Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — Tyson Foods in February will stop buying U.S. hogs raised with a growth drug banned by China, the company said on Thursday, as global meat suppliers seek an edge in boosting sales to Chinese buyers facing a huge pork shortage due to an outbreak of a fatal pig disease. The halt in the […] Read more
Tyson bans ractopamine from its U.S. hog supply
Trump’s hailing of Chinese farm purchases seen as ‘meaningless’
Reading Time: 3 minutes Beijing | Reuters — China is still a long way from forking out US$50 billion for farm goods from the United States, agriculture industry analysts said on Monday, cautioning that getting there is contingent on removing substantial technical and political hurdles. Outlining the first phase of a deal to end a trade war with China, […] Read more
U.S. farmers cheered by apparent trade truce
Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. farmers cheered the Trump administration’s announcement of a potentially dramatic increase in U.S. agricultural sales to China on Friday but warned they needed to see a follow-through of actual purchases. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the agricultural purchases could scale up to $40 billion-$50 billion annually as part of a […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs rise on China trade optimism
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures closed higher on Wednesday for a second straight session on hopes that U.S. trade talks with China, at a time of surging Chinese pork prices, could bolster U.S. pork exports, traders said. CME December lean hog futures settled up 2.075 cents at 69.475 cents/lb., just […] Read more
Japan trade deal aims to put U.S. farmers on par with TPP
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — The new U.S.-Japan trade deal will provide staged reduction of Japanese tariffs for more than US$2 billion worth of U.S. beef and pork, matching access now granted to the 11 Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact countries, a text of the agreement shows. U.S. President Donald Trump presided over a White House signing […] Read more
JBS USA to produce pork without ractopamine
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — JBS USA will remove a growth drug banned by Beijing from its U.S. hog supply, the company said on Friday, accelerating the competition for pork exports as China grapples with a devastating pig disease. The meat packer’s move away from the drug ractopamine, a feed additive, shows how companies are maneuvering […] Read more
New meat recall prolongs Ryding-Regency shutdown
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ryding-Regency Meat Packers remains shut down, making an already tight processing capacity situation event more challenging for Ontario farmers. The Toronto company, along with St. Ann’s Food, announced a recall Tuesday of a long list of its products because of concerns with E. coli O157:H7. More products were added to the recall on Thursday. The […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures rise on cash market strength
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. cattle futures firmed for the second day in a row on Thursday, with the most-active December live cattle contract holding support near a two-month peak on strong cash prices. “The cash market has been moving up steadily,” said Don Roose, analyst with U.S. Commodities in West Des Moines, Iowa. “The […] Read more
U.S. set to widen trade war on EU front
Reading Time: 4 minutes London/Brussels/Washington | Reuters — The United States won approval on Wednesday to impose import tariffs on US$7.5 billion worth of European aircraft and agricultural goods over illegal EU subsidies handed to Airbus, threatening to trigger a tit-for-tat transatlantic trade war as the global economy falters. The decision by the World Trade Organization pushes a 15-year […] Read more
U.S., Japan sign limited trade deal
Reading Time: 3 minutes New York | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe signed a limited trade deal on Wednesday that cuts tariffs on U.S. farm goods, Japanese machine tools and other products while further staving off the threat of higher U.S. car duties. Trump said the deal would open up Japanese markets […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
