CME October 2019 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME hogs book biggest one-week climb since April

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures closed higher on Friday and the most-active August contract recorded its biggest weekly gain since April, supported by expectations of thinning U.S. hog supplies, traders said. A glut of hogs has hung over the futures market for months, but traders see supplies starting to […] Read more

CME August 2019 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Lean hogs end lower

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures fell about three per cent on Thursday on sluggish cash markets, traders said, retreating after a two-session surge that lifted the August contract to a near-three-week high a day earlier. CME August lean hogs settled down 2.55 cents at 79.175 cents/lb., one day after […] Read more


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Cargill quarterly profit drops on trade tensions, U.S. floods

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Global commodities trader Cargill reported a 41 per cent drop in adjusted quarterly profit on Thursday, citing supply disruptions stemming from the U.S.-China trade war and also flooding in the central United States that hit marketing and transportation of grains and livestock. Cargill, the largest privately held U.S. company, said adjusted […] Read more

CME August 2019 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hogs limit up on firming cash pork, China hopes

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures roared higher on Tuesday, with the most-active August and October contracts settling up by the daily three-cent-per pound limit on a mix of technical buying, firmer cash pork values and optimism about U.S. trade talks with China, traders said. CME’s most-active August lean hogs […] Read more



A macrophage (immune response) cell in early stages of infection with African swine fever virus, magnified about 1,000x. (Keith Weller photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

China’s cabinet sees ‘shortcomings’ in bid to contain swine fever

Reading Time: < 1 minute Beijing | Reuters — China has shown shortcomings in some aspects of preventing African swine fever, and the situation remains complicated and severe, the country’s cabinet said Wednesday. The management of transporting live hogs is not strict enough, while there is insufficient capacity in testing for African swine fever virus in hog slaughtering, processing and […] Read more


CBOT August 2019 soybeans, with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans slide in post-holiday markets

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures settled down almost two per cent on Friday, pressured by relatively ample U.S. stockpiles as traders shrugged off support from strong weekly export sales. Analysts attributed the weakness in futures to improved U.S. crop weather and uncertainty about demand for U.S. soybeans, given large carry-over supplies from the […] Read more

ICE July 2019 canola (candlestick chart) compared to CBOT July 2019 corn (line). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: All eyes on King Corn

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — ICE Futures canola contracts trended lower over the past two weeks and could have some more room to the downside before eventually returning higher with summer weather markets and expected strength in Chicago corn futures. The November canola contract settled at $450.40 per tonne on Wednesday. The contract could have another $5-$10 to […] Read more


CBOT September 2019 soybeans (candlesticks) compared to September corn (line). (Barchart)

CBOT weekly outlook: USDA report leaves trade unsteady

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Chicago Board of Trade markets were volatile following Friday’s U.S. Department of Agriculture’s acreage report, which saw more corn acres and fewer soybeans than expected. “We had a sharp break, but now we’re starting to recover a bit,” said Steve Georgy, president of Allendale Inc. in Illinois. USDA’s next world agriculture supply and […] Read more

Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Trade Diversification Minister Jim Carr meet with Canadian beef and pork industry officials Wednesday in Montreal. (Photo courtesy Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

Canada proposes China meat export solution

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canada offered a plan to reassure China about the security of its meat export system, a Canadian minister said on Wednesday, as Ottawa rejected Chinese criticism of its efforts to enlist allies to resolve a diplomatic dispute between the countries. China said last week it wanted the Canadian government to stop allowing meat […] Read more