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

U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs firm on tight hog supplies

Live cattle down off last week's gains

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures gained on Monday, supported by fewer market-ready hogs and diminished pork supplies, analysts said. “There just isn’t much extra pork laying around,” said Alan Brugler, president of Brugler Marketing. CME April lean hogs settled 1.2 cents higher at 101.275 cents/lb., notching a new life-of-contract high. […] Read more


CME April 2022 lean hogs (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs up on tight supplies, good demand

April live cattle up, March feeder cattle lower

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures rose on Friday as tight hog supplies and strong demand fueled gains for the fifth time in six sessions. The market shrugged off negative technical signals following a lower close in actively traded April futures on Thursday after posting a contract high during the session. […] Read more

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

U.S. livestock: CME hog, cattle futures end lower

Prices take pause off contract highs

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog and cattle futures closed lower on Thursday, retreating as traders paused to book profits after the benchmark contracts in both markets climbed to life-of-contract highs. CME April lean hogs settled down 0.75 cent at 98.375 cents/lb., easing after notching a contract high at 101.25 cents (all figures […] Read more


Lower beef production driving the feeder cattle market

Lower beef production driving the feeder cattle market

Market Update with Jerry Klassen: Both U.S. and Canadian producers expected to hold on to replacement heifers

Canadian beef production for the 2021 calendar year was estimated at 3.258 million tonnes, up seven per cent from the 2020 output of 3.057 million tonnes. U.S. commercial beef production was estimated at 27.950 billion pounds, which is a record high. This is up three per cent from the 2020 U.S. production of 27.174 billion […] Read more

Employees walk around with face masks at the JBS USA meat packing plant at Greeley, Colorado on April 14, 2020. (File photo: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)

JBS reaches ‘icebreaker’ settlement of beef price-fixing claims

Reuters — JBS has agreed to pay US$52.5 million to settle litigation accusing meatpacking companies of conspiring to limit supply in the $63 billion-a-year U.S. beef market in order to inflate prices and boost profit. The preliminary settlement by the Brazilian company and its U.S. units with so-called direct purchasers was disclosed on Tuesday, and […] Read more


CME April 2022 live cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, dark red and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cash prices, slaughter pace support CME live cattle

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures rallied to fresh contract highs on Wednesday on strong cash market prices and rising slaughter rates amid seasonally tightening cattle supplies. A winter storm moving across the central U.S. on Wednesday did not noticeably impact cattle and beef production, although traders were watching for any […] Read more

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

U.S. livestock: CME hog, cattle futures hit contract highs

U.S. storm could drag on livestock transport

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures rose more than two per cent on Tuesday, with most contract months setting life-of-contract highs on fund-driven buying and worries about a winter storm that could slow the transport of animals at a time of tight U.S. hog supplies, traders said. Benchmark CME April lean […] Read more


A supplied aerial photo of vehicles blocking through traffic on Feb. 1, 2022 at the Canada-U.S. border crossing between Coutts, Alta. and Sweet Grass, Montana. (Photo courtesy Alberta RCMP)

Alberta RCMP to start unclogging major border crossing

Blockade 'not a peaceful assembly,' Mounties say

A major supply chain corridor connecting Alberta and the U.S. is expected to be cleared of protestors and reopened to traffic on Tuesday, Alberta RCMP have warned. Protestors in vehicles formed a blockade Saturday on Highway 4 leading to the province’s only 24-hour Canada-U.S. border crossing, at Coutts, Alta., about 100 km southeast of Lethbridge. […] Read more

CME April 2022 live cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, dark red and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle end higher on rising slaughter pace

Hogs up in rangebound trade

Chicago | Reuters — Benchmark Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures hit the highest in nearly a month on Monday, supported by an improving U.S. slaughter pace and signs of a shrinking U.S. cattle herd, traders said. CME April live cattle futures settled 1.425 cents higher at 144.525 cents/lb. after reaching 144.825 cents, the contract’s […] Read more