US Recession Doesn't Damp Animal-Welfare-Reform Efforts
CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Economic recession isn't eroding the public's willingness to pass legislation in favor of animal-welfare standards that carry substantial costs for meat producers and consumers, as voters support such moves even in hard times. Several farmers and scientists worry, though, that broad-based animal-welfare measures may fall short of their ultimate goal while adding financial pressure to livestock operations already reeling from last year's record feed and input costs atop global economic contraction.
Technical Special: CME Live Cattle Work On Fledgling Uptrend
Chicago Mercantile Exchange April live cattle futures on Tuesday poked to a fresh four-week high of 88.90 cents a pound on more short covering in a market that remains overall technically bearish. Prices remain in an overall 8-month-old downtrend on the daily chart, from the June 2008 contract high of $1.1920 a pound. However, the bulls are presently working on continuing a 3-week-old price uptrend on the daily chart, from the late-January low of 83.60 cents. The bulls have gained some technical momentum recently, but need to show more power soon to suggest prices can sustain an uptrend.
MARKET TALK: Wed US Hog Kill Reduced On Plant Power Outage
1419 EST [Dow Jones] - Wednesday's U.S. hog slaughter was reduced by around 11,000 head from normal after a power outage occurred at a Missouri pork plant. The outage was believed to be due to a faulty transformer but that could not be confirmed. Industry analysts and livestock dealers said the Triumph Foods plant in St. Joseph, Mo., was forced to shut down early in the day and may be down throughout the second shift. Efforts to reach the company for comment were unsuccessful. The plant can process about 18,000 head per day. USDA estimated the day's slaughter at 419,000 head, compared with 429,000 and 428,000 the first two days this week.
CFIA Confirms 2nd Avian Flu Case In British Columbia
WINNIPEG (Dow Jones)--An H5 type of avian influenza virus has been found in a second commercial poultry operation in southern British Columbia, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed late Wednesday. The infected flock was discovered through surveillance initiated after a low-pathogenic, H5N2 type of avian influenza was found Jan. 24 in a commercial poultry flock in BritishColumbia.
STORIES OF INTEREST:
Brazil To Discuss Pork Import Quotas With Russia -Assoc
SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--Brazilian government officials plan to discuss with Russia import quotas for pork, confirmed the president of Brazil's Pork Industry Association, or Abipecs, on Wednesday. "Brazil recently saw its quota reduced and wants to gain a quota of around 50,000 metric tons of pork this year to Russia," Pedro de Camargo Neto told Dow Jones Newswires. Russia is Brazil's No. 1 customer for pork.
MARKET TALK: Okla Livestock Spared In Early Round Of Tornadoes
1022 EST [Dow Jones] - Cattle and other livestock in Oklahoma were spared in an early round of tornadoes Tuesday. Several tornadoes ripped through central and eastern areas of the state and did a lot of damage to homes and businesses and killed at least eight people, according to local news reports. Livestock in the region though evidently were largely unaffected. Jack Carson, spokesman with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, told Dow Jones Newswires that the department had received no reports so far of damage to livestock. The biggest concerns for livestock operations in the areas where the storms struck were dairy farms. Those farms, however, were not directly hit evidently. Carson said there is a fair amount of debris to be cleaned up and fences and farm outbuildings to be repaired that will take some time to accomplish.
THE MARKETS:
CME Livestock Outlook: Hogs Mostly Firm
CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Analysts and brokers expect a mostly firm Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog open Thursday on follow-through buying, late-Wednesday's $0.86 per hundredweight pork cutout jump and steady-to-higher cash hog calls. Pork bellies could open flat to up 40 points on Wednesday's steady fresh belly quote at $75 per hundredweight, March's oversold chart condition and no deliveries posted by CME late Wednesday. CME live cattle could open flat to down 30 points on cash cattle price uncertainty in the midst of trailing beef packer margins and inconsistent retail-end beef sales. Feeder cattle could open mostly weak on spillover selling, bearish board premiums to CME's feeder cattle index and March's overbought chart condition.
US Cash Cattle Pre-Open: Some Nebraska Sales Possible Thurs
KANSAS CITY (Dow Jones)--Some cattle trades may occur in Nebraska Thursday, but sales to the south aren't likely to develop until Friday, according to market analysts and feedyard managers. This has been the normal pattern of trading in recent weeks and they see no reason for it to change just yet. Cattle feeders remain hopeful of getting a little more money for their animals this week. Some analysts predict prices will be $1 per hundredweight higher for the live cattle trade in Kansas and Texas/western Oklahoma this week. Others said packers may hold the line on prices and trim their slaughter rates further rather than pay more for the cattle.
US Cash Hogs Pre-Open: Steady-Firm On Weekend Demand
KANSAS CITY (Dow Jones)--The Midwest direct hog markets Thursday are expected to trade steady to firm on follow-through from strong gains posted Wednesday and additional buying interest from some plants to fill their weekend operations. Also, moderate to potentially heavy snowfall is forecast to move into Nebraska and central Iowa overnight into Friday. Some areas could receive up to 8 to 10 inches of snow before the system moves out, according to local news reports. Livestock dealers and analysts said packers that need to book additional loads for Friday or Saturday's delivery may bid more aggressively at the outset Thursday to secure the supplies.
By Curt Thacker, Dow Jones Newswires; 913-322-5178; curt.thacker@dowjones.com