Western Canadian yearling markets have traded in a sideways range over the past couple of weeks; major feedlot operators have been aggressive for 800-pound-plus feeders just off grass because these cattle are most efficient and therefore, most profitable. Grass yearlings were quoted steady to as much as $5 higher this past week. Backgrounded yearlings were […] Read more

Klassen: Quality features influence feeder cattle prices

U.S. grains: Soy lower as harvest pressure overshadows buying
Egypt buys Russian wheat at international tender
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures ended lower on Tuesday, retreating from early strength as pressure from the expanding U.S. harvest outweighed support from continued soy sales to China and strength in soymeal futures, traders said. Corn futures drifted lower on strong U.S. crop ratings and promising Midwest harvest weather, but wheat gained on […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Hog futures gain on export optimism
CME cattle down ahead of USDA report
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures markets climbed on Tuesday on optimism over China’s continued purchases of U.S. grains, traders said. Exporters sold 266,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans to China and 264,000 tonnes to unknown destinations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported on Tuesday, marking the 13th consecutive business day of sales to […] Read more

FBN cuts yearly membership fee to zero
Ag e-commerce firm offers free accounts to farmers
E-marketplace Farmers Business Network (FBN) has disposed of the annual membership fee that allowed members access to its various buying groups and services. California-based FBN, which has operated in the U.S. since 2014 and expanded to Canada in 2017, announced Tuesday (Sept. 15) its farmer members may now have “access to a select range of […] Read more

More food companies aim to wrangle cattle emissions
Nestle, Barry Callebaut trying out feed additives
Winnipeg | Reuters — Looking to improve milk production, California farmer John Verwey turned to a Swiss-made feed additive designed to make a cow more efficient while reducing methane emissions from cattle burps. The more a cow belches, the more it spends energy that could be used instead for milk production, Verwey reasoned. So two […] Read more

U.S. grains: Wheat, soy, corn fall sharply on fund selling
'It is basically risk-off across the board'
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean, corn and wheat futures plunged on Monday as concerns about fresh coronavirus-driven lockdowns due to rising global case counts sparked a wave of risk-off trades. The grains, led by a 3.7 per cent drop in wheat that marked its biggest daily percentage decline since August 2019, […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hog futures fall with other commodities
Traders watching Germany's swine fever findings
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. cattle and hog futures markets fell on Monday, following a broad-based commodity sell-off in the absence of any fresh bullish news, traders said. “It is just kind of risk-off trade,” said Matthew Wiegand, broker at FuturesOne. “Livestock was for the most part happy to follow along.” Chicago Mercantile Exchange October […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME cattle futures end up on firm cash trade
Lean hog futures close mixed
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures closed modestly higher on Friday, supported by strength in cash cattle markets this week, but uncertainty about beef demand in the coming months capped rallies, analysts said. Chicago Mercantile Exchange October live cattle futures settled up 0.575 cent at 107.35 cents/lb. and December rose 0.525 cent to […] Read more

Prairies can expect far better harvest weather this fall
MarketsFarm — Prairie farmers are likely going have good weather over the next few weeks, according to Scott Kehler of Weatherlogics. “We got a pretty significant warm-up across most of the Prairies through to the end of September. It should be fairly warm and not too much in the way of precipitation,” he said. “At […] Read more

Funds’ net long keeps growing in canola
MarketsFarm — The fund net long position in canola continued to climb higher during the week ended Tuesday, as speculators continued to add to their bullish bets in the market, according to the latest commitment of traders (CoT) report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Managed money fund traders, as of Tuesday, were […] Read more