Reading Time: 2 minutes Sao Paulo | Reuters — Brazil’s agriculture minister prepared to travel to the U.S. on Friday to fight a ban on imports of fresh Brazilian beef, which hit shares of local meatpackers and revived concerns about the image of the world’s largest beef exporter. “We will fight for this market!” said the minister, billionaire soy […] Read more
Brazil farm minister heads to U.S. over fresh beef ban
U.S. bans fresh Brazil beef imports over safety concerns
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — The United States halted imports of fresh Brazilian beef on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said, after a high percentage of shipments failed to pass safety checks. USDA had “recurring concerns about the safety of the products intended for the American market,” after increasing tests on Brazilian beef in March, […] Read more
CFTC fines cattle futures traders US$5 million
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — U.S. futures regulators fined a Memphis trading firm and three associates US$5 million on Wednesday for using a manipulative tactic in CME Group’s cattle futures, a market grappling with extreme volatility. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said it penalized McVean Trading + Investments $1.5 million and its chairman, Charles Dow McVean, […] Read more
Brazil blocks JBS deal, seeks asset freeze
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brasilia | Reuters — A Brazilian judge has blocked JBS SA’s planned sale of a South American unit while the attorney general’s office urged the company’s assets be frozen, in signs of fallout from a corruption probe involving the controlling shareholders of the world’s No. 1 meatpacker. Federal Judge Ricardo Leite blocked JBS’s US$300 million sale […] Read more
JBS aims to shed Alberta feedlot in divestment plan
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sao Paulo/Chicago | Reuters — Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA revealed a major divestment plan Tuesday, putting its Alberta cattle feeding assets and others on the block to cut debt after a corruption scandal raised concerns about its financing costs. JBS, whose controlling shareholder recently agreed to pay a massive leniency fine after becoming embroiled in […] Read more
Klassen: Weaker fed cattle prices pressure feeder market
Reading Time: 2 minutes Western Canadian feeder cattle prices traded $3-$7 lower on average, with shorter-keep replacements over 850 lbs. as much as $10 lower in some cases. Alberta packers were buying fed cattle in the range of $159-$161, down nearly $12 from week-ago levels. Most auction markets had limited numbers on offer, with many sales barns in summer […] Read more
Abu Dhabi fund not eyeing bid for JBS, source says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Abu Dhabi/Sao Paulo | Reuters — Shares of JBS SA erased gains on Friday after a source denied that Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Development Co. PJSC was arranging partners to make a bid for control of the world’s largest meatpacker. A person with direct knowledge of Mubadala’s strategy told Reuters that, despite a […] Read more
Saskatchewan offers provincial pasture leases to patron groups
Reading Time: 2 minutes Cattle producers using provincial pastures heading into the final three years of the Saskatchewan Pastures Program (SPP) will get the first chance at leasing them. The province announced in March it would wind down the SPP, kicking off a public consultation process. Based on those consultations, the province confirmed Thursday it will grant the 50 […] Read more
U.S. beef speeds to China by air as ban ends
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– The first shipment of U.S. beef to China under a new trade deal went airborne on Wednesday, a Nebraska meat company said, just two days after Washington finalized details to resume exports, ending a 14-year ban. Greater Omaha Packing Co. said it shipped beef by plane to China from Nebraska, a […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder cattle market looks for direction
Reading Time: 2 minutes Western Canadian feeder cattle prices were once again unchanged from week-ago levels. After the major rally in late April and May, the market has basically traded in a sideways range and is looking for direction. Feedlot operators have experienced healthy margins during the first half of 2017 and this will likely continue until September. They […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
