CBOT May 2020 wheat with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat tumbles on weak export sales, recession fears

Corn, soybeans rise on crude oil rally, but end mixed

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures fell for a fourth straight session on Thursday, extending prior-day losses that were the worst in 7-1/2 months as weak U.S. export sales data stoked concerns about the coronavirus pandemic destroying demand. Soybeans and corn ended mixed as early short-covering and spillover support from sharply higher crude oil […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Alberta’s provincial meat inspectors to train for federal duty

Provincial inspectors to be seconded to CFIA-inspected packers

Provincial meat inspectors in Alberta could soon be seconded to federally inspected packing plants under a new work-sharing arrangement between the province and Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The federal and Alberta governments announced Wednesday they would partner to “increase food inspector capacity” in the province and thus “ensure the continuous operation of Alberta’s food supply […] Read more


Detail from the front of the CBOT building in Chicago. (Vito Palmisano/iStock/Getty Images)

CBOT weekly outlook: Pandemic drives Chicago prices lower

MarketsFarm — The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to pressure U.S. markets, including the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), according to Scott Capinegro, president of Barrington Commodities at Barrington, Ill. “It’s like that movie Groundhog Day. You wake up and it’s the same thing every day,” Capinegro said. There’s a domino effect in the grain industry […] Read more

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

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hogs limit down on coronavirus fears

Market has to 'reevaluate' supply/demand picture

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. livestock futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) plunged by their daily trading limits on Wednesday as stricter coronavirus emergency measures hammered stock markets and deepened worries about a global recession. Live cattle futures dropped for the fourth time in five sessions, erasing all of the prior session’s gains, while […] Read more


CBOT May 2020 wheat with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat posts steepest drop since August

Soy drop biggest in 2-1/2 weeks; corn extends losses on big supply, weak ethanol demand

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat prices fell more than three per cent on Wednesday as coronavirus fears dragged down equities markets and lifted the dollar, sending Chicago wheat futures to their steepest decline in 7-1/2 months. Soybeans fell more than two per cent, the most in 2-1/2 weeks, and most corn contracts posted fresh […] Read more

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

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures jump in end-of-month, -quarter rebound

Lean hog futures up in most months

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures rallied by as much as the daily three-cent trading limit on Tuesday in an end-of-month and end-of-quarter profit-taking bounce following a steep drop fueled by concerns about the fast-spreading coronavirus and its economic impact. The recent dive in prices as governments imposed stay-at-home orders and restrictions on […] Read more


This will be my first pandemic

What’s my greatest risk factor — a virus or french fries?

I am not sure what is going to take me out first — A. the COVID-19 virus (also known as the coronavirus); or B. an overdose of media coverage of the COVID-19 virus. I don’t mean to sound flippant about the COVID-19 virus. As one of those in the high-risk category (a senior citizen) it […] Read more

Beef cattle feeding in Ontario. (DebraLee Wiseberg/iStock/Getty Images)

COVID-19 strains already-battered Ontario beef industry

Limited processing capacity remains financial challenge for province's feedlot sector, despite recent increase in retail demand

Ontario’s beef industry was already in the midst of an economic crisis, but COVID-19 is worsening the financial toll on the province’s cattle feeders. Due to extremely limited processing plant capacity, an uncompetitive market and disruptions to trade and market access, Ontario’s beef industry was losing an average of more than $2 million per week […] Read more



(PorcOlymel.com)

COVID-19 cases shut Olymel hog slaughter plant

Facility in Quebec's Mauricie region to close for two weeks

The COVID-19 coronavirus has made its way into the labour pool at a major pork packing plant in Quebec’s Mauricie region, forcing a two-week shutdown. Olymel, the meat packing arm of Quebec-based Sollio Co-operative Group, announced Sunday it will temporarily close its hog slaughter and cutting plant at Yamachiche, about 20 km west of Trois-Rivieres, […] Read more