Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Most Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle contracts landed in modestly bearish territory on Friday amid pre-weekend consolidation after investors digested this week’s cash prices, said traders. “The market is priced right with this week’s cash. We’ll wait until next week to see if packers are short on supplies or need cattle,” […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle mostly weaker on consolidation

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hogs jump on spreading, packer demand
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle and lean hog futures rose more than one per cent on Tuesday, lifted by spreading and investment fund buying backed up by robust demand from meat packers, traders and analysts said. Beef and pork packers were capturing big profit margins given higher meat prices and comparatively lower prices […] Read more

If NAFTA ain’t broke, don’t fix it, pork sector says
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — As talks begin toward reworking the North American Free Trade Agreement, John Ross of the Canadian Pork Council repeats what many in the pork and beef industries in Canada and the U.S. have been saying all along: First, do no harm. “The worst thing that could happen to us was if we […] Read more

Klassen: Feeder cattle continue upward trend
Reading Time: 2 minutes Western Canadian feeder cattle prices traded $3-$5 above week-ago levels with lighter weight categories selling $6 to $8 higher. Alberta packers were buying fed cattle in the range of $286 to $288 on a dressed basis, up from $278 last week. This equates to $172-$174 on a live basis, a solid $35 above break-even pen […] Read more

Klassen: Demand for shortkeep feeders drives complex higher
Reading Time: 2 minutes Most auction barns were in holiday mode last week, which made the market hard to define. However, comments from local buyers suggest demand is building for shorter-term replacements due to healthy feedlot margins. Small groups were on offer with limited numbers available, and there was a wide range on similar weight classes across the Prairies. […] Read more

Hog sector optimistic heading into New Year
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada –– A rally in U.S. hog futures over the past few weeks is also being felt in the Canadian industry, which has brought some optimism to the sector heading into the New Year. “The isoweans are stronger, which tells us that there is greater demand in the U.S. going into the spring and […] Read more