File photo of wild birds in flight over a lake in Uruguay. (Paz Roca/iStock/Getty Images)

More South American nations report bird flu cases

Brazil still remains free of contagion

Sao Paulo | Reuters — The confirmation of more bird flu cases in South America raised alarm bells in Brazil, which remains free of contagion even after its close neighbours Argentina and Uruguay confirmed cases there on Wednesday. In a press conference to discuss the global sanitary hazard, Brazilian Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro said Brazil, […] Read more

Uruguayan sheep shearer Federico Ventura catches a sheep to shear it in Villafale, Spain on June 17, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Juan Medina)

Uruguayan shearers flown in to relieve sweltering Spanish sheep

Expert shearers authorized to enter country amid COVID-19 pandemic

Villafale, Spain | Reuters — Brought to Spain on a special flight amid the coronavirus lockdown, some 250 Uruguayan sheep shearers race against time to shear millions of Spanish sheep as sweltering summer temperatures hit. The Uruguayan shearers come to Spain every year, where farmers value them for their skills, their speed and particular care […] Read more

(NationalBeef.com)

Marfrig to buy control of U.S.-based National Beef

Sao Paulo | Reuters –– Brazil’s Marfrig Global Foods said Monday it would buy control of Kansas City-based National Beef Packing for US$969 million, in a deal that would make it the world’s No. 2 beef processor. Marfrig also said it was seeking to sell an existing U.S. unit, Keystone Food. The proceeds will be […] Read more

(JBSS.infoinvest.com.br)

Brazil blocks JBS deal, seeks asset freeze

Brasilia | Reuters — A Brazilian judge has blocked JBS SA’s planned sale of a South American unit while the attorney general’s office urged the company’s assets be frozen, in signs of fallout from a corruption probe involving the controlling shareholders of the world’s No. 1 meatpacker. Federal Judge Ricardo Leite blocked JBS’s US$300 million sale […] Read more


(JBSs.infoinvest.com.br)

JBS sells LatAm units to Minerva

Sao Paulo | Reuters — JBS SA has agreed to sell plants in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to rival Minerva SA for US$300 million, as the world’s largest meatpacker seeks cash to weather a corruption scandal that caused a spike in funding costs. JBS will use proceeds from the transaction to cut debt, according to […] Read more

(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Ont. turkey farm’s avian flu confirmed as H5N2

A quarantined southwestern Ontario turkey farm has been confirmed with the same strain of highly pathogenic H5N2 avian flu seen on farms in British Columbia and several U.S. states. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Wednesday that samples tested at its National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease in Winnipeg have confirmed the virus’ subtype and […] Read more