File photo of grilled pork intestine on skewers at a street food stall in the Philippines. (Junpinzon/iStock/Getty Images)

Philippines to host Canada’s Indo-Pacific ag office

AAFC/CFIA base to be set up in Manila, Bibeau says

Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s agriculture department and food safety agency will carry out their part of the federal government’s Indo-Pacific strategy from a new office in Manila, Philippines. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced the office’s location Wednesday in Ottawa during a meeting with the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA), which represents Canada’s export-dependent ag commodity groups on […] Read more

CME August 2023 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle down second day in a row

Chicago lean hogs close firm

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures fell Thursday on a wave of follow-through selling after contracts posted their first losses in more than a week on Wednesday. Hog futures closed firm but remained below recent peaks. Benchmark CME August live cattle futures settled down 0.95 cent at 172.25 cents/lb. (all figures US$). […] Read more


A climate change activist plays a violin in New York City’s Times Square as Manhattan is shrouded in haze and smoke which drifted south from wildfires in Canada, on June 7, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Maye-E Wong)

International help rolls in to fight unyielding Canadian wildfires

Almost 80 of Quebec's fires currently out of control

Reading Time: 3 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Allies around the world are promising to boost support for Canada’s fight against hundreds of blazes amid the country’s worst-ever start to wildfire season, which is fueling concerns about the worsening consequences of climate change. Forest fires continued to burn across Canada on Thursday, forcing thousands of people from their homes […] Read more

Frost on land in Brazil’s Santa Catarina state. (Edson Hardt/iStock/Getty Images)

Brazil justice grants Congress more time on bill limiting Indigenous rights

Case pits Indigenous against Big Ag

Reading Time: 2 minutes Brasilia | Reuters — A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Wednesday asked for more time to study a case pitting the country’s Indigenous people against its powerful farm sector, a decision that is likely to give lawmakers more time to pass a measure favouring Big Agriculture. The decision by Justice Andre Mendonca, an Evangelical pastor […] Read more


CME August 2023 feeder cattle with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle weaken off new contract highs

Lean hogs down off highest since mid-May

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures weakened on a technical setback on Wednesday, closing in negative territory after rising to fresh contract highs during the session. Hog futures were also weaker. Benchmark CME August live cattle futures settled down 2.3 cents at 173.2 cents/lb. after posting a fresh contract high of 175.95 […] Read more

(Getty Images)

Ontario extends deadline to lock in RMP coverage

Final date to secure coverage moved to June 30

Reading Time: < 1 minute Grain and oilseed growers and cattle, hog, sheep and veal producers in Ontario now get until June 30 this year to secure coverage under that province’s Risk Management Program (RMP). The province on May 29 announced the deadlines for grain and oilseed producers to submit their completed RMP applications and make any coverage changes — […] Read more


CME August 2023 live cattle with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle rally to contract highs

July lean hogs also higher

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures rallied to fresh contract highs on Tuesday, supported by technical buying and strength in the cash market, traders said. Livestock traders did not see any reason to disrupt the recent trend at a time of strong seasonal demand, with traditionally active grilling holidays such as Father’s […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Texas flooding lifts Canadian feeder market

Fed cattle in counter-seasonal trend

Reading Time: 2 minutes For the week ending Sunday, western Canadian feeder cattle markets traded $6-$8 higher. In some cases, quality yearling packages traded as much as $10 above week-ago levels. Live and feeder cattle futures closed the week US$8-$9 higher as traders monitored flooding conditions in Texas. Alberta packers were buying fed cattle on a live basis in […] Read more


(Sierrarat/iStock/Getty Images)

Animal care council won’t update livestock transport code of practice

NFACC says 'no further action' pending

Reading Time: 3 minutes After over four years’ publicly funded work to develop an updated national code of practice for livestock transport for Canada, the National Farm Animal Care Council has called a halt. In an information update dated May 1, NFACC said its board has now decided “no further action will be taken” by the council to update […] Read more

Wildlife conservation officers Devon Wadden and Tim Locke keep an eye on sheep while SPCA officers feed a flock during wildfire evacuations in Shelburne County, N.S. on June 3, 2023. (Photo: Communications Nova Scotia/Handout via Reuters)

Canada on track for worst-ever wildfire season

Unusual to see fires nationwide at one time

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada is on track for its worst-ever year of wildfire destruction as warm and dry conditions are forecast to persist through to the end of the summer after an unprecedented start to the fire season, officials said on Monday. Blazes are burning in nearly all Canadian provinces and territories, and federal […] Read more