(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Cattle inventories continue to decline, StatsCan says

Canada's hog herd also down on year

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Canada’s cattle herd in 2019 continued on its generally consistent path of declining numbers, according to new data Statistics Canada released Tuesday. Aside from a few slight increases in 2012, 2013 and 2018, Canadian cattle inventories have moved lower since 2005. At 11.2 million head, the reported number of cattle on farms in […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Calves remain firm while yearlings falter

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling markets traded $3-$5 lower while calves and grassers traded within $5 on either side of unchanged. Calves were extremely variable with similar weight cattle sometimes trading $6-$8 apart at the same sale. Supplies of calves coming on the market appear to be lower than last year. This may […] Read more


CME April 2020 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hogs dive as coronavirus rattles markets

April live cattle, most feeder contracts close limit-down

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle and hog futures plunged on Monday as a surge of coronavirus cases beyond China stoked fears of U.S. meat export delays and slower global economic growth. The actively-traded April live cattle contract and nearly all feeder cattle contracts closed down by their daily trading limits, triggering expanded […] Read more

CME March 2020 feeder cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME hog futures firm

Cattle contracts ease

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures ended higher on Friday on a mild technical bounce while cattle contracts weakened. Feeder cattle contracts were under pressure from profit-taking following six straight days of gains that pushed the front-month contract to its highest since Jan. 30. CME lean hog futures for April delivery ended […] Read more


(LedbetterFoods.com)

JBS to buy U.S. meat processor Empire Packing

Reading Time: < 1 minute The U.S. arm of Brazilian meat packing giant JBS plans to expand its footprint in case-ready further processing with a deal for Memphis-based Empire Packing. Empire operates meat and poultry processing plants in its home town of Memphis as well as in Cincinatti, Denver, Olympia, Wash. and Mason, Ohio. It also makes the Ledbetter line […] Read more



(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Ontario offers cash for abattoir upgrades

Applications now being accepted through April

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario’s 123 provincially-licensed abattoirs can now start applying for a piece of $2 million in federal/provincial funding to step up food safety, biosecurity and animal welfare measures. The Ontario and federal governments on Wednesday announced applications for cost-share funding can be submitted between now and April 30, “as long as funding for the initiative is […] Read more



CME April 2020 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hogs rally with hopes for exports to China

Cattle market similarly hopeful

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — U.S. hog futures rose 2.1 per cent on Tuesday on hopes for increased demand from China as the world’s top pork consumer announced plans to begin issuing tariff-free import licenses. China will grant exemptions on retaliatory duties imposed against 696 U.S. goods, the most substantial tariff relief to be offered so […] Read more

More tax deferral zones announced for ranchers

More tax deferral zones announced for ranchers

Final list released for 2019 tax year

Reading Time: 2 minutes More ranchers who were up against a dry 2019 may now be eligible to defer some income from their livestock sales for the income tax year. The federal government on Tuesday released the “final list” of designated regions where income tax deferral on sales of breeding livestock has been authorized for 2019. In a prescribed […] Read more