CME November 2021 feeder cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, brown and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Profit-taking knocks feeder cattle off high

CME lean hogs seen consolidating

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures ended lower on Friday as profit-taking pressured the market after prices set a one-month high, traders said. The setback came after the most-active November contract had rallied more than six per cent from a four-month low set on Sept. 30. The contract ended down 0.45 […] Read more

File photo of signage outside Maple Leaf Foods’ Lagimodiere Boulevard plant in Winnipeg. (Dave Bedard photo)

Expansions boost Maple Leaf plant’s bacon offerings

Pre-cooked bacon capability sets up Winnipeg plant as 'bacon centre of excellence'

The Winnipeg pork further-processing plant previously earmarked as Maple Leaf Foods’ “ham centre of excellence” now gets the same billing for bacon. The major Toronto meat processor announced Tuesday it had completed a $182 million, 73,000-square foot expansion at its Lagimodiere Boulevard prepared meats plant, to “significantly” increase its bacon production capacity. The expansion, Maple […] Read more


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Walmart stakes big claim on Canadian sustainable beef

Retailer pledges to take over 680 tonnes in 2022

The Canadian arm of the world’s biggest retailer has put a number to its previous commitment to source certified-sustainable beef for its grocery business. Walmart Canada on Thursday announced it has committed to buy 1.5 million pounds of beef sourced from farms and ranches certified to Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) standards over the […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Shortages leading to price increases

MarketsFarm — Prices for feed grains are swinging higher because of shortages, according to Mike Fleischhauer of Eagle Commodities Ltd. in Lethbridge. “One thing we are sure of is we are running out of inventory, barley for sure, and we’re 11 months away from new crop,” he said. This year’s severe drought and excessive heat […] Read more


File photo of a Conagra production facility at Oakdale, Calif., about 150 km east of San Francisco, on Dec, 18, 2015. (Photo: Reuters/Fred Greaves)

Conagra flags price increases to cushion inflation impact

Prepared foods firm raises sales forecast

Reuters — Conagra Brands said on Thursday it would increase prices again on its frozen meals and snacks to help cushion the blow of higher inflation, after the diversified food maker raised its annual sales forecast and topped quarterly results. Packaged food companies are grappling with inflation as the U.S. economy rebounds, while spending heavily […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Port of Los Angeles)

‘Containergeddon’: Supply crisis drives Walmart, rivals to hire own ships

Bulk grain ships pressed into container service

Los Angeles | Reuters — The Flying Buttress once glided across the oceans carrying vital commodities such as grain to all corners of the world. Now it bears a different treasure: Paw Patrol Movie Towers, Batmobile Transformers and Baby Alive Lulu Achoo dolls. The dry bulk cargo ship has been drafted into the service of […] Read more


A tract of Amazon jungle burns as it is cleared by farmers at Rio Pardo in Brazil’s Rondonia state on Sept. 15, 2019. (File photo: Reuters/Ricardo Moraes)

Brazil’s JBS bought 301,000 cattle from ‘irregular’ farms in Amazon, audit finds

Prosecutors 'negotiating improvements' with companies

Sao Paulo | Reuters — Nearly a third of the cattle bought by JBS SA in the Brazilian Amazon state of Para came from ranches with “irregularities” such as illegal deforestation, prosecutors found in a 2020 audit of the world’s largest meatpacker released on Thursday. In a presentation, federal prosecutors said they were “negotiating improvements” […] Read more

CME December 2021 live cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, dark red and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle rally continues on steady cash market, technical buying

Chicago hogs also find support

Chicago | Reuters — Technical buying and a steady cash market helped fuel Chicago Mercantile Exchange live and feeder cattle futures on Thursday, sending prices to multi-week highs and stretching the rally into a fourth trading session, traders said. Most-active November feeder cattle touched its highest price since Sept. 9 and ended up 3.475 cents […] Read more


CBOT November 2021 soybeans (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, light green and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybean, corn futures rise

Chicago winter wheat futures weak

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures rose on Thursday, supported by signs of strong exports as more recently harvested supplies became available, traders said. Corn futures were firm, with investors staking out positions ahead of a key government report that will update the forecast for U.S. production. Winter wheat futures were […] Read more

CME November 2021 feeder cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, dark red and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Technical buying, solid beef demand boost CME cattle

Chicago lean hogs continue lower

Chicago | Reuters — Technical buying and solid demand for U.S. beef lifted Chicago Mercantile Exchange live and feeder cattle futures on Wednesday, traders said. The cattle markets continue to rebound from recent losses that were technically overdone, analysts said. Front-month CME October live cattle futures reached its highest price since Sept. 16 at 124 […] Read more