Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange livestock futures finished higher on Wednesday as the markets recovered after dropping the previous session to their lowest prices in more than a week. Prices rose as investors’ concerns eased about the Omicron coronavirus variant, which rattled commodity and financial markets on Tuesday, traders said. Chicago Board of […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME cattle, hog futures finish higher
Investors' COVID concerns eased

ICE weekly outlook: Days of $1,000 canola done, for now
MarketsFarm — There very likely won’t be any resurgence in canola that would see old-crop futures exceed $1,000 per tonne in the near future, according to analyst Errol Anderson of ProMarket Communications in Calgary. In recent days, canola has been taking a series of hard hits, which have pulled the January and March contracts under […] Read more

Cargill beef plant workers to vote on new negotiated offer
High River workers otherwise headed for strike or lockout Monday
Workers at Cargill’s major beef slaughter and packing plant in Alberta will vote this week on a new offer which it’s hoped will avert a strike or lockout, both due to start Monday. The new offer follows a “marathon” of negotiations Tuesday between Cargill representatives and the bargaining committee for United Food and Commercial Workers […] Read more

Smaller crops likely in StatsCan survey-based report
MarketsFarm — Mindful of the summer drought conditions that seriously cut into crop production across the Prairies, average trade estimates call for downward revisions to Statistics Canada’s already-small forecasts for most crops when the it releases its first survey-based estimates of the marketing year on Friday. While prior reports, in September and August, were compiled […] Read more

CBOT weekly outlook: Markets ‘resilient’ in face of Omicron
MarketsFarm — While fears over the newly-identified Omicron COVID-19 variant caused a sharp downturn Friday in oil and equities, crop prices on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) were not as hard hit. “This new COVID-19 variant has got some traders spooked in the market here in thinking there might be some economic slowdown and […] Read more

British Columbia braces for more heavy rain
Ottawa | Reuters — British Columbia is facing more heavy rains as the province tries to recover from massive floods and mudslides, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth told reporters on Tuesday. Farnworth said crews were working to shore up dikes and dams, adding some roads would be closed protectively. Flooding over Nov. 14-16 in Canada’s […] Read more

Prairie winter weather a sign of La Nina repeat
Full effects won't be seen for a while yet
MarketsFarm — December marks the start of what meteorologists call “meteorological winter” — and this winter, the Pacific Ocean phenomenon known as La Nina may be rearing its head once again. La Nina (Spanish for “little girl”) is a climate pattern detected over the Pacific every few years where cooler water pools at the equator […] Read more

Pulse weekly outlook: Feed peas in short supply
Some feeders substituting soymeal
MarketsFarm — Hot and dry growing conditions cut into Canada’s pea production in 2021-22 — but the quality was relatively good, which means feed peas are in even shorter supply. “Yields were low across the harvest this year, but I’d say quality was quite good on yellow and green peas,” said a feed pea merchant. […] Read more

U.S. grains: Wheat extends slide as Omicron worries mount
Corn, soybeans also slip on virus fears
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago wheat prices fell to a nearly three-week low on Tuesday, as concerns that the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant could slow the global economy drove investors to reduce risk exposure. The entire grains complex felt pressure early in the session, after Moderna’s CEO cautioned that COVID-19 shots were unlikely […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle fall from highs as Omicron rattles markets
Chicago February lean hogs also lower
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures weakened on Tuesday as worries about the new Omicron coronavirus variant rattled commodity and financial markets. Losses pulled live cattle futures down from contract highs reached in recent sessions. CME lean hog futures also fell, along with U.S. grains and soybeans, after Moderna’s chief cast […] Read more