(Stephen Ausmus photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Fall quota level based on ‘rebound’ in chicken demand

National allocation trimmed two per cent for September-October period

A relatively small tweak to national chicken quota allocation has been set for much of this autumn, following a stretch of heavy pandemic-related cuts. At a Chicken Farmers of Canada meeting Tuesday, national allocation for quota period A-165 (Aug. 30 to Oct. 24, 2020) was set at minus two per cent from its adjusted base. […] Read more

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

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures, beef prices decline

Lean hogs up amid technical buying

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures fell Thursday as boxed beef prices tumbled under pressure from rising production. Beef output has increased as meat companies increase slaughtering after temporarily closing processing plants in April and May because of outbreaks of the COVID-19 coronavirus among workers. Processors killed an estimated 120,000 cattle on Thursday, […] Read more


(Dragos Cojocari/iStock/Getty Images)

Hog sector hit hard by pandemic

Market weakness seen likely to push some farmers out of business

MarketsFarm — COVID-19 has hit the hog sector hard, with the double-edged sword of large supplies and reduced demand weighing heavily on the market. “The prospect of profitability at current forward prices and at current cash prices is nil… and there’s really no prospect of making anything this year,” said Tyler Fulton, director of risk […] Read more

(Video screengrab from Agribition.com via YouTube)

COVID-19 knocks Agribition off 2020 calendar

Organizers look to 2021, plan 'new digital experiences' in meantime

Another of the Prairies’ major agricultural exhibitions has removed itself from the 2020 schedule. The 50th edition of Canadian Western Agribition, which was scheduled for Nov. 30 to Dec. 5 this year at Regina’s Evraz Place exhibition park, has been postponed to Nov. 22-27, 2021. Organizers of the not-for-profit event said Wednesday they made the […] Read more


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

U.S. livestock: Hog futures still face headwinds over demand questions

Cattle futures mixed on USDA report expectations

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures traded choppy on Wednesday, amid ongoing pressure from large domestic supplies and rebounding pork production, analysts said. Meanwhile, concerns over a potential slowdown in U.S. pork exports kept markets jittery for a second session, traders said. China’s meat importers fear clearing delays and a hit to demand […] Read more

CME July 2020 lean hogs with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hogs down, cattle up on demand issues

Cash cattle values hint at increased demand

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures dipped on Tuesday, as questions continued to grow about whether pork export demand from China will surge and eat through massive domestic stockpiles, traders said. Meanwhile, cattle futures rose as the cash market showed hints of increased demand from packers hungry to supply grocery stores and restaurants […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Weaker fed cattle prices weigh on feeder market

Rain-soaked pens sidelined some Alberta feedlots

Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle markets were relatively unchanged but a softer tone was noted in the non-major feeding regions. Most auction barns are in summer mode and the quality of feeders coming on the market is quite variable. However, at major centers in Alberta, healthy strings of yearlings were well bid […] Read more

File photo of Smithfield Foods’ pork plant at Sioux Falls, S.D. on April 16, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)

U.S. meatpacking workers often absent after plants ordered to reopen

"There's still so many risks"

Chicago/Washington | Reuters — Smithfield Foods is missing about a third of its employees at a South Dakota pork plant because they are quarantined or afraid to return to work after a severe coronavirus outbreak, according to the workers’ union. Tyson Foods was forced to briefly close its Storm Lake, Iowa plant — a month […] Read more


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

U.S. livestock: Futures up as meat production grows

Live cattle up off last week's lows

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures rose on Monday, after plunging to their lowest price in more than a month last week, amid signs of meat production increasing — even as cash market prices continue to strain livestock producers’ profits. Chicago Mercantile Exchange August live cattle rose 0.675 cents, to 96 cents (all […] Read more

Erik Nottveit, Arvid Nottveit’s son checking cattle at Tribar Ranching Co., located on the northern edge of Lake Manitoba. Changes to Manitoba’s Crown lease program are creating uncertainty for leaseholders.

Crown land changes create uncertainty for Manitoba’s beef producers

New regulations for Manitoba’s Agricultural Crown Lands lease program caught lease-holders off guard, leaving many unsure about the future of their operations

Without his Crown land lease, Arvid Nottveit wouldn’t be able to make a living raising cattle. Nottveit and his family run Tribar Ranching Co., a cow-calf operation at Peonan Point, Man., and they rely on a Crown lease of 9,600 acres. Here on a 25-mile-long peninsula on the northern edge of Lake Manitoba, the family […] Read more