Smithfield hit by higher hog prices Thursday, June 10, 2010 Smithfield Food Inc, and the analysts who keep an eye on it, have been caught off guard by the recent leap in hog prices. Meatingplace.com notes that Smithfield was warning investors before regular meetings that its fourth quarter numbers will be weaker than expected, in spite of changes in the way the company is doing business.A BMO Capital Markets analyst noted that Smithfield had still made the right decisions by restructuring its hog business and reducing the amount of debt carried on its balance sheet. The world's largest hog producer is expected to do much better in 2011.Higher raw material costs, meaning hogs, are affecting Smithfield's fresh pork business, while the unexpected run-up in futures has hurt the value of those assets, according to "mark to market" accounting, a system of assigning current market value to financial instruments. BP Bacon a must for foster children? Canada's share of world pork trade predicted to decline
Farmers Balance Costs and Technology Investments - Tractor Sales Down Wednesday, March 11, 2026 Sales of agricultural tractors and combines in the United States and Canada delivered a mixed performance in February, highlighting how farmers are adapting their purchasing decisions amid shifting commodity markets, input costs, and economic conditions. While tractor sales softened... Read this article online
Sask. NDP wants tougher penalties related to foreign farmland ownership Wednesday, March 11, 2026 The Saskatchewan NDP wants foreign farmland owners who don’t obey the law to face stiffer penalties. Trent Wotherspoon, the party’s deputy shadow minister for agriculture and rural affairs, and the shadow minister of finance, introduced The Saskatchewan Farm Security (Foreign Farmland... Read this article online
Middle East conflict pushes fertilizer costs higher, forcing Ontario growers to rethink corn acres Wednesday, March 11, 2026 Ontario farmers are bracing for a turbulent spring as fertilizer and fuel prices surge in response to the escalating conflict involving Iran, a development that analysts say could reshape planting decisions across North America. The spike in nitrogen costs—the most critical and... Read this article online
Group calls on Health Canada to make labels mandatory for gene-edited pork Tuesday, March 10, 2026 An advocacy group of farmers and environmental organizations wants Health Canada to implement mandatory labelling on pork from gene-edited pigs. Earlier this year, the federal agency approved the sale of gene-edited pigs as food. The pigs are resistant to Porcine Reproductive and... Read this article online
Global Conflict Drives Major Surges in Commodity Markets Monday, March 9, 2026 A major international conflict the war in Iran has disrupted trade flows, pushing energy and grain prices sharply higher. On the weekly Ag Commodity Corner+ Podcast with Commodity Strategist Abhinesh Gopal shared the markets made sharp moves in the week of March 2 to 6, after a rapidly... Read this article online