Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures eased on Wednesday, as packers prep for a short processing week after the Fourth of July holiday in the United States, traders said. Packers’ purchases are expected to slow by the end of the week, to avoid having pens full of animals waiting over the […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Live cattle futures ease ahead of U.S. holiday weekend

U.S. livestock: Live cattle mixed on seasonal slump, domestic demand worries
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange spot live cattle futures rose on Tuesday, as the northern cash market continued to trade at a record premium over the south amid drought-hit grazing grounds, traders said. But CME’s benchmark August live cattle futures LCQ2 and deferred contracts slipped on worries about the health of the U.S. economy, and […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Hog, live cattle futures fall on recession fears
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters – CME Group live cattle and hog futures fell on Thursday, pressured by growing fears of a recession that could cut demand for pricey meats, traders said. Losses accelerated due to fund liquidation as the end of the quarter nears. But feeder cattle futures were firm as falling corn prices raised the […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hog futures retreat from two-month high; cattle also fall
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters – CME Group cattle futures fell on Wednesday, as surprise deliveries in Texas showed that cash market supplies were higher than expected, traders said. Hog futures were lower, snapping a streak of four straight higher closes as traders locked in profits from the market’s move to a two-month high. CME July lean […] Read more

Hog sector to focus on margins in face of outside volatility
'Counter-cyclical' moves seen in markets
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — The hog sector has found itself caught up in the general uncertainty of many commodity and financial markets — making it more difficult than normal to predict where values could be headed. “We’re seeing a ton of volatility and it feels like we’re in a bit of transition on supply versus expectations,” said […] Read more

Beef sector calls for Health Canada label exception
The Canadian Cattlemen's Association wants ground beef exempted from proposed rules
Reading Time: 2 minutes The cattle sector is less than pleased by a Health Canada proposal that would put a ‘high saturated fat’ label on retail ground beef. The proposal is part of a suite of changes proposed for Canada’s Food and Drug Regulations. As well as adding a front-of-packaging (FOP) label requirement for foods deemed by Health Canada […] Read more

Icahn drops proxy fights with Kroger’s, McDonald’s
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is dropping a proxy fight focused on the treatment of pregnant pigs at Kroger Co. after losing a similar fight with McDonald’s Corp last month, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. “I congratulate the McDonald’s team on their victory in this proxy engagement and, after much contemplation, given the […] Read more

Italy to hold boar cull around Rome to stem swine fever
Reading Time: 2 minutes Rome | Reuters — Italy will launch a cull of wild boars around Rome after African swine fever was found in one of the thousands that live in the Italian capital and the surrounding countryside, local authorities said on Monday. An isolated outbreak of the deadly hog disease was reported in northwest Italy at the […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME cattle, hog futures hit two week lows on robust supplies
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters – CME Group live cattle and hog futures fell to two-week lows on Monday, pressured by bearish government supply reports released late on Friday. “There’s no shortage of market supplies or beef production until the fourth quarter at the earliest,” brokerage StoneX wrote in a note to clients. The U.S. Agriculture Department said on […] Read more

McDonald’s calls Icahn demands on sourcing pigs ‘unfeasible’
Investor cites company's 10-year-old pledge
Reading Time: 2 minutes Boston | Reuters — McDonald’s Corp on Thursday said Carl Icahn’s call for the fast food chain to stop buying pork from suppliers that house the animals in crates would be logistically unfeasible and prohibitively expensive. The billionaire investor, who owns roughly US$50,000 worth of McDonald’s stock, is pushing the company to change how it […] Read more