Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — Tyson Foods in February will stop buying U.S. hogs raised with a growth drug banned by China, the company said on Thursday, as global meat suppliers seek an edge in boosting sales to Chinese buyers facing a huge pork shortage due to an outbreak of a fatal pig disease. The halt in the […] Read more
Tyson bans ractopamine from its U.S. hog supply
JBS USA to produce pork without ractopamine
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — JBS USA will remove a growth drug banned by Beijing from its U.S. hog supply, the company said on Friday, accelerating the competition for pork exports as China grapples with a devastating pig disease. The meat packer’s move away from the drug ractopamine, a feed additive, shows how companies are maneuvering […] Read more
South Korea confirms new cases of African swine fever
Reading Time: < 1 minute Seoul | Reuters — South Korea has confirmed new cases of African swine fever at hog farms in cities near the capital Seoul after the country’s first outbreak of the deadly virus last week, the agriculture ministry said on Monday. The new case occurred at a pig farm with about 1,800 pigs in the city […] Read more
Safety advocates sound alarm over new U.S. hog slaughter rules
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. food safety and the health of plant workers will be at risk from new federal rules that allow meat companies to slaughter hogs as fast as they want and shift the role of government inspectors, food and environmental advocates said on Tuesday. The warnings about the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s […] Read more
Hog market at seasonal lows, turnaround expected
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — The Canadian hog market may be at its seasonal lows, but tightening worldwide supplies should underpin values over the next few months. “We’re at a seasonal time of year when prices move lower,” said Brad Marceniuk, livestock economist with Saskatchewan Agriculture, pointing to higher U.S. slaughter numbers and a slowdown in North American […] Read more
China to exempt U.S. pork, soybeans from additional tariffs
Reading Time: 2 minutes Shanghai | Reuters — China will exempt some agricultural products from additional tariffs on U.S. goods, including pork and soybeans, China’s official Xinhua News Agency said Friday, in the latest sign of easing Sino-U.S. tensions before a new round of talks aimed at curbing a bruising trade war. The United States and China have both […] Read more
Chinese pork imports seen doubling over two years by 2020
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sao Paulo | Reuters — Chinese pork meat imports are projected to sharply rise from 2.1 million tonnes in 2018 to 3.3 million tonnes in 2019 and 4.2 million tonnes in 2020, because of the African swine fever outbreak, broker and consultancy INTL FCStone said on Monday. FCStone estimated during a commodities outlook conference in […] Read more
Philippines checks for swine fever as pig deaths rise
Reading Time: 2 minutes Manila | Reuters — The Philippines has set up a crisis management team to determine if the deadly African swine fever virus has reached the country after officials detected a rise in pig deaths in some areas. The Bureau of Animal Industry had reported an increased mortality of pigs “raised by farmers in their backyards” […] Read more
Packers win dismissal of U.S. pork price-fixing suits
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — A federal judge on Thursday dismissed antitrust lawsuits accusing several large U.S. pork companies of conspiring to limit the supply of pork to inflate prices and their own profits at the expense of consumers and other purchasers. Chief Judge John Tunheim of the federal court in Minneapolis said the plaintiffs failed to show […] Read more
Elanco buys swine PWD vaccine maker
Reading Time: 2 minutes Veterinary drugmaker Elanco Animal Health is expanding its space in the swine sector with a deal to buy the Quebec startup behind Coliprotec vaccines. Indianapolis-based Elanco announced Thursday it has paid $78.5 million to buy Prevtec Microbia, which is headquartered in Montreal with facilities in St-Hyacinthe. The Coliprotec line is meant to help protect pigs […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
