A new agency will use funds from a new levy on imported pork to pay for research and promotion for the Canadian pork sector. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie Claude Bibeau on Thursday officially announced the creation of the Canadian Pork Promotion and Research Agency (PRA). The Farm Products Council of Canada (FPCC) and Agriculture and […] Read more

Feds back pork producers with new levy on imports
New national pork agency to be up and running next summer

China’s pork imports seen doubling in 2019 on swine fever impact
Wuzhen, China | Reuters — China’s 2019 pork imports are set to double from last year to two million tonnes, a Rabobank analyst said on Thursday, as African swine fever hits production of the meat in the world’s top hog market. China has reported 113 outbreaks of the contagious disease since last August, though farmers […] Read more

Mexico hits back on U.S. steel, slaps tariffs on pork, bourbon
Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico responded in kind to U.S. President Donald Trump’s metals tariffs by imposing its own duties on U.S. steel on Tuesday, while also targeting politically sensitive agricultural products from pork to bourbon. Mexico’s peso tumbled to its weakest level since February 2017, leading losses among major currencies due to the […] Read more

Trudeau says will keep exploring trade deal with China
Beijing | Reuters — Canada will continue to explore a free trade agreement with China, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday, as it weighs its options after the U.S. threatened to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Speaking after a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Trudeau said if “done […] Read more

Canada beats U.S. in pork sales to China – feet, elbows and all
Winnipeg/Chicago/Beijing | Reuters — Canada has overtaken the United States as the top North American supplier of pork to China as farmers and meat packers in both nations battle for lucrative shares of the biggest global market. Canada’s pork sales to China, after a sharp rise last year, exceeded those of the U.S. in the […] Read more

Belgian regions set to block CETA over farm concerns
Brussels | Reuters –– Southern Belgium is set to block a planned EU-Canada free trade agreement, threatening to undermine the European Union’s entire trade policy and serving as a warning to British hopes of a speedy deal after Britain has left the European Union. EU trade ministers will vote in a week on the Comprehensive […] Read more

Korea finds hogs infected with foot-and-mouth
Seoul | Reuters –– South Korea has detected foot-and-mouth in a southwestern hog farm, the first such discovery in nine months and a blow to authorities pushing to contain the disease. The case involved a type of the disease that animals are inoculated against in South Korea, with all 670 hogs at the infected farm […] Read more

Alberta Pork optimistic despite Russia’s tit-for-tat sanctions
Numerous agricultural products are being shut out of Russia, but pork is most affected
Reading Time: 3 minutes Russia’s ban on Canadian pork will have some impact, but the executive director of Alberta Pork says the hope is that it will be more of “a big hiccup” than a severe blow. “We had the same problem with our ractopamine last year, where almost half of the pork that was shipped from Canada to […] Read more

2013 was an up-and-down year for Canada’s pork industry
Lower feed prices and a weaker Canadian dollar were positive factors for the industry
Reading Time: 2 minutes It was an up-and-down year for Canada’s pork industry in 2013, as producers were struggling to break even in the first half of the year before posting a strong second half heading into 2014. “I think most producers in December 2012 were looking ahead at 2013 and thinking that it was going to be a […] Read more