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

U.S. livestock: CME cattle futures sag on long liquidation, rising grains

Hogs end mixed as traders' net long position shrinks

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures fell on Tuesday, on spillover weakness from feeder cattle futures and long liquidation as market players responded to a hefty net long position held by commodity funds, analysts said. CME February live cattle settled down 0.725 cent at 157 cents/lb. and April futures fell 0.8 […] Read more

CBOT March 2023 corn with 20-, 100- and 200-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soy up off early declines on export data

Chicago wheat follows suit

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn and soybean futures rallied to multi-month highs on Tuesday as signs of export demand and follow-through support from last week’s bullish U.S. government supply/demand reports overshadowed early pressure from wetter South American weather forecasts, traders said. Wheat followed the higher trend. CBOT March corn settled […] Read more


Yellow peas. (Victoria Popova/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: New Year’s pressure drags on North Dakota peas

Pea prices relatively higher north of border

MarketsFarm — Pea prices in North Dakota have been feeling pressure from the New Year, according to Landon Lechler of Beach Co-operative at Beach, N.D., about 360 km south of Weyburn, Sask. Besides the turning of the calendar New Year, Lechler said the upcoming Chinese New Year has slowed export demand for yellow and green […] Read more

Piglets at a hog operation in China. (KuLouKu/iStock/Getty Images)

China’s 2022 pork output highest in eight years

Average hog weights remain relatively high

Reuters — China’s pork output increased 4.6 per cent in 2022 from 2021 to reach its highest level since 2014, official data showed on Tuesday, confounding some expectations for a smaller rise. Pork output in the world’s top producer of the meat reached 55.41 million tonnes, the highest since 56.71 million tonnes recorded eight years […] Read more


A submerged and abandoned car is seen in floodwaters near a vineyard after winter storms at Forestville, California on Jan. 13, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Fred Greaves)

California rainstorms fade as death toll reaches 20

Drought to remain an issue for much of state

Reuters — The parade of atmospheric rivers that pounded California for three weeks finally faded on Monday, enabling the state to begin lengthy repairs to roads and levees as the White House announced U.S. President Joe Biden planned to survey the damage. The nine consecutive rainstorms that inundated California in succession since Dec. 26 killed […] Read more

(PBouman/iStock/Getty Images)

Klassen: Feeder market price discovery continues

Ontario buying interest leading Prairie market

In last week’s issue, we mentioned there was a large discrepancy in prices across Western Canada. Compared to the third week of December, prices in Manitoba were up $8/cwt to as much as $15/cwt, while Alberta markets were steady to $2/cwt higher. This past week, feeder prices in the eastern Prairie regions were relatively unchanged […] Read more


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Fund traders flip back to short side on canola

Corn traders reduce net long position

MarketsFarm — After briefly holding a net long position to start the New Year, speculators were back holding a net short position in canola in the second week of January as they liquidated long positions and put on some new bearish bets. The latest Commitments of Traders (CoT) report compiled by the U.S. Commodity Futures […] Read more

(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Bids dip as loonie soars

Chicago, K.C. wheats down on week

MarketsFarm — Spring wheat bids in Western Canada moved lower during the week ended Thursday as a sharp gain in the Canadian dollar relative to its U.S. counterpart cut into basis levels. The currency was up by roughly a penny on the week, settling Thursday at its highest level in seven weeks at 74.75 U.S. […] Read more


A container terminal at the Port of Vancouver. (FangXiaNuo/E+/Canada)

Ocean freight rates falling

Baltic index at lowest since mid-2020

MarketsFarm — Ocean freight rates are under pressure to start 2023, with the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) dipping to its lowest level since June 2020 as poor demand for vessels weighed on values. A seasonal slowdown of cargo movement ahead of the Chinese New Year was seen as contributing to the latest softness, despite easing […] Read more

Quebec hog producer Rene Roy is the new chairman of the Canadian Pork Council. (Cpc-ccp.com)

Canadian Pork Council names new top brass

Rene Roy elected as council's new chair

A few weeks after hiring a new executive director, members of the Canadian Pork Council have also chosen their new board chair and first vice-chair. The council on Tuesday announced it had elected Rene Roy, a hog producer from St-Jules in Quebec’s Beauce region, as its new board chair, and Scott Peters, a producer from […] Read more