Hogs & Production Tips

(Gloria Solano-Aguilar photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

PED pops back up in southern Ontario

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News March 14, 2017

Porcine epidemic diarrhea has appeared on two hog operations in southern Ontario, after nearly eight months with no new cases in the province. Ontario Pork reported the province’s 100th and 101st cases of PED on Feb. 22 and March 7, at finisher barns in Middlesex County and in the Haldimand-Norfolk district respectively. Ontario — home […] Read more

Hogs, Livestock

JBS to buy U.S. pork processor Plumrose

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News March 13, 2017

U.S. ham and bacon processor Plumrose is set to become an arm of major Brazilian meatpacker JBS. JBS, whose holdings include one of Canada’s biggest beef packing plants at Brooks, Alta., announced Monday it has an agreement in place to buy Plumrose from Danish co-operative Danish Crown for US$230 million. The deal would give JBS […] Read more

Hogs, Livestock, Reuters, Weather

Oklahoma wildfires kill thousands of pigs

By Michael Hirtzer, GFM Network News March 10, 2017

Reuters — Wildfires devastated a Smithfield Foods hog farm in Laverne, Oklahoma, killing at least several thousand pigs, company and local officials said Friday. The exact number of swine killed in the Oklahoma fire, which began on Monday, was not immediately known. Smithfield did not say how many died in the blaze, but said no […] Read more

Hogs, Livestock, Poultry/Eggs, Reuters

Cash-rich Maple Leaf sees abundant U.S. opportunities

By Rod Nickel, GFM Network News February 22, 2017

Reuters — Canadian meat packing company Maple Leaf Foods is hunting for acquisitions in the U.S., after years spent upgrading old factories and shedding business lines, its CEO said on Wednesday. Maple Leaf, which reported on Wednesday its profits doubled in the fourth quarter, sees growth opportunities from meat produced humanely and without antibiotics, and […] Read more

Wild boar in the western Czech Republic’s Lany game park. Wild boar in the country’s Sumava mountain region, further southwest, are turning up radioactive. (Lslany.cz)

Hogs, Livestock, Reuters

Wild boars roam Czech forests, some of them radioactive

By Reuters, GFM Network News February 22, 2017

Prague | Reuters –– The Czech Republic has an unusual problem this winter with its wild boar meat, a local delicacy. The boars are radioactive. Actually, it’s not the boars themselves, but what they’re eating. A cold and snowy winter is forcing them to feed on false truffles, an underground mushroom common in the Sumava […] Read more

Hogs, Livestock, Poultry/Eggs, Reuters

Maple Leaf Foods allows McCain to boost stake

By Reuters, GFM Network News February 22, 2017

Reuters — Canadian meat processor Maple Leaf Foods reported a smaller-than-expected profit on Wednesday and also said it would allow its biggest shareholder to take a bigger stake in the company. The company said CEO Michael McCain and an affiliated company, McCain Capital Inc., could now bump up their stake to as much as 45 […] Read more

Hogs, Livestock, Poultry/Eggs

Pizza chains expand antibiotic-free meat market

By Grainews Staff, GFM Network News February 7, 2017

Canadian pizza chains Pizza Nova and Pizza Pizza are both staking out further space in the chain dining market for meats from livestock raised without antibiotics. Toronto-based Pizza Pizza on Jan. 23 announced it would source all chicken products on its menu from birds raised without the use of antibiotics, effective immediately. The company’s pledge […] Read more

Hogs, Livestock, Markets

Hog market improving with solid exports

By GFM Network News February 3, 2017

CNS Canada — Strong U.S. exports and declining cold-storage numbers have helped push hog prices on Canada’s Prairies to better levels than a few months back. According to the latest information compiled by Saskatchewan Agriculture, the U.S. exported 173,770 tonnes of pork in November 2016, up 13.5 per cent from 153,051 in October 2016, and […] Read more

(Regis Lefebure photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Beef Cattle, Hogs, Livestock, Markets, Reuters

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hog futures mixed on end-of-year positioning

By Michael Hirtzer, GFM Network News December 30, 2016

Chicago/Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures were narrowly mixed on Friday, paring earlier steep gains on end-of-year positioning, traders said. Stronger bids for cattle in U.S. Plains cash markets underpinned prices. But some investors took profits after most-active February futures hit an eight-month high before turning slightly lower. Despite the recent rally, cattle […] Read more

Hogs, Livestock, Reuters

Fat herds, leaner profits: For China’s pig farmers, New Year feasts bring cold comfort

By GFM Network News December 29, 2016

Beijing/Reuters – With China’s Lunar New Year festivities fast approaching, pig farmers in the world’s biggest pork market have little to cheer. As they fatten herds to meet peak demand, a slump in retail prices and a spike in feed costs are grinding up profits. A wave of imports has squeezed pork retail prices 10 […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Hog futures hit contract highs on shock herd decline

Alberta Crop Report: Harvest more than three-quarters finished

NFU says proposed plant breeders’ rights come at farmers’ expense

GFM Network News