Cape Lookout National Seashore, N.C. | Reuters — Three cows have been spotted beachcombing on a remote barrier island on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, swept to an unlikely grazing spot when Hurricane Dorian whipped waves powerful enough to carry them two miles from their home. One of the bovine bodysurfers was seen soon after the […] Read more
Dorian swept swimming cows two miles to North Carolina beach
U.S. livestock: Hog futures widely mixed on spreading
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures were widely mixed on Thursday, with nearby contracts gaining on the back of higher hog prices in cash markets while deferred futures contracts lost ground, traders and analysts said. Cattle futures, both live and feeder, continued to decline as traders locked in profits following the six-month highs […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hog futures near three-month high
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures climbed to a nearly three-month high on Wednesday, boosted by gains in cash hog markets, before futures trimmed gains to finish the session mixed. Cattle futures were nearly flat on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, in technical trading as dealers awaited a monthly U.S. Department of Agriculture cattle […] Read more
World crop briefs: North Carolina losing crops, livestock to Florence
CNS Canada — Record-setting rain and floods in North Carolina caused by Hurricane Florence have destroyed the state’s poultry sector with 3.4 million chickens and turkeys reported killed. Pig losses are estimated at 5,500. Widespread power outages and flooded roads are making it difficult to get help to abandoned livestock operations. The state is home […] Read more
U.S. farmers rush to clear crops but animals stay in Florence’s path
Chicago | Reuters — As powerful Hurricane Florence advanced toward the southeastern U.S., farmers in North Carolina rushed to harvest corn and tobacco and stock up on pig rations, while the danger of sustained rain and deadly flooding threatened a state where millions of farm animals are housed. “The governor said that North Carolina is […] Read more
Millions of chickens reported dead in Hurricane Matthew floods
Chicago | Reuters — Flooding from Hurricane Matthew has killed up to five million poultry birds in North Carolina, most of them chickens, the state’s top environmental official said Wednesday. Donald van der Vaart, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, also told Reuters that some pits that hold hog waste on farms […] Read more
Smithfield to shutter major hog plant against Matthew
Chicago | Reuters — Smithfield Foods will shutter its hog processing facility, the world’s largest, on Saturday to protect employees in North Carolina from Hurricane Matthew, industry sources said on Friday, as farmers braced for the storm’s potential lashing. Matthew has fueled concerns about the safety of livestock and farm workers along the coast from […] Read more
U.S. farmers race to ready for Hurricane Matthew’s blast
New York | Reuters — Hurricane Matthew, the fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade, roiled commodities markets and forced companies from cane refiners to orange juice makers to shutter as it whipped its way toward the southeastern U.S. on Thursday. Southeastern companies were closing down operations ahead of a storm that could threaten some […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
