Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. livestock futures surged on Tuesday — with live cattle futures up to their 4.5-cent expanded limit — as steep discounts in futures prices over the current cash markets wooed investors to buy back in, traders said. Feeder cattle also jumped to their normal trading day limits, as the sector overall […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Futures surge as investors snap up discounts
June live cattle limit up off Monday's limit-down drop
U.S. livestock: Live cattle futures drop as pandemic roils markets
Technical buying lifts hogs, feeder cattle
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures plunged to their daily trading limit on Monday — with prices for the front-month contract hitting the lowest seen since December 2009 — as beef inventories remain robust with much of the U.S. restaurant industry shuttered due to the pandemic. April live cattle were down the 4.5-cent […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat firms after four-day slide
Corn hits 3-1/2-year low
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures rose on Friday, bouncing after a four-day slide, as traders weighed the threat of a deep economic downturn due to the coronavirus epidemic against supply tensions in some exporting countries. Corn extended a six-day drop, with May futures hitting the lowest for a most-active contract since September 2016, […] Read more
Canada’s pork sector up to speed, aware of challenges
Processing plants enhancing biosecurity; producers being urged to watch their stress levels
Reading Time: 2 minutes They’re adding protective plexiglass shields, bringing in trailers to separate groups of workers, and boosting communication on biosecurity. It’s all part of an ongoing effort to ensure pork processing plants aren’t disrupted by COVID-19. “I’m very impressed by our packers, and for the workers for coming to work every day and being there and realizing […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hog futures drop to 3-1/2 year low
Cattle also limit down on coronavirus pandemic
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. hog futures dropped to a 3-1/2 year low on Thursday while cattle tumbled as recession concerns and surging U.S. unemployment due to the coronavirus pandemic triggered broad liquidation across the battered livestock markets. Both live and feeder cattle and lean hogs dropped by their daily trading limits for a second […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat tumbles on weak export sales, recession fears
Corn, soybeans rise on crude oil rally, but end mixed
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures fell for a fourth straight session on Thursday, extending prior-day losses that were the worst in 7-1/2 months as weak U.S. export sales data stoked concerns about the coronavirus pandemic destroying demand. Soybeans and corn ended mixed as early short-covering and spillover support from sharply higher crude oil […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Pandemic drives Chicago prices lower
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to pressure U.S. markets, including the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), according to Scott Capinegro, president of Barrington Commodities at Barrington, Ill. “It’s like that movie Groundhog Day. You wake up and it’s the same thing every day,” Capinegro said. There’s a domino effect in the grain industry […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle, hogs limit down on coronavirus fears
Market has to 'reevaluate' supply/demand picture
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. livestock futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) plunged by their daily trading limits on Wednesday as stricter coronavirus emergency measures hammered stock markets and deepened worries about a global recession. Live cattle futures dropped for the fourth time in five sessions, erasing all of the prior session’s gains, while […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat posts steepest drop since August
Soy drop biggest in 2-1/2 weeks; corn extends losses on big supply, weak ethanol demand
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat prices fell more than three per cent on Wednesday as coronavirus fears dragged down equities markets and lifted the dollar, sending Chicago wheat futures to their steepest decline in 7-1/2 months. Soybeans fell more than two per cent, the most in 2-1/2 weeks, and most corn contracts posted fresh […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn drops after USDA pegs plantings above expectations
USDA forecasts largest U.S. corn acres in eight years
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures settled lower on Tuesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecast 2020 plantings at the largest in eight years, well above trade expectations, while soybeans firmed on a lower-than-anticipated acreage outlook. A tighter-than-expected USDA quarterly corn stocks estimate limited losses, but most contracts notched life-of-contract lows after […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
