beef Archives - Page 120 of 137

Cattle producers facing a pandemic market

Options include being prepared to background steers, keep replacement heifers

By Jerry Klassen May 15, 2020

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve received many calls in regards to the market situation for fed and feeder cattle. The conversation usually starts with “What should I do?” This is a very difficult environment, to say the least. The shuttering of one major Alberta beef plant (as of late April) and reduced slaughter […] Read more

Certified beef cattle are pictured on May 13, 2020 at Rancho Estrada in the town of San Agustin, on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (Photo: Reuters/Jose Luis Gonzalez)

Beef Cattle, Livestock, Markets, Reuters

More Mexican beef headed to U.S. dinner tables as supply crunch bites

"I think we're going to leap past Canada this year"

By GFM Network News May 14, 2020

Mexico City/Chicago | Reuters — More Mexican steaks and other beef cuts are headed north of the border after the coronavirus outbreak has hobbled U.S. meat processing plants, potentially offsetting fears of shortages affecting businesses from fast-food chains to grocery stores but angering U.S. ranchers. The Mexican industry chalks up the export growth to new […] Read more

A file photo of cattle mustering in Australia’s Outback. (Hypedesk/iStock/Getty Images)

General, Markets, Reuters

Australia requests China trade talks over beef, barley

By GFM Network News May 13, 2020

Sydney | Reuters — Australia’s trade minister is seeking urgent talks with his Chinese counterpart after key agriculture exports were hit with suspensions and tariff threats, but said Australia will continue to push for an inquiry into the COVID-19 outbreak. Trade minister Simon Birmingham requested a telephone call with Chinese commerce minister Zhong Shan after […] Read more

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

Livestock, Markets, Reuters

U.S. livestock: Live cattle futures lower on profit-taking

August, October cattle limit down; June hogs also down

By GFM Network News May 12, 2020

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures closed lower on Monday, with some contract months falling their daily three-cent limit on profit-taking amid signs the U.S. meat-packing sector was stepping up beef production, traders said. Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) June live cattle futures settled down 1.975 cents at 92.675 cents/lb., after surging to a […] Read more

Livestock, Reuters

Cargill to shut Montreal-area meat plant temporarily

Company says 64 workers tested positive for COVID-19

By Reuters, GFM Network News May 11, 2020

Ottawa | Reuters — The Canadian arm of U.S. agribusiness Cargill said Sunday it would soon temporarily shut a Montreal-area case-ready meat plant after 64 workers tested positive for COVID-19. The plant is at Chambly, a South Shore suburb of Montreal, one of the worst hit cities in Canada. Cargill said it was winding down […] Read more

Finishers, Livestock, Markets

Klassen: Yearlings trade lower, calves ratchet higher

By Jerry Klassen, GFM Network News May 6, 2020

Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling prices were $4-$6 lower; mid-weight feeder cattle traded $2 higher to $4 lower. Lighter calves and grassers were quite variable. In Alberta, these cattle ranged from unchanged to as much as $8 higher on average while in the eastern Prairie regions, calves traded $4 lower to $4 higher. […] Read more

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa in this April 24, 2020 file photo. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)

General, Markets

Trudeau pledges $252 million in COVID-19 aid for farmers, processors

Dairy commission's credit line extended for storage program

By GFM Network News May 5, 2020

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will invest $252 million to help some of the country’s farming and food processing sectors weather the coronavirus outbreak, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday, adding more money could come later if needed. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture, one of Canada’s biggest farm groups, asked Ottawa last week for an […] Read more

Cattleman’s Corner, Cow-Calf, Livestock

The economists are right

Knowing your cost of production really does make a difference

By Sean McGrath May 5, 2020

As I write this article we are amid coronavirus and a limit-down cattle market for several days in a row. For the record, I am not admitting the economists were right about this event. But as I am redoing our yearly plan, reassessing our risk strategies and adjusting costs on the fly, I have to […] Read more

Beef Cattle, Livestock

Cargill’s High River plant reopens with two slaughter shifts

Cutting line to resume Wednesday

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News May 5, 2020

Cargill’s southern Alberta beef packing plant, estimated to be responsible for over a third of Canada’s beef processing capacity, restarted Monday after a two-week COVID-19-related shutdown — but at a quicker pace than previously expected. The company said in a statement Monday it is resuming operations at the High River plant “with two shifts” in […] Read more

Workers in the JBS beef plant at Brooks, Alta. appear in a screen shot from a 2018 corporate video. (JBS Canada video screengrab via YouTube)

Livestock, Reuters

As meat plant infections rise, Canada lets packers choose when to close

Beef plants at heart of Alberta's largest COVID-19 community outbreaks

By Rod Nickel, GFM Network News May 1, 2020

Winnipeg | Reuters — In Cargill’s High River, Alta. plant, supplier of more than one-third of Canada’s beef, 391 workers were sick with COVID-19 when the company suspended operations, according to provincial health officials. But Maple Leaf Foods decided to idle a poultry plant for eight days, in Brampton, Ont., after just three workers were […] Read more

Klassen: Feeder market slips off record highs

China trade envoy meets US Midwest delegation as agriculture exports loom large in talks

Wildfire smoke helped counter extreme heat, benefitting this year’s canola crop

GFM Network News