CME April 2023 live cattle with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle consolidate after hitting new contract high

Chicago lean hogs end lower

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures consolidated on Friday after setting a string on contract highs recently, while lean hog futures eased. The cattle market looks ripe for a correction after futures rose this month on tightening U.S. supplies, brokers said. However, cattle inventories look even smaller than expected as ranchers […] Read more

File photo of a migrating flock of snow geese in Canada. (Pchoui/iStock/Getty Images)

Flu experts gather with H5N1 risk on the agenda

Threat to humans from current strain seen as low

London | Reuters — The world’s leading experts on influenza met this week to discuss the threat posed to humans by a strain of H5N1 avian flu that has caused record numbers of bird deaths around the world in recent months. The group of scientists, regulators and vaccine manufacturers meets twice a year to decide […] Read more


(Olymel video screengrab via YouTube)

Sollio books deeper loss for 2022

Olymel's fresh pork business takes biggest hit

Domestic and international market-moving events have dragged hard on the year-end bottom line for Sollio Cooperative Group, particularly in its fresh pork business. Quebec-based Sollio — which operates the ag input and farm service business Sollio Agriculture, meat packer Olymel and hardware retailer BMR — on Thursday reported full-year revenues of $8.876 billion for its […] Read more

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

U.S. livestock: CME cattle set high on Brazil halting beef exports to China

April hogs close lower, June up

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures reached a contract high on Thursday amid hopes that Chinese importers will buy more U.S. beef after rival supplier Brazil suspended shipments to China, analysts said. Brazil said it would halt beef exports to China, the main destination for its overseas shipments, after confirming a […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed grain weekly: Prices slip back on good supplies

Demand for corn from Manitoba, U.S. wanes

MarketsFarm — There are sufficient supplies of feed barley, wheat and corn across the Prairies, according to Evan Peterson, trader with JGL Commodities. In turn, that’s putting pressure on prices. Peterson said a shortage of trucks and truck drivers last summer and fall led buyers to acquire as much feed as possible to get through […] Read more

CBOT May 2023 corn with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn futures hit six-week low on projected plantings

Corn, soy, wheat prices to drop from 2022, USDA predicts

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn futures hit a six-week low on Thursday as the U.S. government projected farmers will plant more acres this year and prices will decline, analysts said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, at its annual Agricultural Outlook Forum, pegged 2023 corn plantings at 91 million acres, up from […] Read more


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

U.S. livestock: CME hog futures sag as pork prices retreat

February live cattle up, April down

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures closed lower on Wednesday, retreating from six-week highs set a day earlier as wholesale pork prices backed down after spiking higher early in the week. Live cattle futures closed mixed, underpinned by surging beef prices. At the CME, April hogs settled down 2.55 cents at […] Read more

A microscope-level view of damaged brain tissue from a cow infected with BSE. (USDA photo via U.S. Food and Drug Administration)

Brazil to halt beef exports to China after BSE case

Indications point to 'atypical' case

Sao Paulo | Reuters — Brazil’s beef exports to China will be halted starting Thursday after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was confirmed in the northern state of Para, the country’s agriculture and livestock ministry said on Wednesday. The suspension is part of an animal health pact previously agreed between China and Brazil […] Read more


CBOT March 2023 soft red winter wheat with 20-day moving average, MGEX March 2023 hard red spring wheat (yellow line) and K.C. March 2023 hard red winter wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat nears one-month low on Black Sea competition

Chicago soybeans, corn also lower

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures fell to their lowest in nearly a month on Wednesday as an Egyptian purchase tender highlighted export competition from the Black Sea region, tempering worries about war disruption to Ukrainian supplies, analysts said. Soybean futures fell on profit-taking and expectations of increasing soy export competition from Brazil, where […] Read more

CBOT March 2023 corn with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

CBOT weekly outlook: Wide array of factors affecting grain prices

Corn, soy see speculative profit-taking

MarketsFarm — Recent rains in parts of South America, as well as a correction in the markets, have paused rallies in corn and soybeans on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), according to one trader. Jack Scoville, vice-president of The Price Futures Group in Chicago, said that while central and southern Argentina are still mired […] Read more