“The packers need to come to terms with the fact that they’re not going to have a supply if they don’t change.” – Darcy Fitzgerald.

Alberta pork producers look at single desk selling

After years of losses, many will abandon the sector if things don’t change, says Alberta Pork

Glacier FarmMedia – When it was wheat, Alberta led the fight to get rid of single-desk selling. But it’s a very different story when it comes to pork. Two-thirds of Alberta Pork producers voted in favour of investigating a single-desk marketing system similar to Quebec at their virtual annual general meeting held November 23. Thirty […] Read more

(TysonFoods.com)

Tyson fires seven managers after probe into COVID-19 wagering

Employees had been suspended following lawsuit

Reuters — Tyson Foods said Wednesday it had fired seven managers at an Iowa pork plant after investigating allegations that they took bets on how many employees would catch COVID-19. The independent investigation, led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, came in response to a lawsuit filed by the son of a worker at […] Read more

CME February 2021 lean hogs with 100-day moving average and Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hog futures rally on technical buying

February live cattle futures lower

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures rose 3.8 per cent on Monday, notching their biggest daily gain since September, in a technical bounce from the three-week low they hit on Friday, traders said. “We hit the bottom end of the range so we are just bouncing back,” said Don Roose, president of brokerage […] Read more

Beef is on display at a Walmart in Beijing on Sept. 23, 2019. (File photo: Reuters/Tingshu Wang)

China’s coronavirus testing chokes beef trade

Additional inspections, disinfections costly for importers

Beijing | Reuters — In a supermarket in downtown Beijing, refrigerator shelves normally filled with steak from around the world sit empty as tougher testing for the novel coronavirus creates supply bottlenecks and raises prices for importers. Fresh supplies of beef won’t arrive for days, a salesman at the Suning.com-owned Carrefour outlet told Reuters — […] Read more



China, COVID ruined pork party

China, COVID ruined pork party

Canadian pork exports were surging from December 2018 to May 2019, but then trade disputes and packer slowdowns got in the way

Glacier FarmMedia – Canadian hog producers were on the path to good times before Chinese complications and COVID-19 derailed producers, Statistics Canada analysis shows. However, the recovery of the North American packing industry since the pandemic shock and the return of China to buying Canadian pork have reversed some of the damage. Why it matters: […] Read more

CME December 2020 live cattle with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Live cattle futures up despite slower slaughter

December lean hog futures drop

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures gained slightly on Friday after a week of range trading, traders said. Chicago Mercantile Exchange December live cattle futures settled 0.3 cent higher at 108.65 cents/lb. (all figures US$). CME feeder cattle futures gained 0.525 cents to end at 135.925 cents/lb. For the week, live cattle futures […] Read more

(Shadowinternet/E+/Getty Images)

Feds back pork producers with new levy on imports

New national pork agency to be up and running next summer

A new agency will use funds from a new levy on imported pork to pay for research and promotion for the Canadian pork sector. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie Claude Bibeau on Thursday officially announced the creation of the Canadian Pork Promotion and Research Agency (PRA). The Farm Products Council of Canada (FPCC) and Agriculture and […] Read more


Seasonal flu shots are recommended to help limit spread of flu viruses between people and livestock. (Inside Creative House/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Swine flu strain makes first jump to person in Canada

Alberta reports 'one isolated case' in central region

Further risk to people is believed to be low after a person in central Alberta was confirmed to have caught a variant of H1N2 swine flu, in the first case of its kind in Canada. The virus was spotted in mid-October after a patient sought medical care with “influenza-like symptoms,” provincial chief medical officer Dr. […] Read more

Projects looks at hog gut health

Projects looks at hog gut health

Olymel, Canada’s largest pork producer and processor, is working with scientists from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Université Laval on research to better understand the links between pig gut health, food safety and product quality. The project is part of the Canadian Food Innovators (CFI-ICA) research cluster “Using science and innovation to strengthen Canada’s value-added […] Read more