
Tag Archives COVID-19

Uruguayan shearers flown in to relieve sweltering Spanish sheep
Expert shearers authorized to enter country amid COVID-19 pandemic
Villafale, Spain | Reuters — Brought to Spain on a special flight amid the coronavirus lockdown, some 250 Uruguayan sheep shearers race against time to shear millions of Spanish sheep as sweltering summer temperatures hit. The Uruguayan shearers come to Spain every year, where farmers value them for their skills, their speed and particular care […] Read more

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

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

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

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

College program offers employment-ready ranching skills
B.C.-based program gets students’ hands dirty while focusing on operation and land management
If you wanted to get a well-rounded view of what it’s like to ranch in virtually any part of the country, you’d be hard-pressed to do much better than Williams Lake, B.C. Nestled in the central interior region of the province, the city is square in the middle of one of the most diverse environments […] Read more

Pulse weekly outlook: Pandemic may pose market opportunity
MarketsFarm — Plant protein products were steadily rising in popularity before the COVID-19 pandemic set in — but that industry could also get a boost from consumers shifting away from meat in a post-pandemic world. “There’s an increased level of awareness of hygiene issues in the meat industry,” Vishal Vijay, head of business development at […] Read more

Mexico to stop sending workers to Canadian farms hit by COVID-19
Assurances of worker safety sought, FARMS says
Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico will stop sending temporary workers to Canadian farms that have registered a coronavirus outbreak and that do not have proper worker protections, Mexico’s labour ministry said on Tuesday, although it will not completely suspend the program. The decision came after a coronavirus outbreak in Ontario hit at least 17 […] Read more

CERB plan, U.S. border closure both extended
Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will extend by eight weeks federal income support for those who lost their jobs amid the COVID-19 outbreak, and the border with the United States will remain closed to non-essential travel, the prime minister said on Tuesday. The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), which delivers $500 per week to those […] Read more
Events postponed due to COVID-19, going virtual instead
Purely Purebred with Mike Millar: News about you from the June 2020 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
COVID-19 has wreaked havoc with industry events this summer. Event organizers have postponed some events to 2021, while others have been shifted online. Following is a rundown of changes to the calendar. The board of the Canadian Beef Industry Conference (CBIC) has postponed the conference originally scheduled for August in Penticton, B.C., to August 17 […] Read more