Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters – U.S. hog futures rose to their highest in nearly two months on Wednesday, supported by a round of technical buying and tight pork supplies. After the market closed on Tuesday, the U.S. government released a report that showed that domestic frozen pork belly stocks as of Nov. 30 stood at 23.111 […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hog futures rise to highest since late October; cattle firms
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures drop on fund selling
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters – U.S. cattle futures fell on Tuesday, with traders noting pressure from fund selling. Hog futures were slightly firmer as investors squared positions ahead of a key government supply report. Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) February live cattle futures dropped 1.2 cents to settle at 113.45 cents per pound. The contract found support […] Read more
Tyson fires seven managers after probe into COVID-19 wagering
Employees had been suspended following lawsuit
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Tyson Foods said Wednesday it had fired seven managers at an Iowa pork plant after investigating allegations that they took bets on how many employees would catch COVID-19. The independent investigation, led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, came in response to a lawsuit filed by the son of a worker at […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle, hog futures fall as accelerating pandemic stirs demand concern
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters – U.S. cattle and hog futures fell on Monday as cash beef and pork prices weakened and as accelerating coronavirus infection rates prompted tighter restrictions on restaurants and other food service outlets, threatening meat sales. Meanwhile, renewed tensions between the United States and China, after fresh U.S. sanctions on 14 Chinese officials, […] Read more
Flush with cash, Chinese hog producer builds world’s largest pig farm
Reading Time: 3 minutes China | Reuters – Behind the walls of a hulking industrial compound in rural China, top pig producer Muyuan Foods is trying to raise more hogs on a single site than any company in the world – a risky investment with deadly African swine fever lingering. The new farm, which began construction in March and […] Read more
Ontario hog set-aside plan underway
AgriRecovery program taking applications through March
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ontario hog farmers can now apply for AgriRecovery toward feed costs for hogs held back from sale when certain pork packers went into COVID-19-induced slowdowns. Agricorp, the province’s ag program delivery agency, on Nov. 25 announced the Canada-Ontario COVID-19 2020 Hog Maintenance Feed Initiative, which started effective Nov. 6 and will run through to March […] Read more
Tyson suspends staff as suit alleges managers set up COVID pool
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Tyson Foods said Thursday it suspended employees without pay and hired former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder to conduct an investigation in response to a wrongful death lawsuit that alleges managers at an Iowa pork plant took bets on how many employees would catch COVID-19. The coronavirus pandemic has ravaged the […] Read more
Feds back pork producers with new levy on imports
New national pork agency to be up and running next summer
Reading Time: 3 minutes A new agency will use funds from a new levy on imported pork to pay for research and promotion for the Canadian pork sector. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie Claude Bibeau on Thursday officially announced the creation of the Canadian Pork Promotion and Research Agency (PRA). The Farm Products Council of Canada (FPCC) and Agriculture and […] Read more
Swine flu strain makes first jump to person in Canada
Alberta reports 'one isolated case' in central region
Reading Time: 3 minutes Further risk to people is believed to be low after a person in central Alberta was confirmed to have caught a variant of H1N2 swine flu, in the first case of its kind in Canada. The virus was spotted in mid-October after a patient sought medical care with “influenza-like symptoms,” provincial chief medical officer Dr. […] Read more
Shutdown urged for Quebec pork plant after COVID-19 death
Union calls on Olymel to close site for at least two weeks
Reading Time: 2 minutes The union for over 1,000 workers at a major Quebec hog slaughter plant is calling on the owner to temporarily close the facility against a COVID-19 outbreak now blamed for the death of an employee. Le Syndicat des travailleurs d’Olymel Vallee-Jonction-CSN said Wednesday the death of a worker earlier this week led it to demand […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
