(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Strong demand keeps Prairie feed barley well supported

Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — Feed barley bids remain well supported in Western Canada, as solid demand and reluctant farmer selling keep the market underpinned heading into the summer months. “There is pretty decent demand. I’d say higher than average for this time of year,” said Brandon Motz, sales manager with CorNine Commodities in Lacombe, Alta. Strong […] Read more

(Canada Beef Inc. photo)

U.S. livestock: Bearish USDA report rattles CME live cattle

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures on Friday finished sharply lower, hit by fund liquidation and the morning’s bearish U.S. Department of Agriculture Cattle on Feed report, said traders. The report showed the number of cattle placed in feedlots in April hit a 14-year high for the month. Traders said fund […] Read more



(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. livestock: Funds, bargain buying rally live cattle

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle on Thursday reversed some of their recent losses, stirred by fund buying and bargain hunting as the U.S. Memorial Day holiday approaches, said traders. They said futures’ discounts to this week’s cash prices attracted would-be buyers. June closed 1.8 cents/lb. higher at 123.925 cents, and above […] Read more


(Regis Lefebure photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. livestock: Hogs gain, cattle ease on spread unwinding

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures rose to a three-month high on Tuesday while live cattle declined as some investors unwound hog-cattle spreads, traders and analysts said. Traders locked in profits on long cattle-short hog spreads, with Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle declining for the first time in four sessions and easing from […] Read more

(Gloria Solano-Aguilar photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs snap back from session lows

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures finished higher on Thursday, after short-covering and bargain buying brought contracts from morning lows, traders said. “Hogs (futures) were simply too cheap. The price had gotten to the point where (investors) had wrung out any sort of spring seasonal rally,” said independent CME livestock futures […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. livestock: Live cattle hit two-month high on cash optimism

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures rose to two-month highs on Tuesday as wholesale beef prices extended gains, stoking optimism for higher prices this week in Plains cash cattle markets, traders and analysts said. Feeder cattle futures also were higher, while lean hogs fell for the fifth straight session. “There continues […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. livestock: Profit-taking pressures cattle futures, boosts hogs

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures were mostly lower on Friday while lean hog futures gained sharply as investors took profits in each livestock contract, traders and analysts said. Cattle fell after Thursday’s nearly four-week high and hogs rebounded from a roughly two-month low. “It’s just an end-of-the-week rally,” Rosenthal Collins […] Read more


(Regis Lefebure photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. livestock: Hogs extend losses on cash expectations

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures fell more than one per cent on Thursday, extending losses to their third straight session, on pressure from expectations for declines in Midwest cash hog markets, traders and analysts said. Lower wholesale pork prices this week, especially pork belly cuts, also weighed on futures and squeezed packer […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. December feedlot cattle placements hit six-year high

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. feedlots brought in 18 per cent more cattle in December than the year-earlier month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Friday, which topped forecasts and reached a six-year high for that month. Higher prices for slaughter-ready, or cash, cattle last month improved profit for feedlots. That allowed them to […] Read more