Chicago | Reuters — Lean hog futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange inched higher on Monday as technical buying and worries about tightening U.S. hog supplies offset fears of slowing pork export demand and softening cash hog prices, traders said. CME benchmark June lean hogs settled up 0.45 cent at 115.025 cents/lb. (all figures US$). […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs, live cattle end higher
May feeder cattle up, August down

Record wheat crop, high stocks to help India meet rising export demand
New Delhi | Reuters — Bumper harvests and overflowing grain bins will help India to meet wheat import needs of the world’s top buyers as Russia’s Ukraine invasion hits supplies from the Black Sea region, a top government official said. India, the world’s second biggest wheat producer, is prepared to meet any extra demand for […] Read more

U.S. grains: Wheat firm as Ukraine war raises supply fears
CBOT corn ends mixed
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures rose nearly three per cent on Monday and hit a two-week high on worries about U.S. crop prospects and concern that fighting in Ukraine will continue to disrupt Black Sea region exports, analysts said. But soybeans fell as COVID-19 lockdowns in China, the top importer of the oilseed, […] Read more

Avian flu hits more Alberta, Ontario poultry flocks
Alberta cases spread north, east
Three additional poultry flocks in central Alberta and one in eastern Ontario were confirmed over the weekend to be infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Monday it had confirmed high-path H5N1 avian flu on Friday in a commercial poultry flock in Kneehill County, between Calgary and Red Deer, and […] Read more

Changes to TFW program to expand worker availability
Workplace LMIAs now valid for 18 months
The federal government is boosting the availability of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) to ag and other understaffed sectors under a list of policy changes announced Monday. Employment and Workforce Development Minister Carla Qualtrough announced what’s called the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program Workforce Solutions Road Map, which the government said “marks the next step in […] Read more

Ontario bans birds at events as avian flu spreads
Infected snow goose found in western Saskatchewan; two backyard flocks in Montana also confirmed infected
Up against several outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian flu in commercial poultry flocks, Ontario is temporarily banning birds from appearing at shows and other such events. Provincial Agriculture Minister Lisa Thompson on Friday announced a ministerial order taking effect just after midnight Saturday (April 9), in which “the movement to and participation of birds in […] Read more

Prairie cash wheat: Bids up on Ukraine projections, poor U.S. winter wheat conditions
U.S. May wheats up on week
MarketsFarm — A sharp reduction of wheat acres in war-torn Ukraine and poor crop conditions in the United States all brought support to wheat bids in Western Canada for the week ended Thursday. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has not only posed major difficulties exporting grain out of the country, but will also prevent wheat acres […] Read more

U.S. crop prices climb following April WASDE report
MarketsFarm — There were two notable surprises in the latest supply and demand estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to Ryan Ettner, trader with Allendale Inc. in McHenry, Ill. One was USDA having maintained its carryout for corn; the other was the carryover for wheat being a little larger than what the markets […] Read more

Drought severity easing across much of Prairies, AAFC reports
MarketsFarm — Drought conditions persisted across much of the Prairies during the month of March, although the extent and severity of the dryness was reduced in many areas, according to the latest Drought Monitor report from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). “While there have been substantial improvements to drought conditions across Western Canada since last […] Read more

U.S. grains: CBOT wheat, soybeans firm on tighter stocks
Corn firm, ending stocks unchanged
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago wheat, corn and soybean futures firmed on Friday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) assessed global supply and demand, reflecting the impact that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had on Black Sea exports. Grain prices remained underpinned by Russia’s six-week-old invasion, which has stalled large amounts of Ukrainian exports […] Read more