A chicken salad featuring Upside Foods’ cell-cultivated meat. (UpsideFoods.com)

Lab-grown meat can be kosher and halal, experts say

Opinions seen as guidance for future products

Reuters — Lab-grown meat can be labeled kosher and halal as long as its cells are derived in methods compliant with religious standards, according to two panels of experts commissioned by the nascent industry. The opinions are a win for cell-cultivated meat companies, executives said, because it means observant followers of Judaism and Islam could […] Read more

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

U.S. livestock: CME feeder cattle, deferred live cattle hit new highs

October lean hogs also close higher

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. feeder cattle futures and deferred live cattle futures hit new contract highs on Monday, as tight U.S. supplies going into next year continued to fuel the bull market, traders said. Even Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s October and December live cattle futures surged within $1 of their contract highs, fueled by optimism […] Read more


CME June 2024 live cattle with 20-day moving average and October 2023 live cattle (black line). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME feeder cattle, deferred live cattle set highs on tight supply

Hog futures down on lower export sales

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. feeder cattle futures and deferred live cattle futures climbed to new peaks on Friday, as limited U.S. supplies continued to propel prices. Inventories of U.S. cattle dwindled to their lowest levels in decades after producers reduced their herds over the last year because drought reduced the availability of pastures for […] Read more

CME October 2023 feeder cattle with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME feeder cattle set contract high, live cattle hit July high

Hogs up but within yesterday's range

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures climbed to a July high on Thursday while feeder cattle set new contract highs. Tight supplies continue to support the markets, analysts said, after U.S. producers reduced their cattle herds over the last year as drought limited the availability of pastures for grazing. October live […] Read more


Winnipeg, Sept. 7, 2023. (Dave Bedard photo)

Prairie Forecast: Summer trying to hang on

Issued Sept. 6, covering Sept. 6 to 13

The weather models seem to be in good agreement for this forecast period, with no strong storm systems expected to impact the Prairies, making for a fairly high-confidence forecast. This forecast period will start off with a generally west to southwesterly flow across the Prairies. A broad but weak area of low pressure is expected […] Read more

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

File photo of a wild boar crossing a road in Sweden. (Ockra/iStock/Getty Images)

Swine fever detected in Sweden for first time

Recent outbreak in Balkans spurred culls

Stockholm | Reuters — A dead wild boar in Sweden has tested positive for African swine fever, Sweden’s Veterinary Institute said on Wednesday, the first such case in the country. African swine fever is harmless to humans but is highly contagious and deadly in domestic pigs and wild boars. It has spread from Africa to […] 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

Robert Stwalley, a clinical associate professor in Purdue University’s department of agricultural and biological engineering, shows the hog cooling pad technology IHT has now licensed to make and sell in North America. (Photo: Tom Campbell/Purdue Agricultural Communication via Canada NewsWire)

Farrowing heat pad firm to bring hog cooling pads to market

Manitoba's IHT to offer new system next spring

A Winnipeg-area company providing heating pad and lighting systems for hog barns is set to add a U.S.-developed line of hog cooling pads to its product lineup. IHT (Innovative Heating Technologies) Group announced Thursday it will make and sell a line of water-cooled pads that use a patented system designed at Purdue University in Indiana, […] Read more