Chicago | Reuters — U.S. meat exporters caught in the middle of the West Coast port labour standoff diverted millions of pounds of chilled pork and beef into cold storage facilities over the last few weeks, creating an oversupply of meat, analysts said. Redirected protein shipments come as frozen inventories are starting to build ahead […] Read more
West Coast port impasse beefs up U.S. meat stockpile
France says Russia to lift ban on live pigs, some pork products
Paris | Reuters –– Russia’s veterinary services has agreed to lift a ban on French live pigs, offal and fat imposed a year ago after an outbreak of African swine fever in the east of the European Union, the French farm ministry said. Russia imposed the ban on EU pork products early in 2014 following […] Read more
Chipotle’s pork plight could hurt Q1 results
Reuters –– Chipotle Mexican Grill’s decision to suspend purchases from a pork producer that ran afoul of its animal welfare requirements could bolster its reputation with diners but threatens sales and profits this quarter, an analyst said Wednesday. The burrito chain’s move caused a supply shortfall that is hitting about one-third of its roughly 1,800 […] Read more
A dark cloud with a silver lining for hog producers in 2014
Five to Remember: The threat of PEDv hung over the sector all year, but the virus was kept at bay and strong prices helped heal years of hurt
Reading Time: 3 minutes Back in April, Murray Markert spoke for the entire Alberta pork sector when asked to sum up the mood of producers. “Relief” was the Vulcan farmer’s single-word answer. And that’s a good way to sum up the entire year. Despite a close call in October, the sector was poised to end the year the way […] Read more
China arrests over 110 people for selling contaminated pork
Shanghai | Reuters — China has arrested more than 110 people suspected of selling pork from pigs that died from disease, and confiscated more than 1,000 tonnes of contaminated pork in its latest crackdown on food safety violations. The ministry of public security said Sunday the people were part of a network made up of […] Read more
Digital meat-grading scanner making its way to the processing floor
The device developed at U of A uses near infrared and visible light to detect fat and meat colour
Reading Time: < 1 minute Grading is an important step for processors, and the industry has traditionally used human graders to measure qualities such as marbling, as well as fat colour and texture. But processors are now moving towards electronic grading tools and technology. Technologies such as the Computer Vision System’s BeefCam module have achieved up to 64 per cent […] Read more
Strong hog sector facing uncertain 2015
CNS Canada — Western Canadian hog farmers are facing an uncertain future from a marketing perspective heading into 2015, with a number of factors on both the supply and demand sides of the equation that could swing prices one way or the other. “After a very profitable 2014… we’re at pivot point,” said Tyler Fulton, […] Read more
U.S. to appeal latest WTO loss on COOL
Canada will have to wait up to three more months before it can impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods over Washington’s mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) law on meat from imported livestock. The U.S. government on Friday filed a notice of appeal against the latest ruling by a World Trade Organization (WTO) compliance panel, which last […] 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
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