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
Getting back to reality after COVID-19
Will farm shows and machinery events ever be the same again?
U.S. livestock: Live cattle, lean hogs set new contract highs
June hogs turn lower before close
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
Editor’s Note: The right year to celebrate
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
U.S. pork processors face higher costs, slower speeds after court ruling
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
JBS profit bolstered by weak currency, strong Chinese and U.S. markets
China became third largest beef export market for JBS Canada, company says
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
Hog market recovering from pandemic lows
China again a major driver of hog values
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
USDA plans more pandemic programs for disadvantaged farmers
Review found disparities in farm aid distribution
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
New quarantine rules lined up for temporary foreign workers
Private transport would allow workers to skip immediate hotel stay
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
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures rise, hog futures weaken
Demand expected to rise on re-openings
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
Ag equipment maker buys WHL’s Regina Pats
Brandt takes full ownership of hockey club
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
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
