CME February 2022 live cattle (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures sag on weaker cash markets

CME lean hogs decline

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures ended modestly lower on Tuesday on profit-taking after a two-session advance, softer cash cattle prices and weaker wholesale beef prices, traders said. CME February live cattle settled down 0.55 cent at 138.3 cents/lb. but stayed inside of Monday’s trading range (all figures US$). For feeder […] Read more



Once a calf gets weak and gets down or has no suckle reflex, it needs IV fluid.

Important scour-prevention tips for calves

Keep calving facilities clean, and focus on good herd health status

Scours is the number-one killer of calves under two months of age. It takes many different management strategies to prevent scours and it is important to know that it is caused by many different things. The following points will offer some ideas to reduce the buildup of organisms and increase resistance in your calves. Disease […] Read more

CME February 2022 live cattle (candlesticks) with 10-, 40- and 100-day moving averages (pink, dark red and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cattle up off three-week low in technical bounce

Hogs ease

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures closed higher on Monday, bouncing off a three-week low on technical buying, analysts said. CME February live cattle settled up 0.775 cent at 138.85 cents/lb., rebounding after a dip to 136.85 cents, just below the contract’s 40-day moving average and its lowest since Nov. 18. […] Read more


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U.S. packer profit margins jumped 300 per cent during pandemic, economists say

Increased costs don't explain higher profits, White House advisors say

Washington | Reuters — Four of the biggest meat-processing companies, using their market power in the highly consolidated U.S. market to drive up meat prices and underpay farmers, have tripled their own net profit margins since the pandemic started, White House economics advisers said. Financial statements of the meat-processing companies — which control 55 to […] Read more

CME February 2022 lean hogs (candlesticks) with 10-, 30- and 50-day moving averages (pink, brown and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hog futures extend rebound off 10-month low

Bargain buying supports cattle

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures rallied on Friday, extending gains made a day earlier when the market rebounded from a 10-month low. The gains accelerated as prices surged through key resistance points, and the market closed near session highs. CME February lean hogs settled up 3.2 cents at 81.025 cents/lb. […] Read more


CME February 2022 lean hogs (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, dark red and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hog futures climb with pork prices

Hog slaughter seen accelerating; beef export picture drags on cattle

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures rebounded on Thursday from four sessions of losses, amid an accelerating slaughter pace and indications that pork prices may be near a bottom following a prolonged slide, traders said. The daily hog slaughter was slower-than-normal earlier this week, which some analysts said may be a […] Read more

The feeder market is expected to move from extreme lows in the first quarter of 2022 to extreme highs by October of 2022.

More Prairie cattle finished sooner this year

Market Update with Jerry Klassen: Prices may be down in early 2022 but way up by next fall

As of mid-November, Alberta packers were buying fed cattle in the range of $260-$263 delivered on a dressed basis. Prices FOB the feedlot in southern Alberta were quoted at $154 on a live basis. Prices are marginally lower than the October average because market-ready supplies in Alberta and Saskatchewan are sharply higher than a year […] Read more


File photo of goats on display at the Hanover Agricultural Fair in Grunthal, Man. in August 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. to lift BSE-related rules off sheep, goat imports

New scrapie-specific rules take effect next month

U.S. restrictions that have hindered that country’s imports of live Canadian sheep and goats, going back to the start of the BSE crisis in 2003, are set to be scrapped and replaced with rules applying specifically to scrapie. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on Friday published a new […] Read more

CME February 2022 live cattle (candlesticks) with 10-, 20- and 50-day moving averages (pink, dark red and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures fall on weak cash markets

Hog futures down for fourth day

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures fell on Wednesday, pressured by technical selling and signs of weakness in the cash markets, traders said. Hog futures were lower for the fourth day in a row, with the front-month contract sinking to its lowest in 10 months on weak export prospects and a […] Read more