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

Small butchers are seeing a massive demand spike due to COVID-19 closures at major meat-processing facilities.

‘How about next June?’

Small meat processors backlogged as coronavirus idles big plants

Reuters – Inside the small-scale Iowa abattoir Stanhope Locker and Market, owner Shaunna Zanker yawns with exhaustion as she listens to yet another farmer asking her to slaughter his pigs. “I’m so sorry, but we’re booked through March of next year,” Zanker said on the phone. “How about next June?” Slaughter operations like Zanker’s are


In single Brazilian state, some 2,400 meat plant workers catch coronavirus

More than a quarter of the confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul are among meat plant workers, the labour prosecutors’ office said June 1. The prosecutors said in a statement that an estimated 2,399 employees from 24 slaughterhouses in 18 municipalities of the state have been infected. That




Coolant shortage a side-effect of coronavirus

Fuel demand crash shuts U.S. ethanol plants, so meat packers lack refrigerant

Reuters – Meat packers are being hit with an unexpected side-effect of coronavirus dampening fuel demand. A slew of U.S. ethanol plants have shut down, and meat packers have been hit by a worrying side-effect: less carbon dioxide is now available to chill beef, poultry and pork. “We’re headed for a train wreck in terms of the CO2


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

U.S. livestock: Live cattle futures touch one-month low

Improving production pressures hog futures

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures dropped to their lowest price in more than a month on Friday, weighed down by expectations for increasing meat production. Beef output has improved as slaughterhouses have resumed operations after closing temporarily in April and May due to outbreaks of the new coronavirus among plant workers. The

Canadian potato growers could soon benefit from the AgriRecovery program, and a surplus food-buying program for food banks.

Details on food buyback coming soon

Market disruptions are widespread, the federal agriculture minister says

The Canadian government is close to announcing more details on its program to buy surplus food, such as potatoes, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau told reporters during a video conference on June 9. “It’s a matter of days before we inform everyone of the criteria of the programs but we have already started to work with the different industries that have services that


File photo of Cong Peiwu, China’s ambassador to Canada, speaking at the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa on Nov. 22, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)

U.S. is ‘trouble maker’ in China-Canada relationship, envoy says

No word on whether China would retaliate against Canada over latest court decision

Ottawa | Reuters — The United States is using the case of a senior Chinese telecoms executive who was arrested in Vancouver on a U.S. warrant 18 months ago to create friction between China and Canada, China’s envoy to Canada said on Thursday. “The U.S. has been taking advantage of Canada, and the U.S. is

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

U.S. livestock: Lean hog futures down on large supplies

CME August cattle also close lower

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures extended a decline on Thursday under pressure from large supplies and rebounding pork production, analysts said. Traders expect meat packers to have ample hogs to slaughter after livestock backed up on farms when processing plants temporarily closed in April and May because of COVID-19 outbreaks among meatpacking