Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures rose on bargain buying on Wednesday, traders said, though U.S. pig slaughtering sank to its lowest level since August as rising cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant hit meat plants. Live cattle and feeder cattle futures slumped as traders remain concerned that the highly contagious […] Read more
Tag Archives COVID-19
U.S. livestock: Hog slaughter hits five-month low on Omicron spread
CME hogs up, cattle down
Ontario to extend labour-related crop loss coverage
Losses due to COVID-19-related labour disruptions covered
A temporary crop insurance expansion that covers Ontario farms against crop losses due to “on-farm labour disruptions” caused by COVID-19 will be held over for yet another year. Agricorp, the province’s farm program delivery agency, announced in late December the feature first introduced in 2020 will be included again in 2022, at the same coverage […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle, hogs sag on Wall Street woes, worker shortages
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog and live cattle futures closed lower on Monday, pressured by declines on Wall Street along with slowdowns at slaughterhouses due to worker shortages, traders said. CME February live cattle futures settled down 1.075 cents at 136.25 cents/lb., while March feeder cattle futures ended down 1.325 cents […] Read more
Canada resists pressure to drop vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers
Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pushing ahead with a vaccine mandate for international truckers despite increasing pressure from critics who say it will exacerbate driver shortages and drive up the price of goods imported from the United States. Canada will require all truckers entering from the U.S. to show proof […] Read more
COVID-19 not kind to Canada’s wool industry
Clothing retailers were forced to close during pandemic, only to open in fits and starts as public health restrictions allowed
Glacier FarmMedia – Wool might be a secondary market for the Canadian sheep industry, but the COVID-19 pandemic still cut deep into the business as the textile supply chain ground to a halt, according to the country’s wool co-operative. Eric Bjergso, general manager of Canadian Co-operative Wool Growers, said 2020 was the most difficult year […] Read more
Deere says its robo-tractors are ready to till the fields
Detroit | Reuters — Deere and Co. said Tuesday it will start commercial delivery this year of technology that enables a tractor to till a field without an operator in the cab, a first for the top North American tractor manufacturer after years of effort to automate farm work. Deere plans a low-volume launch this […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder market has positive factors
There were no feeder cattle sales last week due to the holiday season; however, this didn’t stop many cow-calf producers from inquiring about the market outlook for 2022. This past year was one for the record books. There is no doubt about it. Waves of COVID-19 caused beef demand to be quite volatile from month […] Read more
Comment: ‘Recipe shopping’ trend is trickling back through the value chain
When it comes to deciding what’s for dinner in this house, we often refer to recipe books collected over the years via family hand-me-downs, fundraisers or interest in our ethnic roots, health or ethics. It’s easy to spend an hour or more flipping through these collections, comparing notes and ingredients from one recipe or another. […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Corn up, but highs may not last
MarketsFarm — Corn, wheat and soybeans were all trading on a positive note at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) just days before the winter holidays. According to Scott Capinegro, a broker for Barrington Commodity Brokers at Lake Barrington, Ill., a greater appetite for risk by investors and inclement weather have both supported the markets. […] Read more
Chatham-Kent Farm Show cancelled
The 2022 Chatham-Kent Farm Show has been cancelled because the venue is needed for COVID-19 vaccination clinics and virus testing. The show organizers, OP Show Productions Inc. was notified Dec. 15 by the John D. Bradley Centre that the facility would be needed to host vaccination and testing clinics for several months due the increasing […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
