Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures closed higher on Wednesday for a second straight session on hopes that U.S. trade talks with China, at a time of surging Chinese pork prices, could bolster U.S. pork exports, traders said. CME December lean hog futures settled up 2.075 cents at 69.475 cents/lb., just […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs rise on China trade optimism

Japan trade deal aims to put U.S. farmers on par with TPP
Washington | Reuters — The new U.S.-Japan trade deal will provide staged reduction of Japanese tariffs for more than US$2 billion worth of U.S. beef and pork, matching access now granted to the 11 Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact countries, a text of the agreement shows. U.S. President Donald Trump presided over a White House signing […] Read more

African swine fever: It’s not the ‘lazy’ virus — it’s unthinking people
African swine fever is spreading like wildfire in Asia, but it’s because people are bringing contaminated pork home
Reading Time: 6 minutes African swine fever continues to cut a devastating swath across Asia as North American pork industry officials work to keep the deadly disease off our shores. “The African swine fever virus is spreading very quickly throughout the Southeast Asia region,” Dr. Egan Brockhoff, veterinary counsellor for the Canadian Pork Council said in a Sept. 20 […] Read more

JBS USA to produce pork without ractopamine
Chicago | Reuters — JBS USA will remove a growth drug banned by Beijing from its U.S. hog supply, the company said on Friday, accelerating the competition for pork exports as China grapples with a devastating pig disease. The meat packer’s move away from the drug ractopamine, a feed additive, shows how companies are maneuvering […] Read more

New meat recall prolongs Ryding-Regency shutdown
Ryding-Regency Meat Packers remains shut down, making an already tight processing capacity situation event more challenging for Ontario farmers. The Toronto company, along with St. Ann’s Food, announced a recall Tuesday of a long list of its products because of concerns with E. coli O157:H7. More products were added to the recall on Thursday. The […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures rise on cash market strength
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. cattle futures firmed for the second day in a row on Thursday, with the most-active December live cattle contract holding support near a two-month peak on strong cash prices. “The cash market has been moving up steadily,” said Don Roose, analyst with U.S. Commodities in West Des Moines, Iowa. “The […] Read more

U.S. set to widen trade war on EU front
London/Brussels/Washington | Reuters — The United States won approval on Wednesday to impose import tariffs on US$7.5 billion worth of European aircraft and agricultural goods over illegal EU subsidies handed to Airbus, threatening to trigger a tit-for-tat transatlantic trade war as the global economy falters. The decision by the World Trade Organization pushes a 15-year […] Read more

U.S., Japan sign limited trade deal
New York | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe signed a limited trade deal on Wednesday that cuts tariffs on U.S. farm goods, Japanese machine tools and other products while further staving off the threat of higher U.S. car duties. Trump said the deal would open up Japanese markets […] Read more

South Korea confirms new cases of African swine fever
Seoul | Reuters — South Korea has confirmed new cases of African swine fever at hog farms in cities near the capital Seoul after the country’s first outbreak of the deadly virus last week, the agriculture ministry said on Monday. The new case occurred at a pig farm with about 1,800 pigs in the city […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Feeder cattle near six-week high
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. feeder cattle and live cattle futures hit their highest prices since August on Thursday, supported by strength in the cash market, before ending mixed. Cash cattle had set the firmer tone on Wednesday, trading for $101/cwt in Texas and Kansas, up from a range of $97-$100 in Texas last week […] Read more