CME October 2020 lean hogs with 20- and 50-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Lean hogs up as slaughter pace reaches pre-COVID levels

Pre-Labour Day buying winds down

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures gained on Thursday as slaughter rates returned to levels not seen since processing plants closed from COVID-19 outbreaks among workers this spring. Live cattle futures fell as pre-Labour Day buying wound down and the industry awaited Friday’s monthly Cattle on Feed report from the U.S. […] Read more

(Lovelyshot/iStock/Getty Images)

B.C. ag ministry to take over regulation for on-farm slaughter

Class D- and E-licensed sites to move to ag ministry oversight

British Columbia is set to consolidate all provincial-level meat inspection duties into its agriculture ministry — including the regulatory oversight for on-farm slaughter work. The province announced Wednesday that all slaughter work licensed under its Meat Inspection Regulation for Class A, B, D and E sites will now be regulated through the ag ministry, starting […] Read more


CME October 2020 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Live cattle futures firm on wholesale strength

Hogs up as slaughter outpaces year-earlier period

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures gained on Wednesday as boxed beef prices offered support ahead of the upcoming holiday weekend, traders said. “It’s the main week for retailers to lock up their Labour Day supplies. That’s kept a floor under the cash market,” said Alan Brugler, president of Brugler Marketing. […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Survey reveals improvement needed in parasite management

Animal Health with Roy Lewis: Internal and external pests need different treatments

Over the last few years there has been a lot written about internal worm control, timing of chemical treatment and parasite resistance. A group of researchers from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon asked producers in 2015 about how they were using internal parasite treatments. The researchers drew some good conclusions from this […] Read more


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Brandon pork plant’s exports to China suspended

Chinese protocols call for temporary pause, Maple Leaf says

New Chinese rules for exporters and a number of COVID-19 cases among its workers have led Maple Leaf Foods to temporarily halt pork traffic to China from its biggest hog plant. The company said Tuesday it has “temporarily suspended pork exports to China on a voluntary basis due to recent protocols adopted by the Chinese […] Read more

(Olymel video screengrab via YouTube)

Red Deer hog plant books first COVID case

One employee confirmed with virus, 13 isolating as precaution, company says

A major Prairie hog slaughter and processing plant relatively untouched by the COVID-19 pandemic has marked its first case of the coronavirus in a production line worker. Olymel, the meat packing arm of Quebec ag co-operative Sollio, said an employee who reported for work Monday last week at its Red Deer, Alta. plant began showing […] Read more


CME October 2020 lean hogs with 20- and 50-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Lean hog futures pull back on shaky demand

CME October live cattle remain flat

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures slid on Tuesday as traders eyed large seasonal hog supplies against uncertain domestic consumption and weak exports. CME October lean hogs settled 2.1 cents lower at 51.425 cents/lb. (all figures US$). “Supplies are large, and there’s always uncertainty about export demand,” said Doug Houghton, analyst […] Read more



CME October 2020 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Live cattle step back after eight-session climb

Hog sector seen having 'curbed expansion'

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures pulled back on Monday in profit taking ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cattle on Feed report at the end of the week, traders said. Live cattle fell for the first day after eight sessions of gains. The pullback reflects uncertainty about the USDA […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

COVID-19 lands at another Cargill meat plant

Five cases linked to case-ready plant in Calgary

Alberta provincial officials have declared a COVID-19 outbreak at Cargill’s meat further-processing plant in Calgary, with five cases of the coronavirus connected to the facility. Provincial chief medical officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw tweeted Friday that “there are five cases linked to Cargill Case Ready Meats in #YYC.” Provincial health officials “have visited the plant and […] Read more