Chicago | Reuters — Hog futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange surged 6.5 per cent this week on tightening U.S. supplies as a deadly pig virus sweeps the country, traders and industry sources said on Friday. CME lean hog futures finished the week at 113.75 cents per pound, down from a record high of 114.675 […]
Category Archives Livestock
Canada, S. Korea reported close on free trade deal — March 7, 2014
Ottawa | Reuters – Canada and South Korea are very close to signing a long-delayed free trade deal after years of talks, sources familiar with the negotiations said Thursday. “It’s imminent,” said one business source, who asked for anonymity because a formal announcement had not been made yet. “They are really, really close,” said another […]
Lamb co-op ready for spring launch
Branded, value-added Canadian Lamb Company sets sights on underserved market dominated by imports
Four years in the making, the Canadian Lamb Producers Cooperative (CLPC) is ready to start buying finished lambs this spring. “Our plan is to start small and ramp up,” said CEO Terry Ackerman, at a recent information session hosted by the Manitoba Sheep Association. The CLPC, which targets 650 to 1,000 members across nine provinces, […]
Lamb prices holding steady for February sale
The market lamb prices were slightly higher, while feeder lamb bids were lower
The Winnipeg Livestock Auction had approximately 375 sheep and goats for the Feb. 18 sale. In most cases, the lamb prices are similar to the last sale. The market lambs slightly increased, while the feeder lambs saw slightly lower bids. No new-crop lambs were delivered for this sale. The ewe classification was represented by wool […]
Hog code calls for group sow housing, pain control for piglets — March 6, 2014
Animal welfare advocates call Canada’s new code of practice for the care and handling of pigs — which commits farmers who follow it to adopt group housing for sows in any new barns built after July this year — a “watershed moment” for the industry. The revised code, replacing the previous version released in 1993, […]
Alta. biosecurity funding boosted under PED pressure — March 5, 2014
Alberta Farmer Express – As Alberta’s hog industry braces for the seemingly inevitable arrival of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), the province has announced an early opening to a program to boost on-farm biosecurity. “Even though we do have some connections with feed now, biosecurity is still our best tool in preventing the spread of PED,” said […]
PEDv infectiveness not confirmed in piglet feed: CFIA — March 4, 2014
Federal lab tests still can’t rule piglet feed in or out as a possible source of the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) in Canada. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Monday announced its findings after testing an Ontario company’s hog feed pellets containing U.S.-origin blood plasma from PEDv-infected hogs as an ingredient. [Related story] While […]
PEDv arrives in Sask. on soiled boots, not yet in hogs — March 4, 2014
Saskatchewan has now officially had a close encounter of the third kind with the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) — but not in hogs. Saskatchewan’s chief veterinary officer Dr. Betty Althouse on Friday reported a confirmed “positive environmental sample” of both PEDv and transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE) in a livestock trailer returning to the province from […]
USDA sees pig virus limiting hog supply; cattle prices up
Southern Plains drought also limiting herd expansion
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Feb. 20 that the spread of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) through the U.S. hog herd will “sharply limit” the supply of hogs compared to earlier expectations. “Mortality rates due to PEDv have been highest among young piglets which have curtailed the growth in the number of pigs per […]
Cows learn dairying faster when housed together: study — March 3, 2014
Housing new dairy cows in pairs rather than individual pens could improve their ability to learn new feeding and milking technologies, a new B.C. study suggests. The study by Rebecca Meagher, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia, shows dairy calves become better at learning by way of a “buddy system” — and […]