CME February 2022 lean hogs (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, dark red and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hog futures climb with pork prices

Hog slaughter seen accelerating; beef export picture drags on cattle

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures rebounded on Thursday from four sessions of losses, amid an accelerating slaughter pace and indications that pork prices may be near a bottom following a prolonged slide, traders said. The daily hog slaughter was slower-than-normal earlier this week, which some analysts said may be a […] Read more

File photo of an Ontario cherry orchard. (UpdogDesigns/iStock/Getty Images)

Audit finds Canada failing migrant farmworkers on COVID-19, housing inspections

Toronto | Reuters — As the COVID-19 pandemic raged, federal government inspectors frequently deemed the employers of migrant workers compliant with health and safety rules despite a lack of evidence, according to an Auditor General report released Thursday. While Canadian provinces and territories set housing standards, the federal government is responsible for ensuring tens of […] Read more


The feeder market is expected to move from extreme lows in the first quarter of 2022 to extreme highs by October of 2022.

More Prairie cattle finished sooner this year

Market Update with Jerry Klassen: Prices may be down in early 2022 but way up by next fall

As of mid-November, Alberta packers were buying fed cattle in the range of $260-$263 delivered on a dressed basis. Prices FOB the feedlot in southern Alberta were quoted at $154 on a live basis. Prices are marginally lower than the October average because market-ready supplies in Alberta and Saskatchewan are sharply higher than a year […] Read more

CME February 2022 live cattle (candlesticks) with 10-, 20- and 50-day moving averages (pink, dark red and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures fall on weak cash markets

Hog futures down for fourth day

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures fell on Wednesday, pressured by technical selling and signs of weakness in the cash markets, traders said. Hog futures were lower for the fourth day in a row, with the front-month contract sinking to its lowest in 10 months on weak export prospects and a […] Read more



(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder market stabilizes

Cow-calf producers selling sooner than normal

Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle prices traded $2-$3 on either side of unchanged. Alberta packers were buying fed cattle on a dressed basis at $275 delivered; the Alberta fed market has rallied $10-$12 over the past couple weeks. Secondly, U.S. feeder cattle prices have also rallied US$10-US$12 during the same time frame […] Read more


CME February 2022 lean hogs (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, brown and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hog futures fall on concerns over supply glut

February live cattle up slightly

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures plunged four per cent on Monday, hitting their lowest level in nearly a month, as robust supplies threatened profits even as pork prices edged off their recent lows, traders said. Pork processors earned $22.90 per hog, down from $46.25 per hog on Friday and $43.20 a […] Read more

(Viktorcvetkovic/E+/Getty Images)

Spy agency sees ransomware attacks soaring

Aggressive hacking expected to increase

Ottawa | Reuters — Global ransomware attacks increased by 151 per cent in the first half of 2021 compared with 2020 and hackers are set to become increasingly aggressive, Canada’s signals intelligence agency said on Monday. The Communications Security Establishment (CSE), citing attacks on North American health facilities and a U.S. pipeline, said the scale […] Read more


Dominic Barton. (Video screengrab from McKinsey.com)

Ambassador to China to leave post after helping free detainees

Canola, 5G access, other issues remain

Ottawa | Reuters –– Canada’s ambassador to China said on Monday he would soon leave his post after a two-year assignment where he helped secure the freedom of two Canadian detainees despite icy relations between Beijing and Ottawa. Dominic Barton’s departure, which will take effect Dec. 31, leaves a crucial diplomatic post open at a […] Read more

File photo outside Cargill’s beef slaughter and packing plant at High River, Alta. on May 6, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Todd Korol)

Strike averted at Cargill’s High River beef plant

Deal that hikes wages by 21 per cent and offers large bonuses receives majority backing

Workers at Cargill’s beef packing plant in southern Alberta have voted in favour of a contract that will hike wages by 21 per cent and provide improved health benefits. “The contract is the best of its kind and presented unprecedented gains in this time of economic and political uncertainty,” United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) […] Read more