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Better Pork Featured Articles

Better Pork magazine is published bimonthly. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Pork belly futures a thing of the past

Monday, October 3, 2011

The mid-July notice from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange was simple and terse.
"Because of a prolonged lack of trading volume and after significant discussion with industry participants, CME will be delisting Frozen Pork Bellies Futures and Options effective Monday July 18, 2011."

According to Minyanville Media, which reports on commodity trading, pork belly trading, which celebrated its 50th birthday this year, was the most recognized and glamorous of the commodity trading contracts. Pork bellies, frozen in the winter when demand was low, were thawed in the summer to meet the high demand when bacon and tomato sandwiches were peaking. The seasonal demand produced a need to hedge against higher prices. A single contract consisted of 40,000 pounds of frozen trimmed bellies from which bacon was made.

Minyanville said trading in hog bellies declined for a number of reasons. The packing industry has switched to fixed price contracting. A few huge companies producing both pigs and bacon dominate. On top of that, demand is no longer seasonal, with hamburger chains adding bacon to make their sandwiches more palatable. BP
 

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Cattle as Conservation Agents in Alberta

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

“In carbon cycling or carbon sequestration you have to measure what happens in the soil, what happens in the animal, what happens to the waste that animal produces and how it fits in that carbon cycling system,” says Carolyn Fitzsimmons, co-leader of Climate Action Through Grazing (CAT-G),... Read this article online

Ag in the House returns with new session of Parliament

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

The return of Parliament also marks the return of Farms.com’s Ag in the House article series. This weekly series is designed to keep members of the Canadian ag industry up to date about how much time issues related to agriculture receive in the House of Commons. The articles, released... Read this article online

Vintage tractor run looking for more participants

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

A vintage tractor club is looking for participants for its spring tractor run. The Humboldt Vintage Club’s spring event takes place on May 31. “Anyone who has a vintage tractor is welcome to join the parade,” Ralph Kiefer, a wheat and canola farmer, and event organizer, told... Read this article online

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