CME October 2021 lean hogs (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, brown and black lines) and lean hog cash index (blue line, left column). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs rise, narrowing discount to cash market

Technical selling drags on live cattle

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures firmed on Friday, led by the nearby October contract, in a technical and bargain-buying rally that narrowed the market’s sizeable discount to the exchange’s lean hog index, traders said. Actively traded October futures scaled to a 3-1/2 week peak and closed near its session high, […] Read more



Feed grain prices expected to remain high

Feed grain prices expected to remain high

Market Update with Jerry Klassen: More likely to find better calf market closer to year-end

There are always a lot of factors affecting the North American beef market, but this month’s take-home message is to look for the fed cattle market in Alberta to reach seasonal highs during November. We could see Alberta fed cattle prices reach up to $165 delivered. Yearling prices are expected to increase $5 to $8 […] Read more

(Olymel video screengrab via YouTube)

Union rejects province’s call for arbitration in Olymel strike

Labour minister had proposed third-party settlement

A proposal from Quebec’s labour minister to end a four-month strike at a major hog slaughter plant, which has created a backlog of market-weight hogs on farms in Eastern Canada, has been rejected by the workers’ union. Provincial Labour Minister Jean Boulet, at a meeting Thursday morning, put out a proposal to meat packer Olymel […] Read more


CME October 2021 live cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (red, brown and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle futures fall on lower cash cattle

Hogs down on supply expectations

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures fell for a third day on Thursday, as the softer cash market in the southern U.S. Plains weighed on futures, traders said. “This cash just continues to struggle,” said Joe Kooima, commodity broker at Kooima Kooima Varilek Trading Inc. “We’ve just got that anchor in […] Read more

An Asian giant hornet, trapped at Birch Bay, Wash. on July 14, 2020 by Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) researchers, is seen at Olympia, Wash. on July 29, 2020. (Photo: WSDA/Chris Looney/handout via Reuters)

Washington state eradicates first ‘murder hornet’ nest of the year

Nest found in northwestern county near B.C. border

Reuters — Washington state eradicated its first Asian giant hornet nest of the year by vacuuming out 113 worker hornets and removing bark and decayed wood near the nest, Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) officials said Thursday. The so-called stinging “murder hornets,” the world’s largest hornets, can grow to five centimetres in length and […] Read more


File photo of hogs in an outdoor pen on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. (EAGiven/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. seeks to protect pork exports if swine fever hits territories

Policy would distinguish Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands from mainland

Chicago | Reuters — The United States said on Thursday it is seeking to avoid disruptions to pork exports if the territories of Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands detect the fatal pig disease African swine fever. The risk for infections in the territories is higher after the Dominican Republic last month confirmed the […] Read more

File photo of a platter of sliced raw beef served in Singapore for use in shabu-shabu, a Japanese-style hotpot dish. (Kenneth Chew/iStock/Getty Images)

Singapore clears all Canadian beef for import

Country first to lift BSE-era restrictions under new status

Canada’s new official international status as a “negligible risk” country for bovine spongiform encephalopathy now has its first recognition from a beef-importing nation. Singapore has approved the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s certificate for exports of all Canadian beef, including beef offal, with no restrictions on the age of the cattle from which the beef was […] Read more


CME October 2021 live cattle (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle futures ease as beef prices cool

Lean hog index still at premium to futures

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures eased on Wednesday, as beef prices eased ahead of the Labour Day holiday, traditionally a big beef consumption holiday, traders said. “We’re getting into that lull period ahead of the Labour Day holiday, where the retailers have already got their product purchased from the packers,” […] Read more