Reading Time: 2 minutes Sydney | Reuters — Australia’s trade minister is seeking urgent talks with his Chinese counterpart after key agriculture exports were hit with suspensions and tariff threats, but said Australia will continue to push for an inquiry into the COVID-19 outbreak. Trade minister Simon Birmingham requested a telephone call with Chinese commerce minister Zhong Shan after […] Read more
Australia requests China trade talks over beef, barley
U.S. livestock: June live cattle limit up on soaring beef prices
Large supplies of hogs, cattle still loom over futures
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures closed higher on Tuesday, with nearby contracts rising the daily maximum, as surging wholesale beef prices and expectations U.S. beef and pork production would drop spurred speculative buying, traders said. Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) June live cattle futures settled up 4.5 cents, the expanded daily limit, at […] Read more
Laid-off foreign workers may get conditional clearance for other jobs
Workers allowed to start new jobs while permits are processed
Reading Time: 2 minutes Approved temporary foreign workers (TFWs) whose jobs disappeared before they could begin work in Canada this spring can now get much quicker approval to start at other workplaces, including farms, where the workers are needed. The federal government said Tuesday it will, effective “immediately,” temporarily waive its rule requiring a TFW to receive federal approval […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Lentils stabilize with seeding underway
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Lentil bids in Western Canada may have come off their recent highs, but prices are still solid and should encourage more seeded area this spring. Increased demand tied to the COVID-19 pandemic gave lentil prices a boost in March, with the largest gains in red lentils which hit highs around the 32 cents/lb. […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Live cattle futures lower on profit-taking
August, October cattle limit down; June hogs also down
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures closed lower on Monday, with some contract months falling their daily three-cent limit on profit-taking amid signs the U.S. meat-packing sector was stepping up beef production, traders said. Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) June live cattle futures settled down 1.975 cents at 92.675 cents/lb., after surging to a […] Read more
Agri-food tech expected to be a post-pandemic growth industry
Ag, food sectors may seek out more e-commerce, labour-saving tools
Reading Time: 3 minutes Ottawa — A researcher at the University of Guelph says the COVID-19 pandemic will spark agility – particularly related to technology – in agriculture. “(The pandemic) has re-emphasized the need to get access to some of the technology that exists in other sectors and are not easily accessible in agri-food systems,” said Rozita Dara, an […] Read more
![[Dave Bedard file photo]](https://static.country-guide.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/11035111/cargill_wpg_logo800wide-e1589181969928.jpg)
Cargill to shut Montreal-area meat plant temporarily
Company says 64 workers tested positive for COVID-19
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ottawa | Reuters — The Canadian arm of U.S. agribusiness Cargill said Sunday it would soon temporarily shut a Montreal-area case-ready meat plant after 64 workers tested positive for COVID-19. The plant is at Chambly, a South Shore suburb of Montreal, one of the worst hit cities in Canada. Cargill said it was winding down […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cash cattle, futures up on beef packer scrutiny
Profit-taking continues to drag on lean hogs
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures rose on Friday along with cash prices as the federal government probed the beef market. The price of cattle in the cash market has rebounded since U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he had urged the federal Justice Department to look into allegations that the meatpacking […] Read more
Canada’s growers look to reopening garden centres to salvage dire year
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Hard-hit Canadian flower and nursery growers hope a surge in demand from budding gardeners in Ontario, the country’s biggest market, can help the industry avert disaster caused by the coronavirus with retailers reopening on Friday in the populous province. Most non-essential businesses in Canada were shut in mid-March as officials urged […] Read more
Adjustments likely ahead for StatsCan’s early acreage estimates
Projections still in line with grain trade's expectations
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The results of the first acreage estimates for 2020 from Statistics Canada come with an asterisk, as the COVID-19 pandemic halted data collection early. Canada’s actual seeded area is expected to see some shifts from the projections released Thursday. “As a result of the timing of the COVID-19 pandemic, these estimates were produced […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
