CME June 2020 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hogs limit up on fears of tightening supplies

Cattle up on rising beef packer margins

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures rose their daily limit on Monday on fears of tightening domestic pork supplies as the coronavirus pandemic forces slowdowns at slaughterhouses, analysts said. June lean hog futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange settled up the daily maximum of 3.75 cents at 55.275 cents/lb., the contract’s highest since

Comment: COVID-19 and the Canadian food supply chain

Comment: COVID-19 and the Canadian food supply chain

Canada’s food security isn’t threatened but supply chains will see substantial adjustment

Your bread and salad dressing will still be on the shelves, but that does not mean that everything is normal. Food supply chains are long, complex and certainly could be impacted by COVID-19. Fruits and vegetables Imported sources appear to be stable and the refrigerated trucking industry continues to supply adequate transport. It is likely


(Deyana Robova photo/iStock/Getty Images)

Smithfield to close Illinois pork facility

Workers test positive for COVID-19

Reuters — World’s largest pork processor Smithfield Foods said Friday it will suspend operations at its Monmouth, Illinois pork processing facility next week after some employees tested positive for COVID-19, adding to already strained U.S. meat supplies. The news of some of the company’s 1,700 employees at the plant testing positive comes a day after



(Ag.calgarystampede.com)

Calgary Stampede cancelled for 2020

Province's limits on gatherings cover all major summer events

Alberta’s confirmation that its restrictions on gatherings include all annual summer events has led organizers of the Calgary Stampede to cancel the event for the first time in 97 years. “As a community celebration, the cancellation of our annual event comes with our community and public health and safety front of mind,” Stampede president Dana



(Kelli Jo/iStock/Getty Images)

Pig farmers seek aid of $20 per hog against market crash

Losses of $675 million expected from COVID-19-related causes

Canada’s hog producers seek an immediate federal cash injection equivalent to $20 per hog against a market crash that’s expected to cost their sector about $675 million overall. Officials with the Canadian Pork Council on Thursday called for Ottawa to provide further aid to hog farmers who are now expecting to lose $30 to more

People enter Smithfield Foods through a screening tent on April 16, in Sioux Falls, S.D. The plant is currently closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, sending shock waves through the hog sector.

Weanling barns wrestle with market free fall

U.S. market disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic has sent the swine weanling market diving

One of Manitoba’s top livestock exports is in a tight spot after market implications of COVID-19 sent the swine market for weanlings into a tailspin. Hams Marketing put average ISO wean price at US$7.38 as of April 17, a dramatic drop from the end of January, when the company estimated average ISO wean price at


$16 billion pledged to U.S. farmers due to COVID-19

$16 billion pledged to U.S. farmers due to COVID-19

USDA predicts lower prices for most commodities, excluding wheat and rice

While the Canadian Federation of Agriculture asks for ad hoc subsidies to help Canadian farmers to offset lower incomes expected due to COVID-19, the United States administration could spend as much as $25 billion to help its farmers due to the pandemic. American farmers will receive billions of dollars of subsidies through direct payments. But