(Olymel video screengrab via YouTube)

Red Deer hog plant books first COVID case

One employee confirmed with virus, 13 isolating as precaution, company says

A major Prairie hog slaughter and processing plant relatively untouched by the COVID-19 pandemic has marked its first case of the coronavirus in a production line worker. Olymel, the meat packing arm of Quebec ag co-operative Sollio, said an employee who reported for work Monday last week at its Red Deer, Alta. plant began showing […] Read more

CME October 2020 lean hogs with 20- and 50-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Lean hog futures pull back on shaky demand

CME October live cattle remain flat

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures slid on Tuesday as traders eyed large seasonal hog supplies against uncertain domestic consumption and weak exports. CME October lean hogs settled 2.1 cents lower at 51.425 cents/lb. (all figures US$). “Supplies are large, and there’s always uncertainty about export demand,” said Doug Houghton, analyst […] Read more


The Canadian Beef Advisors have released their first set of goals designed to push the industry forward.

Texas A&M researchers developing first oral anthrax vaccine for livestock, wildlife

The College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences team is working toward a vaccine that would be easier to deliver

There may soon be a new weapon in the centuries-old battle against anthrax in wildlife thanks to groundbreaking work at the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVMBS). Anthrax, a disease caused by a bacterium called Bacillus anthracis, contaminates surface soil and grasses, where it may be ingested or inhaled by […] Read more



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

U.S. livestock: Live cattle step back after eight-session climb

Hog sector seen having 'curbed expansion'

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures pulled back on Monday in profit taking ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cattle on Feed report at the end of the week, traders said. Live cattle fell for the first day after eight sessions of gains. The pullback reflects uncertainty about the USDA […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

COVID-19 lands at another Cargill meat plant

Five cases linked to case-ready plant in Calgary

Alberta provincial officials have declared a COVID-19 outbreak at Cargill’s meat further-processing plant in Calgary, with five cases of the coronavirus connected to the facility. Provincial chief medical officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw tweeted Friday that “there are five cases linked to Cargill Case Ready Meats in #YYC.” Provincial health officials “have visited the plant and […] Read more


(JBSFoodCanada.ca)

JBS to resume U.S. share listing plan after COVID-19 fallout

Management looking also for US$100 million in cost cuts

Sao Paulo | Reuters — Brazil’s JBS SA is reviving plans to list shares on Wall Street after dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic’s fallout, CEO Gilberto Tomazoni said on Friday, as the world’s largest meatpacker reported strong quarterly results. Speaking on a conference call with analysts following the company’s second-quarter results, Tomazoni said the focus […] Read more

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

U.S. livestock: Live cattle rise on higher beef prices, grilling demand

CME October hogs also settle higher

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures continued to advance Friday, supported by increasing beef prices and expectations of continued meat demand going into the Labour Day weekend, traders said. Beef prices usually rise heading into the September holiday, when consumers often barbecue either at home or with family and friends. Beef […] Read more


Officials at the Aug. 13, 2020 rollout of the federal surplus food program included (l-r) Julie Marchand of Food Banks of Quebec, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, Claude Dulude of Nutri Group, Marie-Jose Mastromonaco of Second Harvest, Tania Little of Food Banks Canada and Serge Lefebvre of Nutri Group. (Photo courtesy Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

Feds line up projects for surplus food program

NGOs backed to gather, distribute 12 million kg of food

The federal government has lined up eight projects to source and distribute perishable produce, meat, eggs and seafood piling up across Canada due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the federal pandemic response, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in early May that Ottawa would budget $50 million for a food surplus purchase program. The […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

McDonald’s resuming all-Canadian beef supply

'Supply adjustment' ends next month, company says

Updated, Aug. 18 — McDonald’s Canada’s pandemic-related “supply adjustment,” in which the burger chain cut its Canadian beef purchases to below 100 per cent, is set to end next month. The Canadian arm of the U.S. fast food giant announced Thursday it will resume its pre-pandemic policy of sourcing 100 per cent Canadian beef, starting […] Read more