
Tag Archives coronavirus

Ontario drops weed from essentials list
Officials call for further intervention
Reuters — Ontario’s government on Friday removed cannabis from a list of essential businesses allowed to operate during the lockdown, as part of its efforts to further restrict contact amid a deepening coronavirus crisis. The move comes after health officials projected 80,000 COVID-19 coronavirus cases and about 1,600 deaths by month end under current policies, […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Hog futures hit 17-1/2-year low
Cattle also sink as virus measures disrupt markets
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. hog futures fell on Friday to the lowest point since late 2002 on tumbling pork prices and slowing slaughter rates as measures to control the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic shuttered schools and restaurants and sent U.S. unemployment rates soaring. Cattle futures also dropped as wholesale beef and cash feedlot cattle prices […] Read more

U.S. grains: Wheat firms after four-day slide
Corn hits 3-1/2-year low
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures rose on Friday, bouncing after a four-day slide, as traders weighed the threat of a deep economic downturn due to the coronavirus epidemic against supply tensions in some exporting countries. Corn extended a six-day drop, with May futures hitting the lowest for a most-active contract since September 2016, […] Read more

U.S. grains: Wheat tumbles on weak export sales, recession fears
Corn, soybeans rise on crude oil rally, but end mixed
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures fell for a fourth straight session on Thursday, extending prior-day losses that were the worst in 7-1/2 months as weak U.S. export sales data stoked concerns about the coronavirus pandemic destroying demand. Soybeans and corn ended mixed as early short-covering and spillover support from sharply higher crude oil […] Read more

Alberta’s provincial meat inspectors to train for federal duty
Provincial inspectors to be seconded to CFIA-inspected packers
Provincial meat inspectors in Alberta could soon be seconded to federally inspected packing plants under a new work-sharing arrangement between the province and Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The federal and Alberta governments announced Wednesday they would partner to “increase food inspector capacity” in the province and thus “ensure the continuous operation of Alberta’s food supply […] Read more

CBOT weekly outlook: Pandemic drives Chicago prices lower
MarketsFarm — The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to pressure U.S. markets, including the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), according to Scott Capinegro, president of Barrington Commodities at Barrington, Ill. “It’s like that movie Groundhog Day. You wake up and it’s the same thing every day,” Capinegro said. There’s a domino effect in the grain industry […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hogs limit down on coronavirus fears
Market has to 'reevaluate' supply/demand picture
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. livestock futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) plunged by their daily trading limits on Wednesday as stricter coronavirus emergency measures hammered stock markets and deepened worries about a global recession. Live cattle futures dropped for the fourth time in five sessions, erasing all of the prior session’s gains, while […] Read more

U.S. grains: Wheat posts steepest drop since August
Soy drop biggest in 2-1/2 weeks; corn extends losses on big supply, weak ethanol demand
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat prices fell more than three per cent on Wednesday as coronavirus fears dragged down equities markets and lifted the dollar, sending Chicago wheat futures to their steepest decline in 7-1/2 months. Soybeans fell more than two per cent, the most in 2-1/2 weeks, and most corn contracts posted fresh […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures jump in end-of-month, -quarter rebound
Lean hog futures up in most months
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures rallied by as much as the daily three-cent trading limit on Tuesday in an end-of-month and end-of-quarter profit-taking bounce following a steep drop fueled by concerns about the fast-spreading coronavirus and its economic impact. The recent dive in prices as governments imposed stay-at-home orders and restrictions on […] Read more

COVID-19 strains already-battered Ontario beef industry
Limited processing capacity remains financial challenge for province's feedlot sector, despite recent increase in retail demand
Ontario’s beef industry was already in the midst of an economic crisis, but COVID-19 is worsening the financial toll on the province’s cattle feeders. Due to extremely limited processing plant capacity, an uncompetitive market and disruptions to trade and market access, Ontario’s beef industry was losing an average of more than $2 million per week […] Read more