Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking to reassure meat producers it will keep slaughterhouses staffed with federal inspectors as fears about potential shutdowns due to the COVID-19 coronavirus hammer livestock prices and fuel concerns about food supplies, meat industry groups said on Monday. Livestock markets have been hit hard as […] Read more
U.S. under pressure to keep slaughterhouses open
Tyson bans ractopamine from its U.S. hog supply
Reuters — Tyson Foods in February will stop buying U.S. hogs raised with a growth drug banned by China, the company said on Thursday, as global meat suppliers seek an edge in boosting sales to Chinese buyers facing a huge pork shortage due to an outbreak of a fatal pig disease. The halt in the […] Read more
Cargill suspends shifts at Kansas beef plant after explosion
Chicago | Reuters — Cargill said Thursday it had suspended some shifts at its Dodge City, Kansas beef-packing plant after an explosion injured two employees. Cargill spokesman Daniel Sullivan said the company expects the facility to be fully operational soon and that it would meet all it customer commitments. The company is investigating the cause […] Read more
USDA to probe beef market after Tyson plant fire
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue ordered an investigation into widening prices between cattle and beef on Wednesday after a recent fire at a Tyson Foods slaughterhouse in Holcomb, Kansas, shut the plant. Cattle prices have tanked because the fire temporarily eliminated a key buyer of livestock. Producers have worried that meat […] Read more
Feed weekly outlook: No long-term shortage expected
MarketsFarm — Waiting for the 2019 harvest to roll in is the only factor that could create a feed shortage, according to Brandon Motz of CorNine Commodities at Lacombe, Alta. “As far as things look today, I don’t see a reason to be concerned about a feed shortage. If anything we could have a feed […] Read more
Packers win dismissal of U.S. pork price-fixing suits
Reuters — A federal judge on Thursday dismissed antitrust lawsuits accusing several large U.S. pork companies of conspiring to limit the supply of pork to inflate prices and their own profits at the expense of consumers and other purchasers. Chief Judge John Tunheim of the federal court in Minneapolis said the plaintiffs failed to show […] Read more
U.S. launches criminal probe into alleged chicken price fixing by Tyson, rivals
Reuters — The U.S. Department of Justice has begun a criminal probe into allegations that Tyson Foods and other poultry processors including Pilgrim’s Pride and Sanderson Farms colluded to fix poultry prices, court documents show. The DOJ filed a motion to intervene and stay discovery of evidence in an antitrust lawsuit involving the companies and […] Read more
Walmart creating own Angus beef supply chain
Reuters — Walmart Inc. is taking control of the supply chain for Angus beef sold in some of its stores, cutting out meat processors as the company looks to offer higher quality products in an intensely competitive grocery industry. The world’s largest retailer said Wednesday the move would allow it to ensure supplies of quality […] Read more
Democratic contender Warren targets corporate agriculture
Washington | Reuters — Democratic presidential contender Elizabeth Warren took aim on Wednesday at agricultural conglomerates, promising her administration would break up big agribusiness mergers that she said have hurt family farmers. Warren, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts and a fierce Wall Street critic, released a broad plan that she said would make it easier […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME cattle futures jump on trilateral trade pact
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures rose to their highest prices since April on Monday after the U.S., Canada and Mexico said they struck a deal on a trilateral trade pact. News of the agreement, reached over the weekend, eased concerns that the United States would exit the North American Free […] Read more
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