CME October 2023 live cattle with 20- and 50-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle rally near four-week high

October hogs touch lowest in a week

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures rallied on Wednesday to their highest level in nearly four weeks, while feeder cattle also stormed higher. U.S. cattle supplies are tight as drought reduced the amount of pasture available for grazing and drove producers to send more cattle to slaughter over the last year. […] Read more

Global sea surface temperature anomalies in degrees Celsius for the week centred on Aug. 30, 2023. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

Rest of September to be warmer than normal for Prairies

Southern Prairies to remain drier than normal

MarketsFarm — As summer turns to autumn on the Canadian Prairies, the weather outlook for the rest of September is for temperatures to be warmer than normal, according to Scott Kehler, chief scientist for Weatherlogics. One of the factors in those forthcoming temperatures is the El Niño that has been developing over the last several […] Read more


CME October 2023 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs near one-month high on export outlook

CME cattle futures close lower

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures neared a one-month high on Tuesday on expectations for increased U.S. pork exports and tightening supplies. Demand for U.S. pork is benefiting as high pig prices in Europe cause global importers to shift some business to the United States, where pig prices have been weak, […] Read more

The fillies we are going to keep are enjoying their new pasture.

Haying begins, bulls are brought home

Eppich News: U.S. friends make a summer visit to the farm

June and July flew by in a hurry. There was lots of summerfallow to be worked, and then haying started in late June. In between everything, we finally got a few fences checked and mended. Gregory went around the neighbours’ little pasture fence July 8 and early the next week I was able to move […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder market shrugs off lower barley production

Barley exports, domestic demand expected to be reduced

Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling markets traded $2-$3/cwt on either side of unchanged. Prices for calves were also unchanged from average values seven days earlier. Calf markets are becoming more defined as volumes increase. There also appeared to be larger volume of high-quality yearlings available, which was a surprise. The drought hasn’t significantly […] Read more

CME October 2023 live cattle with 20- and 50-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle ease on softer cash markets

Trade watching for increased demand for hogs

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures eased on Friday, ending the week slightly lower as cash trade eased, though the cattle market continues to trade mostly sideways, analysts said. “The market’s basically saying — we’ve got stable trade right now for a couple months,” said Rich Nelson, chief strategist at Allendale […] Read more


Daily market update

ICE canola: Old, new crop prices diverge CBOT grains: Wheat down, corn, soybeans mostly higher Livestock: Access livestock futures prices at the Western Producer’s market desk Cash grains /Global markets/Loonie

CME October 2023 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle up ahead of long weekend

Lean hogs follow cash hog index lower

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures ticked upward Thursday, while packers backed off of buying ahead of the Labour Day holiday week that will limit slaughter, analysts said. “There was some light trade today, slightly lower than last week,” said Doug Houghton, technical analyst at Brock Capital Management. “I don’t know […] Read more


CME October 2023 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Lean hogs climb as traders eye seasonal supply shifts

Cattle futures down ahead of long weekend

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures climbed on Wednesday, finding support as traders gauged pork demand and watched for signs of a seasonal influx of market-ready hogs. “We still have an index that’s higher than the October. It usually doesn’t close the gap until we get into September a week or […] Read more

Durum plants on Aug. 28, 2023 near Acadia Valley, Alta., about 160 km north of Medicine Hat, stand shorter with fewer kernels than normal due to dry conditions. (Photo courtesy Darold Niwa/Handout via Reuters)

Prairie Forecast: Mostly sunny and warm

Issued Aug. 30, covering Aug. 30 to Sept. 6

It’s a straightforward forecast for this period as the general weather pattern looks to be pretty quiet. It starts with a large area of high pressure centred over the Great Lakes with a weak area of low pressure over Alberta. The Great Lakes high will put sunny skies and warm temperatures over much of Manitoba […] Read more