Corn Stocks Report Throws Another Curve Ball
US - In this week's "Market Preview" featured in National Hog Farmer magazine, Steve Meyer discusses the latest WASDE and "Grain Stocks" report released by the US Department of Agriculture (U...

Farm Produce Prices Rise for 8th Straight Week
CHINA - Farm produce prices rose for an eighth consecutive week last week, while the prices of producer goods remained unchanged, the Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday.

Understanding the Surprise in Corn Stocks Estimate
US - The corn market was surprised by the USDA’s final 2011 corn production estimate and the estimate of 1 December 2011 corn stocks. The March 2012 futures price declined by $0.52 per bushel in the...

Helping British Pig Exports Succeed
UK - A call has been put out to support the British pig industry and to back quality British pig meat after a UK pig meat processing company was blocked from exporting to China, writes Lucy Towers, ThePigSite...

Margin-Based Approach for Risk Management
CANADA - The Managing Director of the Alberta Pig Company encourages hog producers to adopt a margin based approach to managing the economic risks associated producing pork, Bruce Cochrane writes.

EU Pig Prices: Pig Prices Reach Bottom
EU - It seems that the bottom has been reached on the EU markets with regard to pig prices.

Pork Commentary: Corn, Soybean, Weath Prices Drop
US - Corn, soybean, wheat prices all dropped last Thursday, Friday after the USDA released several grain inventory, production and usage reports, corn declined 60 cents a bushel, soybeans 46 cents a bushel,...

Record 2011 Farm Profits Could Spill into 2012
US - Against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, US agriculture last year stood as a shining example of growth.

Welfare of Animals in Transport Still a Concern
ANALYSIS - Concern is growing again over the way livestock is being transported both for slaughter and as live exports, writes ThePigSite Editor in Chief, Chris Harris.

November US Pork Exports Record-Large
US - US pork exports set another monthly volume record in November, according to statistics released by USDA and compiled by the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF), which helped offset record-high production...

WASDE Raises 2011-12 Pork Production Estimate
US - USDA's January World Ag Supply and Demand Estimates report (WASDE) was noted for its larger-than-expected estimate of 2011 corn production and 2012 ending stocks. March, May and July corn futures...

Friday the 13th: a Difficult Day for Sellers
UK - As expected, Friday 13 January proved to be a difficult day for sellers with several negative signals appearing early on, including a reduction in the DAPP from 147.85p to 145.67p, followed by Tulip's...

CME: Markets React Badly to Recent Report Data
US - The corn balance sheet appears little changed from the previous month and yet markets reacted negatively to a number of key data in both the WASDE report as well as the grain stocks survey and the...

Good Pork Prices but Grain Price Rise Predicted
MEXICO - This year will continue the pressure on the prices of commodities such as grains, especially corn and wheat but also we expect a good year for pork price in Mexico, writes Fernando Ortiz, Ibero-America...

2011 - Poor Year for Spanish Agriculture
SPAIN - 2011 was a year with more pain than glory for the Spanish livestock sector. Cuts in state aid, falls in agricultural income and increases in debt all led to the majority of livestock producers...

FAO Food Price Index Ends Year with Sharp Decline
GLOBAL - Food prices fell in December 2011 with the FAO Food Price Index dropping 2.4 per cent, or five points from November, FAO said yesterday....

Less Red Tape To Aid Agricultural Exports
AUSTRALIA - The Australian Government is boosting regional economies through $30 million in support and a further A$30 million per annum in reduced red tape for agricultural export industries.

UUAA Reports Losses in Pig Farms in 2011
SPAIN - Spanish Agricultural Union (UUAA) yesterday announced a "constant" yield loss in Galicia's integrated pig farms. The loss exceeded an average of €8,750 in 2011.

Call for Action to Ensure Adequate Hog Supplies
CANADA - The Mayor of Brandon is urging the Manitoba government to take steps that will ensure the province's pork processors are able to access the supplies of hogs necessary to maintain the viability...

Pork Production Increases 30 Per Cent
US - Pork producers had a good year in 2011, Dr James Mintert, professor of Ag Economics and assistant director of Extension at Purdue University, spoke earlier this week at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s...

Cargill Earnings Fall Sharply
US - International producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services, Cargill, has reported an 88 per cent fall in earnings in the second quarter of the 2012 financial...

Pork Producers Celebrate Key Milestone
US - American pork producers are celebrating a key milestone that is helping millions of consumers understand where their food comes from and is empowering leaders for modern agriculture. The National...

CME: Packers Ability to Push Prices Concerns Market
US - Lean hog futures gained some ground on Tuesday and yet the market remains concerned about the ability of packers to push prices higher in the coming months, writes Steve Meyer and Len St...

Benchmarking Value in Assessing Competitiveness
CANADA - The Saskatchewan Pork Development Board says the use of benchmarking to compare hog production costs and returns can be valuable in helping pork producers improve their competitiveness, writes...

Where Does our Pork Come From?
UK - More and more people are thinking about where their pork comes from after they were challenged by the Pork Promise campaign run by BPEX.

Pork Commentary: Interdependence in Global Market
CANADA - A decade ago US pork exports were next to non – existent. Now US pork exports account for about one out of every four hogs produced, writes Jim Long.

CME: 2011 USDA Corn Yield Estimates Down Again
US - USDA will kick off the new year of “highly anticipated� crop production data Thursday with its monthly Crop Production and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE), quarterly...

USDA: Focus on South American Weather
US - Corn and soybean prices declined sharply in mid-November and remained at the lower level through mid-December. From mid-December through early January, the cash price of corn in central Illinois...

EU Pig Prices: Markets Strongly Uncertain
EU - This current week, the slaughter companies are in the position to have clear price reductions being enforced on almost all European markets.

Pork Board to Meet with Illinois Pork Producers
US - Days after closing the books on a successful 2011, members of the National Pork Board begin 2012 in Chicago, 11-13 January with a busy three-day meeting that includes discussions with leaders of the...