Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s swine industry appears to have dodged what could have been an economic catastrophe with quick action on senecavirus A. In August this year, 13 Ontario animals were identified with lesions on their snouts or hooves at a processing plant in the U.S., triggering a memo from the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service to […] Read more
Cull sows no longer stopped at U.S. border
Pork packer HyLife to enter expansion mode
Reading Time: 2 minutes Manitoba hog slaughter and pork processing firm HyLife says it’s setting itself up for major expansions of its hog finishing and pork processing capacities. The company on Friday said “steady growth in demand” for its pork products overseas calls for an investment of up to $125 million in its integrated pork operations, to start “as […] Read more
Smithfield sees pork operations back to normal Monday
Reading Time: 2 minutes Wilmington, N.C. | Reuters — Smithfield Foods expects to resume full production on Monday at its North Carolina meat operations, including the world’s largest pork plant, more than a week after Hurricane Matthew struck the U.S. Southeast and triggered widespread flooding in the state. Operations will get back to normal at Smithfield’s four North Carolina […] Read more
Smithfield to shutter major hog plant against Matthew
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Smithfield Foods will shutter its hog processing facility, the world’s largest, on Saturday to protect employees in North Carolina from Hurricane Matthew, industry sources said on Friday, as farmers braced for the storm’s potential lashing. Matthew has fueled concerns about the safety of livestock and farm workers along the coast from […] Read more
Olymel ham consolidation spurs more plant upgrades
Reading Time: 2 minutes Meat packer Olymel’s plans to consolidate its ham production work has led to a new round of plant upgrades. Olymel, the protein arm of Quebec agricultural co-operative La Coop federee, announced Wednesday it has budgeted $3 million in “redevelopment” work for its Beauce-region hog slaughter plant at Vallee-Jonction, about 60 km southeast of Quebec City. […] Read more
Ontario hogs confirmed with senecavirus
Reading Time: 2 minutes A hog virus watched closely in North America for its strong family resemblance to foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has turned up in hogs in Ontario. Officials with hog industry body Ontario Pork reported Monday that senecavirus A, formerly called Seneca Valley virus or SVV, has been confirmed in the province. Neighbouring industry body Manitoba Pork said […] Read more
September record-large U.S. hog herd topped expectations
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The U.S. hog herd in the June-August quarter grew two per cent versus a year ago to a record high, according to Friday’s U.S. Department of Agriculture report, which surpassed average trade projections. Affordable feed, solid summer grilling demand and respectable U.S. pork exports encouraged farmers to grow their herds. Several producers ramped […] Read more
Olymel pork plant to get $11 million in upgrades
Reading Time: 2 minutes Pork and poultry packer Olymel has budgeted $11 million in expansions and new equipment for a Quebec sausage processing plant to handle hams and other smoked meats and boost its output by about 50 per cent. The company, part of agrifood and ag retail co-operative La Coop federee, announced Thursday that upgrades are expected to […] Read more
PED reappears in southeastern Manitoba
Reading Time: 1 minute Manitoba has logged its first on-farm case of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) in over three months, in a sow barn in the province’s livestock-intensive southeast. Southeastern Manitoba has been home to all of the province’s nine on-farm outbreaks of PED since the virus first appeared there in February 2014. In the latest case, the provincial […] Read more
Hog profits disappear as U.S. futures crash
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — A sharp drop in the U.S. hog futures over the past week is cutting into the profitability of the Canadian sector as well, with a turn higher unlikely in the near term. U.S. lean hog futures set new contract lows over the past week, as large North American supplies and expectations for […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
