(Valerie Loiseleux/iStock/Getty Images)

‘Time is ticking’ on drought response for beef cattle sector

'We need answers like yesterday'

Reading Time: 3 minutes As Canada’s beef farmers and ranchers face drought, industry leaders are trying to find ways to secure feed and help those forced to sell rebuild their herds. B.C. ranchers are dealing with high temperatures that have “parched the grass that was there,” Kevin Boone, general manager of B.C. Cattlemen’s Association, said during a Canadian Cattlemen’s […] Read more

CME October lean hogs (candlesticks) with 20-day moving average (pink line), CME lean hog index (black line), CME August 2021 lean hogs (brown O/H/L/C) and CME October 2021 live cattle (dark red line). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs firm on strong pork demand

October live cattle follow beef prices lower

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures gained on Tuesday on short-covering and continued firmness in the wholesale pork market, traders said. “August seems like its anchored by what’s going on in the cutout,” said Altin Kalo, economist at Steiner Consulting Group. “They’ve been surprised by the strength in the pork cutout.” […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder market stays firm

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian prices for yearlings weighing 800 lbs. and over were unchanged; however, calves and yearlings in the 600- to 800-lb. category traded steady to $3 higher. The calf market was hard to define due to small groups of various quality. Strength in deferred live cattle futures along with the weaker […] Read more

CME August 2021 feeder cattle (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME feeder cattle firm on tighter supplies

October hogs down on supply expectations

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures climbed on Monday, as supplies tightened in the northern U.S. Plains, traders said. “You’ve got a lot of empty yards,” said Scott Varilek, broker at Kooima Kooima Varilek Trading Inc. “We don’t have a lot of large supplies, large runs. You’re going to have to […] Read more


CME October 2021 lean hogs (candlesticks) with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Firm cash markets lift hog futures

Cattle futures extend slide

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures closed higher on Friday as firm U.S. cash markets and rising pork prices underscored tight hog supplies, analysts said. News of the first confirmed cases of African swine fever in farmed pigs in Germany added support, raising uncertainty about pork export flows. However, exports of […] Read more

CME August 2021 live cattle (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2) and October 2021 live cattle (dark red line). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle drift lower

Lean hog futures end mixed

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures drifted lower on Thursday in lacklustre trade, with disappointing weekly export sales data and softening wholesale beef cutout prices adding pressure, analysts said. “The fact that the cutout on beef has been drifting lower just doesn’t give the market a lot of confidence that packers […] Read more


CME August 2021 feeder cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, dark red and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME feeder cattle fall on corn rally

CME lean hogs end lower

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures closed lower Wednesday, led by weakness in feeder cattle futures and profit-taking after a near two-week high, traders said. CME feeder futures set the tone, falling one per cent as corn futures jumped on worries about dry U.S. weather, a move that signaled higher costs […] Read more

Farmer and Grainews columnist Toban Dyck inspects wheat on July 6, 2021 near Winkler, Man., where hot and dry weather has led to thin, uneven stands. (Photo: Reuters/Rod Nickel)

Saskatchewan raises salvage threshold for parched crops

Stock watering program also boosted; APAS, Tories' ag critic had called for more drought aid

Reading Time: 3 minutes Saskatchewan’s provincial crop insurance agency is raising the yield threshold at which drought-damaged crops can be grazed, baled for greenfeed or cut for silage with no penalty on future coverage. Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. said Wednesday it would double the “low yield appraisal” threshold values on cereal or pulse crop acres put to feed. SCIC […] Read more


CME August 2021 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, brown and dark red lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Live cattle firm on cash market optimism

CME lean hogs also advance

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures closed higher on Tuesday for a second session, supported by expectations for a slowdown in supplies of market-ready cattle that should lift cash prices, analysts said. “The (cattle) numbers start to tighten as we move forward and get closer to August. That is giving some […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Saskatchewan ranchers backed for runoff control

Funding on offer for earth-moving work

Reading Time: 2 minutes Cow-calf producers in Saskatchewan may be able to get cost-shared funds from the federal/provincial Farm Stewardship Program to build ponds, ditches, dikes or berms to collect or manage runoff. The province and federal government on Tuesday announced such work now qualifies as a beneficial management practice (BMP) covered under the program. Eligible beef cow-calf producers […] Read more