CME April 2021 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Lean hogs down off recent gains

April live cattle end up off five-week low

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures dropped 2.7 per cent on Tuesday as the market retreated from recent surges. Profit-taking has weighed on prices since most-active April hog futures reached a life-of-contract high on Thursday. Still, traders said robust Chinese demand for pork imports is underpinning the futures market. Traders are […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Canada’s year-end cattle herd continues shrinking

Slaughter beat pre-pandemic pace in second half, StatsCan says

Year-over-year contraction continued for Canada’s cattle herd at the start of 2021, while newborn piglet counts kept Canada’s hog herd on the rise during the same period, according to Statistics Canada. StatsCan on Monday reported 11.2 million cattle on Canadian farms at Jan, 1, 2021 — down one per cent from the year-earlier date and […] Read more


CME April 2021 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Live cattle hit five-week low

Technical selling, weaker beef prices bring pressure

Chicago | Reuters — Technical selling on Monday drove Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures to their lowest prices in more than five weeks, while lean hog futures recovered from a sell-off. The cattle market’s losses brought the most-active April contract down six per cent from a life-of-contract high reached on Feb. 16. Strong domestic […] Read more

CME April 2021 lean hogs with 20-, 40- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hog futures drop on end-of-month profit taking

Live cattle book biggest one-day drop since November

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. hog futures dropped 2.9 per cent on Friday, with traders locking in profits from the rally on the last session of February. The loss, which pulled the market from the nearly two-year high hit on Thursday, was the biggest for hogs in percentage terms since Nov. 19. It snapped a […] Read more



CME April 2021 lean hogs with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hogs firm on follow-through buying, cash strength

U.S. beef export sales down on week

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live hog futures rose for the fourth day in a row on Thursday, hitting its highest since May 2019 on follow-through buying after rising the daily trading limit on Wednesday, traders said. Strength in the cash market also supported hog prices but the market closed off its high […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Barley, wheat at par in Alberta

Demand also seen for heated canola

MarketsFarm — Prices for feed barley and wheat are running about the same, from where Susanne Leclerc sits at Market Master Ltd. in Edmonton. Barley and wheat going into central Alberta were both running at $315 per tonne, she said. “We’re seeing buyer strength gaining coverage for the summer,” she said, but noted trading activity […] Read more

(Shadowinternet/E+/Getty Images)

Canada’s active PED case count dwindling

Affected Manitoba farms now all presumptive-negative

The number of active outbreaks of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) on hog farms in Canada has shrunk to a few in Eastern Canada, with affected sites elsewhere now believed negative for the disease. Manitoba Pork announced Wednesday that the last of the premises to report a PED outbreak in that province in 2020 has now […] Read more


CME April 2021 lean hogs with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hog futures limit-up to highest since May 2019

Cattle futures bounce on bargain buying

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures rose their daily limit on Wednesday, hitting their highest in nearly two years on tight frozen stocks and expectations for strong Chinese demand, traders said. The U.S. Agriculture Department’s cold storage report issued on Tuesday afternoon fueled buying on Wednesday. “Belly and trim stocks are at four-year […] Read more

The cover crop of fall rye seeded late in 2018 appeared to have a lasting effect to help control weeds as Fensky seeded flax in the spring of 2019.

Regenerative agriculture beats high input costs

Alberta farmers apply a new mindset to crop production

Shorty Fensky says it was largely a matter of farm economic survival as he forgets about the “Y” word and applies crop production practices that focus on profitability for their family run mixed-farming operation in central Alberta. Fensky, who along with his brother Cevin produce cattle and crops at Thorsby, about half an hour southwest […] Read more