CME December 2018 lean hogs, with 50-day moving average. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hogs extend slide, fall below seven-week lows

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures slid for the third consecutive session on Thursday and touched their lowest prices in more than seven weeks on concerns about increasing supplies, traders said. The market has weakened since contracts set multi-month highs on Oct. 1 amid worries about meat supplies swelling due to […] Read more

Sides of pork in cold storage. Tariffs on U.S. pork in China and Mexico have curtailed U.S. exports, resulting in price-depressing oversupply. (Agnormark/iStock/Getty Images)

Hog producers continue struggle toward profitability

Reading Time: 4 minutes CNS Canada — Hog prices might have regained some value in recent days, but many producers are still a long way from profitability, according to the chair of Manitoba Pork. That’s why lenders such as Farm Credit Canada, who show they understand the needs of producers who are dependent on commodity markets, are appreciated, said […] Read more


(t-lorien/Getty Images)

U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs, cattle rise on month-end buying

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures rose on Friday, with the most-active December contract jumping more than four per cent on short-covering at the end of the month and quarter, traders said. CME October hogs settled up 0.875 cent at 62.175 cents/lb. and December rose 2.45 cents at 57.925 (all figures […] Read more

World crop briefs: North Carolina losing crops, livestock to Florence

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Record-setting rain and floods in North Carolina caused by Hurricane Florence have destroyed the state’s poultry sector with 3.4 million chickens and turkeys reported killed. Pig losses are estimated at 5,500. Widespread power outages and flooded roads are making it difficult to get help to abandoned livestock operations. The state is home […] Read more


A Sept. 12 view from the International Space Station down the eye of Hurricane Florence, which has since weakened to a post-tropical cyclone. (NASA photo)

Florence shuts down U.S. slaughterhouses

Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago/Los Angeles | Reuters — U.S. food companies kept slaughter plants shut on Monday in southeastern states swamped by Hurricane Florence as flash floods collapsed the walls of at least two hog manure pits, made roads undriveable and delayed rail shipments. Catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Florence, which has dumped up to 36 inches of rain […] Read more

(Deyana Robova photo/iStock/Getty Images)

Canadian hog prices on rebound

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Improving trade relations and the emergence of swine fever in China have made their presence felt on the Canadian hog market. Weekly signature No. 5 base slaughter weight cash hog prices averaged $117.83 per 100 kg as of Friday, up by roughly $15 over the past two weeks. Those numbers are a […] Read more


Astronaut Rickey Arnold’s view of Hurricane Florence from the International Space Station on Sept. 10, 2018. (NASA photo)

U.S. farmers rush to clear crops but animals stay in Florence’s path

Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters — As powerful Hurricane Florence advanced toward the southeastern U.S., farmers in North Carolina rushed to harvest corn and tobacco and stock up on pig rations, while the danger of sustained rain and deadly flooding threatened a state where millions of farm animals are housed. “The governor said that North Carolina is […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. livestock: Cattle ease on profit-taking, lack of cash sales

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. cattle futures eased on Friday as traders locked in profits following two straight sessions of higher prices and as beef packers bought few animals in cash cattle markets, traders and analysts said. Expectations that meat packers might pay prices roughly steady with cattle sales of about $109/cwt a week ago […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. livestock: Cattle mostly higher on technical buying

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures were narrowly higher on Wednesday, lifted by light technical buying as traders awaited deals in U.S. Plains cash cattle markets, analysts said. Feeder cattle futures were slightly lower and lean hogs were mixed, with fresh news relatively scant. Most-active CME October live cattle ticked up […] Read more

(Gloria Solano-Aguilar photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. livestock: Hogs limit up on U.S.-Mexico deal, China swine fever

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures surged by their daily three-cent price limit on Monday, buoyed by hopes of increased U.S. pork exports following news of a trade deal with top importer Mexico, traders said. Hog futures were further supported by the outbreak of African swine fever in China, which has […] Read more