(TysonFoods.com)

Tyson fires seven managers after probe into COVID-19 wagering

Employees had been suspended following lawsuit

Reuters — Tyson Foods said Wednesday it had fired seven managers at an Iowa pork plant after investigating allegations that they took bets on how many employees would catch COVID-19. The independent investigation, led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, came in response to a lawsuit filed by the son of a worker at […] Read more

Photo: File

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hog futures fall as accelerating pandemic stirs demand concern

Chicago | Reuters – U.S. cattle and hog futures fell on Monday as cash beef and pork prices weakened and as accelerating coronavirus infection rates prompted tighter restrictions on restaurants and other food service outlets, threatening meat sales. Meanwhile, renewed tensions between the United States and China, after fresh U.S. sanctions on 14 Chinese officials, […] Read more



(Gloria Solano-Aguilar photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Ontario hog set-aside plan underway

AgriRecovery program taking applications through March

Ontario hog farmers can now apply for AgriRecovery toward feed costs for hogs held back from sale when certain pork packers went into COVID-19-induced slowdowns. Agricorp, the province’s ag program delivery agency, on Nov. 25 announced the Canada-Ontario COVID-19 2020 Hog Maintenance Feed Initiative, which started effective Nov. 6 and will run through to March […] Read more



(Shadowinternet/E+/Getty Images)

Feds back pork producers with new levy on imports

New national pork agency to be up and running next summer

A new agency will use funds from a new levy on imported pork to pay for research and promotion for the Canadian pork sector. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie Claude Bibeau on Thursday officially announced the creation of the Canadian Pork Promotion and Research Agency (PRA). The Farm Products Council of Canada (FPCC) and Agriculture and […] Read more


Seasonal flu shots are recommended to help limit spread of flu viruses between people and livestock. (Inside Creative House/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Swine flu strain makes first jump to person in Canada

Alberta reports 'one isolated case' in central region

Further risk to people is believed to be low after a person in central Alberta was confirmed to have caught a variant of H1N2 swine flu, in the first case of its kind in Canada. The virus was spotted in mid-October after a patient sought medical care with “influenza-like symptoms,” provincial chief medical officer Dr. […] Read more

(Olymel video screengrab via YouTube)

Shutdown urged for Quebec pork plant after COVID-19 death

Union calls on Olymel to close site for at least two weeks

The union for over 1,000 workers at a major Quebec hog slaughter plant is calling on the owner to temporarily close the facility against a COVID-19 outbreak now blamed for the death of an employee. Le Syndicat des travailleurs d’Olymel Vallee-Jonction-CSN said Wednesday the death of a worker earlier this week led it to demand […] Read more



(Zevei-Wenhui/iStock/Getty Images)

Swine fever found in Germany putting pork exports at risk

Country had been fencing off borders against wild boar

Berlin/Hamburg | Reuters — Germany confirmed on Thursday that African swine fever (ASF) had been found in a dead wild boar near its border with Poland, threatening pork exports to China from Europe’s biggest pork producer, which were worth US$1.2 billion last year. Authorities in the German state of Brandenburg quarantined a 15-km area around […] Read more