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

U.S. livestock: Hog futures hit 17-1/2-year low

Cattle also sink as virus measures disrupt markets

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. hog futures fell on Friday to the lowest point since late 2002 on tumbling pork prices and slowing slaughter rates as measures to control the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic shuttered schools and restaurants and sent U.S. unemployment rates soaring. Cattle futures also dropped as wholesale beef and cash feedlot cattle prices

File photo of hogs in transit near Red Deer, Alta. (Stefonlinton/iStock/Getty Images)

Canada’s pork sector up to speed, aware of challenges

Processing plants enhancing biosecurity; producers being urged to watch their stress levels

They’re adding protective plexiglass shields, bringing in trailers to separate groups of workers, and boosting communication on biosecurity. It’s all part of an ongoing effort to ensure pork processing plants aren’t disrupted by COVID-19. “I’m very impressed by our packers, and for the workers for coming to work every day and being there and realizing


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

U.S. livestock: Hog futures drop to 3-1/2 year low

Cattle also limit down on coronavirus pandemic

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. hog futures dropped to a 3-1/2 year low on Thursday while cattle tumbled as recession concerns and surging U.S. unemployment due to the coronavirus pandemic triggered broad liquidation across the battered livestock markets. Both live and feeder cattle and lean hogs dropped by their daily trading limits for a second

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

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hogs limit down on coronavirus fears

Market has to 'reevaluate' supply/demand picture

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. livestock futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) plunged by their daily trading limits on Wednesday as stricter coronavirus emergency measures hammered stock markets and deepened worries about a global recession. Live cattle futures dropped for the fourth time in five sessions, erasing all of the prior session’s gains, while


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

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures jump in end-of-month, -quarter rebound

Lean hog futures up in most months

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures rallied by as much as the daily three-cent trading limit on Tuesday in an end-of-month and end-of-quarter profit-taking bounce following a steep drop fueled by concerns about the fast-spreading coronavirus and its economic impact. The recent dive in prices as governments imposed stay-at-home orders and restrictions on



(PorcOlymel.com)

COVID-19 cases shut Olymel hog slaughter plant

Facility in Quebec's Mauricie region to close for two weeks

The COVID-19 coronavirus has made its way into the labour pool at a major pork packing plant in Quebec’s Mauricie region, forcing a two-week shutdown. Olymel, the meat packing arm of Quebec-based Sollio Co-operative Group, announced Sunday it will temporarily close its hog slaughter and cutting plant at Yamachiche, about 20 km west of Trois-Rivieres,



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

U.S. livestock: Hogs limit down as grocery panic eases

Widespread layoffs raise concern over beef demand

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures fell their daily three-cent limit on Thursday on signs that a consumer meat-buying frenzy has cooled, allowing traders to re-focus on plentiful U.S. hog and pork supplies, traders said. The benchmark June lean hog futures contract on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange settled down three cents at 68.75

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

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures end mostly lower

Hogs also ease as rally pauses

Chicago | Reuters — Benchmark June live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange closed lower on Wednesday for the first time in five sessions as the market paused after a sharp rally driven by soaring retail beef prices. Wholesale beef prices jumped and packer profit margins skyrocketed this week as the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic