COVID-19 Archives | Country Guide

Now that farmers have had a taste of “attending” virtual machinery shows, will in-person machinery shows continue to attract the same crowds?

Getting back to reality after COVID-19

Will farm shows and machinery events ever be the same again?

By Scott Garvey 4 days ago

Reading Time: 6 minutes In my time as machinery editor, getting to publicity events held by equipment brands has meant spending a lot of time in hotels and on airplanes. My schedule saw me, on average, flying somewhere every six weeks, and you get to experience a lot of unusual things that way, like when a flight attendant on […] Read more

CME June 2021 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

Livestock, Markets, Reuters

U.S. livestock: Live cattle, lean hogs set new contract highs

June hogs turn lower before close

By Tom Polansek April 5, 2021

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Strong meat demand pushed U.S. live cattle and lean hog futures to new contract highs on Monday. The cattle market benefited from increasing demand for beef as the U.S. is entering the summer grilling season, analysts said. Prices for choice cuts of boxed beef soared by $5.82, to $258.67/cwt, while select […] Read more

Columns, Opinion

Editor’s Note: The right year to celebrate

By Tom Button April 5, 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes As we get into spring, find some time for thinking and brainstorming how you can make 2021 a milestone year that your farm will long remember. It’s the right advice. Not every ag sector is having a banner year. And even within the grain and oilseed sector, not every farm is feeling on top of […] Read more

Livestock, Reuters

U.S. pork processors face higher costs, slower speeds after court ruling

By Tom Polansek April 5, 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — An industry group representing America’s biggest meatpackers on Thursday pushed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to appeal a federal court decision that canceled an agency rule that allows pork plants to slaughter pigs more quickly. The decision issued Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Minnesota could raise costs for meatpackers like […] Read more

Beef Cattle, Hogs, Livestock, Reuters

JBS profit bolstered by weak currency, strong Chinese and U.S. markets

China became third largest beef export market for JBS Canada, company says

By Ana Mano, Nayara Figueiredo March 27, 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes Sao Paulo | Reuters — Meat processor JBS SA’s fourth-quarter profit rose 65 per cent from a year earlier, boosted by strong food sales in China and the U.S. and a sharp devaluation of Brazil’s real currency, the company said in a securities filing on Wednesday. For full-year 2020 its profit was 4.6 billion reais, […] Read more

Hogs, Livestock, Markets

Hog market recovering from pandemic lows

China again a major driver of hog values

By Adam Peleshaty March 27, 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — In April 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, prices for lean hog futures dropped to their lowest point since 2002, falling below US$40 per hundredweight. Nearly a year later, the industry is in the middle of a speedy recovery. At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) on Thursday, lean hog futures […] Read more

General, Reuters

USDA plans more pandemic programs for disadvantaged farmers

Review found disparities in farm aid distribution

By Tom Polansek March 25, 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday it will dedicate at least US$6 billion to help smaller-scale and socially disadvantaged farmers who were hurt by the pandemic, along with producers of organic food and other specialty crops. The agency said it would also increase by approximately $5.6 billion payments made […] Read more

General

New quarantine rules lined up for temporary foreign workers

Private transport would allow workers to skip immediate hotel stay

By Dave Bedard March 17, 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes Temporary foreign workers coming to Canada for work in the farming or food processing sectors might not have to immediately check into government-approved hotels for COVID-19 quarantines along with other arriving travellers. The federal government on Tuesday announced new rules for TFWs taking effect starting Sunday (March 21). Like other arrivals, TFWs will still be […] Read more

CME June 2021 live cattle with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

Livestock, Markets, Reuters

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures rise, hog futures weaken

Demand expected to rise on re-openings

By Mark Weinraub March 15, 2021

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures rose on Monday supported by expectations of souped-up demand as economies begin to fully re-open after shutdowns related to COVID-19. “Cattle futures continue to price in better days ahead and the technical picture looks improved as well,” brokerage StoneX said in a statement. The most-active June […] Read more

Members of the Regina Pats during a May 20, 2018 game against New Brunswick’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan at Brandt Centre in Regina. (CHL photo by Marissa Baecker)

General, Machinery

Ag equipment maker buys WHL’s Regina Pats

Brandt takes full ownership of hockey club

By Dave Bedard March 15, 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes Regina-based machinery manufacturer the Brandt Group is levelling up from partner to full owner of the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats. Brandt, which since 2005 has held the naming rights to the Pats’ home arena, Brandt Centre — formerly the Regina Agridome — said Friday it has approval from the league’s board of governors and […] Read more

Klassen: Stronger demand drives feeder market

Montreal longshoremen to strike on weekends

U.S. grains: Soybean futures drop as soyoil crumbles

GFM Network News