“I just jumped on it,” says founder Pete Sanagan, saying Canada’s farms, including its small farms, are producing “so much amazing product.”

At the storefront

Peter Sanagan, owner of Sanagan’s Meat Locker, wondered why so few farmers sell into huge, nearby markets. Then he had an idea

Reading Time: 6 minutes A truck pulls up in front of the butcher shop on the narrow, one-way street and parks under a no-stopping sign. Pedestrians emerge from shops and dart from one side of the street to the other. In the air there are smells of coffee, restaurants, even cannabis, and everything is laid out to celebrate food […] Read more

Federal deputy agriculture minister Chris Forbes was one of the witnesses to appear via video conferencing at the Commons agriculture committee’s online meeting May 5. (Parl.gc.ca)

Opposition MPs critique government’s COVID-19 response for ag sector

Pandemic puts ag committee meeting online

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa — Opposition MPs used the first meeting of the Commons standing committee on agriculture and agri-food since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to critique the federal Liberals’ $252 million aid package for farmers and food processors. During the May 5 online meeting, Quebec MP Richard Lehoux, the Conservatives’ associate agriculture critic, charged the […] Read more


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

U.S. livestock: Live cattle futures lower on profit-taking

August, October cattle limit down; June hogs also down

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures closed lower on Monday, with some contract months falling their daily three-cent limit on profit-taking amid signs the U.S. meat-packing sector was stepping up beef production, traders said. Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) June live cattle futures settled down 1.975 cents at 92.675 cents/lb., after surging to a […] Read more

[Dave Bedard file photo]

Cargill to shut Montreal-area meat plant temporarily

Company says 64 workers tested positive for COVID-19

Reading Time: < 1 minute Ottawa | Reuters — The Canadian arm of U.S. agribusiness Cargill said Sunday it would soon temporarily shut a Montreal-area case-ready meat plant after 64 workers tested positive for COVID-19. The plant is at Chambly, a South Shore suburb of Montreal, one of the worst hit cities in Canada. Cargill said it was winding down […] Read more


CME June 2020 live cattle with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cash cattle, futures up on beef packer scrutiny

Profit-taking continues to drag on lean hogs

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures rose on Friday along with cash prices as the federal government probed the beef market. The price of cattle in the cash market has rebounded since U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he had urged the federal Justice Department to look into allegations that the meatpacking […] Read more

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

U.S. livestock: June cattle limit up on surging beef prices, meat shortages

Lean hogs down on profit-taking

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures surged by their daily trading limits for a second straight session on Thursday on soaring beef prices and concerns about meat shortages because of recent packing plant closures due to the coronavirus. Shuttered slaughterhouses across North America due to the pandemic have left ranchers nowhere to ship […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Trump asks U.S. Justice Department to look into meat price disparities

Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had urged the Justice Department to look into allegations that the meatpacking industry broke antitrust law because the price that slaughterhouses pay farmers for animals had dropped even as meat prices rose. “I’ve asked the Justice Department to look into it. … I’ve […] Read more

CME June 2020 live cattle with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Futures surge on technical buying as plants reopen

CME cattle futures close limit up

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. cattle and hog futures rose on Wednesday amid a flurry of technical buying — with some live and feeder cattle futures surging to daily trading limits — as investors said they were keeping a close eye on signs of packing plants reopening in the wake of coronavirus infections among workers. […] Read more


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

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hogs slide after three days of gains

"The workers are spooked to come to work"

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. cattle and hog futures retreated on Tuesday in a profit-taking setback after three sessions of gains that were fueled by rising meat prices and concerns about meat shortages as several packing plants have closed due to coronavirus infections among workers. Benchmark June lean hog futures corrected after gaining nearly 18 […] Read more

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa in this April 24, 2020 file photo. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)

Trudeau pledges $252 million in COVID-19 aid for farmers, processors

Dairy commission's credit line extended for storage program

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will invest $252 million to help some of the country’s farming and food processing sectors weather the coronavirus outbreak, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday, adding more money could come later if needed. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture, one of Canada’s biggest farm groups, asked Ottawa last week for an […] Read more