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U.S. livestock: Nearby live cattle futures jump on short covering, positioning

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters – Live cattle futures rallied on month-end short covering and position squaring on Wednesday, with the nearby contract hitting its highest price in almost eight months, traders said. Front-month CME October live cattle settled up 1.950 cent at 115.850 cents per pound and reached its highest price since March 6. Most-active December […] Read more

Russia had placed temporary restrictions on imports of pork and beef products from Brazil in 2017.  Photo: Getty Images

Russia to resume beef, pork imports from Brazil

Reading Time: < 1 minute Moscow/Sao Paulo | Reuters – Russia’s agriculture safety watchdog said on Wednesday it would allow imports of beef and pork from nine Brazilian plants beginning on Thursday, ending an 11-month ban triggered by concerns about the safety of their meat products. Russia’s Rosselkhoznadzor had placed temporary restrictions on imports of pork and beef products from […] Read more


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U.S. livestock: Cattle futures fall on concerns over increasing supplies

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters – Live cattle futures dropped to their lowest prices in more than a week on Tuesday and feeder cattle futures fell to seven-week lows on worries about increasing U.S. supplies, analysts said. Feedlots were offering to sell some 5,000 more cattle than a week ago, said Rich Nelson, chief strategist for Illinois-based […] Read more

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U.S. livestock: Hog futures jump on technical buying

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters – Lean hog futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange gained as much as 1.7 percent on Monday, rising on technical buying and calendar spreading despite weaker prices for hogs in U.S. cash markets, traders said. Live and feeder cattle futures each were narrowly mixed in spread trading amid a lack of fresh […] Read more


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Hog industry worldwide getting slaughtered in trade war

Reading Time: 5 minutes Beijing/Chicago/Carambei | Reuters – Ken Maschhoff, chairman of the largest U.S. family-owned pork producer, has watched profits fall as trade tensions rise between the United States and China. His company, The Machhoffs, has halted U.S. projects worth up to $30 million and may move some operations overseas. Investing in domestic operations now would be “ludicrous” […] Read more

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U.S. livestock: Live cattle slip from 3-week high in technical setback

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures dropped on Thursday in a technical-selling and profit-taking setback after scaling to three-week highs the previous day. Strengthening cash beef prices and government data showing smaller-than-expected cattle supplies at feedlots had supported the market earlier this week. “Coming out of the cattle on feed report, […] Read more


(Gloria Solano-Aguilar photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. livestock: Lean hogs end limit-up on African swine fever jitters

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures surged on Wednesday as concerns about the spread of African swine fever, particularly in China, fueled buying that took some contracts up by as much as their daily trading limits. Additional support in actively traded December futures stemmed from the contract’s discount to cash hog […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures slip from two-week high; hog futures firm

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures eased on Tuesday, retreating from a two-week high hit on Monday on a round of profit taking, traders said. Hog futures were higher, supported by a U.S. government report released after the close on Monday that showed supplies were tighter than expected. The most active December […] Read more


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U.S. livestock: Cattle, hog futures rebound on supply reports

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle and hog futures rose on Monday, bouncing back from Friday’s decline as traders digested government reports that showed supplies, while remaining abundant, were less than expected. Concerns about the spread of African swine fever in China added support. The U.S. Agriculture Department on Monday reported that beef in cold […] Read more

The USDA wants sick pigs immediately reported so they can be tested for African swine fever.  Photo: File

U.S. farmers, government fight risk of African swine fever

Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters – U.S. hog farmers are ramping up safety procedures and leaving animal-feed ingredients imported from China in storage in an attempt to keep out a highly contagious swine disease that is sweeping through Asia and Europe. U.S. government officials said in interviews on Friday they are also increasing their ability to test […] Read more