California turkey farm quarantined after H5N8 detected

Chicago | Reuters -- A California turkey farm has been quarantined after confirmation of the first case of an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N8 avian influenza strain in the Pacific Northwest, and in a commercial flock, the U.S. government said. The news on Saturday came just weeks after China banned U.S. poultry after an[...]

Staff, hog shortages leave Canada's pork industry squealing

Winnipeg/Chicago | Reuters -- Shortages of hogs and packing plant workers in Canada, exacerbated by recent government restrictions, may severely cut hog processing and pork exports, helping to keep North American retail pork prices near record highs. Farmers in Canada, the world's third-biggest pork shipper, are also bracing for the spread of a deadly virus[...]


Ranchers wait out beef recall, exports to U.S. grow

Western Canada's ranchers and feedlots are holding slaughter-ready cattle back from market longer than usual, absorbing extra costs as they try to wait out the closure of one of the region's biggest processing plants due to a massive recall of potentially tainted beef. But as the closure of XL Foods' Lakeside beef plant at Brooks,[...]