CME June 2020 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Firm cash market lifts live cattle

Weaker pork prices, supply ideas drag on hogs

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures closed higher on Friday, with the front contract gaining against back months, led by higher cash cattle prices, traders said. Cash cattle traded as high as $120/cwt in the southern Plains on Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said, up from trades a week earlier that ranged […] Read more


CME August 2020 live cattle with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Live cattle end mostly lower as beef prices ease

June hogs up, August lower

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures closed mostly lower on Thursday as wholesale beef prices began to retreat from historic highs as the U.S. slaughter pace improved, generating more meat supplies, analysts said. Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) August live cattle futures settled down 1.425 cents at 97 cents/lb. (all figures US$). Front-month June […] Read more

CME June 2020 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Lean hog futures dip after belly prices dive

Cattle down on ideas of beef prices peaking

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures fell on Wednesday on technical selling and signs that wholesale pork prices may have peaked after a massive run-up due to closings at meat-packing plants as COVID-19 sickened workers, traders said. The U.S. pork cutout value fell on Tuesday afternoon by nearly $9/cwt, to $112.82, with pork […] Read more


CME June 2020 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: June live cattle limit up on soaring beef prices

Large supplies of hogs, cattle still loom over futures

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures closed higher on Tuesday, with nearby contracts rising the daily maximum, as surging wholesale beef prices and expectations U.S. beef and pork production would drop spurred speculative buying, traders said. Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) June live cattle futures settled up 4.5 cents, the expanded daily limit, at […] Read more

File photo of a quality control check on fresh peppers in a Canadian vegetable packing plant. (Jeffbergen/E+Getty Images)

Laid-off foreign workers may get conditional clearance for other jobs

Workers allowed to start new jobs while permits are processed

Approved temporary foreign workers (TFWs) whose jobs disappeared before they could begin work in Canada this spring can now get much quicker approval to start at other workplaces, including farms, where the workers are needed. The federal government said Tuesday it will, effective “immediately,” temporarily waive its rule requiring a TFW to receive federal approval […] Read more


Federal deputy agriculture minister Chris Forbes was one of the witnesses to appear via video conferencing at the Commons agriculture committee’s online meeting May 5. (Parl.gc.ca)

Opposition MPs critique government’s COVID-19 response for ag sector

Pandemic puts ag committee meeting online

Ottawa — Opposition MPs used the first meeting of the Commons standing committee on agriculture and agri-food since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to critique the federal Liberals’ $252 million aid package for farmers and food processors. During the May 5 online meeting, Quebec MP Richard Lehoux, the Conservatives’ associate agriculture critic, charged the […] Read more

CME August 2020 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Live cattle futures lower on profit-taking

August, October cattle limit down; June hogs also down

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures closed lower on Monday, with some contract months falling their daily three-cent limit on profit-taking amid signs the U.S. meat-packing sector was stepping up beef production, traders said. Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) June live cattle futures settled down 1.975 cents at 92.675 cents/lb., after surging to a […] Read more


[Dave Bedard file photo]

Cargill to shut Montreal-area meat plant temporarily

Company says 64 workers tested positive for COVID-19

Ottawa | Reuters — The Canadian arm of U.S. agribusiness Cargill said Sunday it would soon temporarily shut a Montreal-area case-ready meat plant after 64 workers tested positive for COVID-19. The plant is at Chambly, a South Shore suburb of Montreal, one of the worst hit cities in Canada. Cargill said it was winding down […] Read more

CME June 2020 live cattle with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cash cattle, futures up on beef packer scrutiny

Profit-taking continues to drag on lean hogs

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures rose on Friday along with cash prices as the federal government probed the beef market. The price of cattle in the cash market has rebounded since U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he had urged the federal Justice Department to look into allegations that the meatpacking […] Read more