets for their young cattle and pinch supplies for Alberta’s big beef packers, Cargill and JBS.

Feedlots buy young cattle from ranchers and fatten them to slaughter weight, then they are sold to packers.

Loss of the feedlot “takes out a material portion of demand for cattle across the Prairies,” said livestock industry analyst Kevin Grier. “To me, this is pretty big news.”

Canada is the world’s sixth-largest beef exporter, and Alberta raises more cattle than any other province.

Western’s holdings include feedyards at Strathmore, High River and Mossleigh, Alta., with combined capacity for 100,000 head of cattle.

The company said in a statement it would suspend its feedlot operations after the animals it now has on feed are marketed. Past that point, Western said, it will not buy any feed grain or feeder cattle, nor hire any employees.

However, the company said Wednesday, it will continue its other farming operations “for the foreseeable future.”

The Alberta Cattle Feeders Association has previously cited Western’s establishment at Strathmore, east of Calgary, in 1958 as the launch point for the province’s commercial cattle feeding industry.

Western’s owners made the decision voluntarily because of the high-risk, low-return environment in cattle ownership, and poor political and economic conditions in Alberta, Western CEO Dave Plett said in an interview.

“Our shareholders see the challenges facing the industry in the next few years are going to be greater,” he said.

Alberta, which last year elected its first left-leaning government in decades, no longer offers an advantage in business climate, Plett said, declining to give specifics.

Many of Western’s 80 staff will eventually be laid off, he said.

Grier said the loss of feedlot capacity is not surprising, given short Canadian supply and the high price of young cattle and the weak price of fed cattle.

Recent Alberta fed cattle prices of $125 per hundredweight are down 30 percent from a year ago, he said.

— Rod Nickel is a Reuters correspondent covering the agriculture and mining sectors from Winnipeg. Includes files from AGCanada.com Network staff.

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