Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures rallied to contract highs on Tuesday but ended mixed, with nearby contracts pressured by ideas that beef prices are topping out after a surge to nearly 15-month highs, traders said. Deferred live cattle contracts, however, were higher on the day on concerns about tight cattle […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME cattle futures post new highs, end mixed
Hogs down on supply outlook
Olymel’s striking Quebec workers get layoff ultimatum
Hog slaughter plant idle since late April
Updated — The threat of job losses for about half the unionized workers at a major pork packing plant in Quebec is its owners’ latest bid to end a four-month strike. Olymel announced Tuesday it will “abolish” the evening shift at its hog slaughter and processing plant at Vallee-Jonction, about 60 km southeast of Quebec […] Read more
Time for arbitration in Olymel strike, PQ says
Province's new mediator not enough, party says
Quebec’s third opposition party is calling on the province’s CAQ government to propose arbitration for an end to a strike at a major pork slaughter plant. The Parti Quebecois’ ag critic, Matane-Matapedia MNA Pascal Berube, and its labour critic, Jonquiere MNA Sylvain Gaudreault, made the pitch Friday, after workers from Olymel’s plant at Vallee-Jonction voted […] Read more
Striking Quebec pork plant staff reject deal with Olymel
Quebec hog farmers call for province to intervene
Quebec’s hog farmers now want Premier Francois Legault to step in on a months-long strike at a major pork packing plant after its workers rejected a tentative deal between their union and employer. Workers at Olymel’s plant at Vallee-Jonction, about 60 km southeast of Quebec City, met Tuesday evening to vote on an agreement in […] Read more
Olymel, Quebec workers reach deal in principle
Agreement may end months-long strike at hog plant
The union for workers at a major pork slaughter and packing plant in Quebec’s Beauce region says it has a deal that may end a strike which has backed up hogs on farms in the province since late April. The Syndicat des travailleurs d’Olymel Vallee-Jonction (STOVJ) — which represents over 1,000 employees at Olymel’s Vallee-Jonction […] Read more
German hog market shrugs off swine fever discovery on farms
Hamburg | Reuters — German pig prices were unchanged this week despite the discovery of the disease African swine fever in farm animals, German animal farmers’ association VEZG said on Wednesday. German pig prices were the same as last week at 1.42 euros (C$2.10) per kilogram slaughter weight, the VEZG said. A third case of […] Read more
Olymel strike talks delayed to mid-month, union says
Quebec hog plant's workers on strike since late April
A two-months-and-counting strike at a major Quebec hog slaughter and processing plant is expected to continue through to mid-July at the earliest due to scheduling issues, the workers’ union says. The Syndicat des travailleurs d’Olymel Vallee-Jonction-CSN — which represents over 1,000 striking workers at Olymel’s plant Vallee-Jonction, about 60 km southeast of Quebec City — […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs drop as domestic, export demand seen weak
CME August cattle futures up
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures fell sharply on Thursday as traders priced in expectations for waning demand after the U.S. Independence Day holiday this weekend. Signs of poor demand from China, which has been a big buyer of U.S. pork since an outbreak of African swine fever decimated production in the […] Read more
Another swine flu variant case appears in Manitoba
Variant of H3N2 confirmed in southern Manitoba resident
A single and apparently isolated case of another influenza variant normally seen in hogs has turned up in a Manitoba resident, the province announced Monday. Manitoba Public Health on Monday said the H3N2 influenza variant (H3N2v) seen in this case is related to flu viruses that circulate in pigs, noting that while such viruses don’t […] Read more
JBS says it paid US$11 million in bitcoin for ransom
Cyberattack disrupted plants in North America, Australia
Reuters — Meatpacker JBS USA paid a ransom equivalent to US$11 million (C$13.3 million) following a cyberattack that disrupted its North American and Australian operations, the company’s CEO said in a statement Wednesday. The subsidiary of Brazilian firm JBS halted cattle slaughtering at all of its U.S. plants and its Alberta beef plant for a […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
