HOGS

Who Needs Chocolate? Make a Bacon Bouquet for Your Sweetheart

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 00:12:08 GMT

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Chocolate may be the more famous Valentine’s Day treat, but there’s no better way to say “I love you” than to give your sweetheart the best treat of all -- bacon.

Step 1: Pick a plastic bouquet with removable flowers. Take off the plastic flowers.

Step 2: Roll your bacon tightly into a role. Secure with toothpicks.

Step 3: Pin the bacon at the base to form a “T.”

Step 4: Bake the bacon for 30 to 40 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit atop a wire rack on top of a foil-lined baking pan.

Step 5: Cool the bacon, remove the toothpicks and attach the bacon “rose” to the plastic stem.

Step 6: Give your bacon bouquet to your sweetheart.

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Chop Chop Livestock

Mon, 29 Apr 2024 13:08:25 GMT

Live Cattle

Technicals (June-M)

June live cattle were on a roller-coaster last week, gapping higher last Monday, selling off hard Thursday morning, then rallying back to achieve a high close for the week, which happened to be right in our 4-star resistance pocket, 178.45-178.80. If the Bulls can keep the momentum going and close above this pocket, we could see an extension towards our next resistance pocket from 179.825-180.75.

Resistance: 178.45-178.80*, 179.825-180.75

Pivot: 172.90-173.425

Support: 169.00-170.00***

Feeder Cattle

Technicals (August – Q)
August feeder cattle filled the gap from last Monday, in Thursday’s trade and proceeded to rally following that and into Friday’s trade. We expect a choppy trade in this week’s trade too. Signfiicant resistance comes in from 263.325-264.875. This is a wider pocket that we would like to use but as you can see from the chart, there are a lot of previously important price points in that pocket. On the support side, 254.025-255.00 is the pocket to watch. Near the middle of that range, it’s cloudy in terms of conviction on short term direction.

Resistance: 263.325-264.875****

Pivot: 258.00-258.50

Support: 254.025-255.00****

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Five Facts About the Ag Labor Shortage

Wed, 28 Jul 2021 17:36:50 GMT

Farm labor continues to be an issue, as trends like a generational shift translated into different job expectations and more global competition. Consider these five issues affecting your ability to find qualified workers:

1. Labor shortages are hitting ag hard
Concerns about labor shortages in the U.S. continue to grow in 2021. The June Ag Barometer from Purdue University found nearly two-thirds (66%) of respondents said they either had “some” or “a lot of difficulty” hiring adequate labor, compared to 30% in 2020. Farm Journal reported on the shortage , showing restaurants and food retail , lumber and rural non-farm employment are also affected.

2. But farm labor was a struggle before COVID-19
Two years ago, Farm Journal’s 2019 Ag Labor Study found both employers and employees were struggling. From the employer perspective, trends like a generational shift translated into different job expectations and more global competition, and the skills required were evolving due to automation and technology updates. From the employee perspective, no paid time off or health insurance was the norm. Even so, the study also found that dairy producers in particular were paying more than they ever had before.

3. Farm workers have many options
According to Farm Journal’s 2021 Ag Labor Survey, 59% of row crop and ag retailer respondents say looking for a job is either easier or the same as before. For respondents who said finding a job was easier, the top reasons were more jobs and less competition. For those who said their ability to find a job was about the same, they reported no real changes to the job market compared to previous years. For those who have struggled, the biggest reason was employers who had higher requirements.

4. Meanwhile, farmers and ag retailers are feeling the same pinch
The 2021 Farm Journal Labor Survey found most farm employers (87%) and ag retailers (91%) are finding it harder to fill positions. Many believed unemployment benefits were enough to keep applicants away. Others felt that it’s now harder to compete with other industries offering better pay, hours and benefits, especially if those jobs aren’t in rural areas. Some farmers are now considering hiring H-2A workers for the first time, while retailers continue to struggle to find qualified candidates.

5. It’s not just fewer available workers. New would-be employers are looking to compete
According to the 2021 Farm Journal Labor Survey, 44% of farmers who don’t currently employ workers are looking to hire in the next three years. They are entering the hiring market at a time when farmer videos go viral on TikTok as they point out crops on the verge of going to waste and face hardships to get H-2A workers across the border. Wages are on the rise, and Purdue University’s Jayson Lusk says lower-level employees are quitting to make just as much not working. Meanwhile, commodity prices are volatile but remain high. The one silver lining is that some economists expect inflation to ease off historic highs later this year.

African Swine Fever Outbreaks in China Shows ASF Isn’t Under Control

Tue, 09 Mar 2021 14:47:57 GMT

The African Swine Fever (ASF) issues aren’t over in China. After ASF started to decimate the country’s hog herd in 2018, China said 2021 will continue to be year of rebuilding the hog herd, but now more cases of ASF continue to pop up showing the outbreaks may be worse than originally reported.

China Ministry of Agriculture said this week another ASF outbreak was reported in Sichuan Province, China’s largest pork producing province. Reports show the outbreak was found in a truck carrying 10 pigs, two of which were dead. The ministry said the cause of the outbreak was most likely rooted from the illegal transportation of pigs.

This is the second case reported in less than a week. Reuters reported new cases were detected last week in Aba prefecture in the southwestern province of Sichuan, and the city of Xiangyang in the central province of Hubei.

Reuters reported that outbreak killed 38 pigs on a farm of 127 hogs in Sichuan, and the cases in Hubei were also detected on a truck of piglets being transported illegally from another province where of 165 piglets, 10 were infected, and five had died.

Analysts and market insiders agree: the ASF situation in China is more than likely worse than being reported and not under control

“We keep getting these tweets and kind of propaganda stories that China has exceeded their previous high in their hog herd and they’re back to normal, but yet they continue to buy pork aggressively. And so something is disconnected there” says Chip Nellinger of Blue Reef Agri-Marketing . “It’s likely they haven’t figured out the ASF issues, they’re probably as bad or close to as bad as ever. And they have attempted to build those hog herds up. But they haven’t been quite as successful maybe as what they would like to have the rest of the world believe.”

Farm Journal economist and host of AgriTalk radio Chip Flory says the situation could bode well for continued pork exports into China, but it could eliminate some of the demand on the feed grains side.

“The thing that concerns me the most is when we look at those demand numbers, and you look at how much we were relying on export demand from China, and the problems with African swine fever. I think it’s worse than what they’re letting on,” says Flory. “And they’re having a devil of a time trying to get that disease under control in that country. The variants are more serious than what they’ve let on so my concern is we could go through another demand disruption for grains because the ASF in China.”

Farm Journal Washington correspondent Jim Wiesemeyer reported China said it will crack down harder on the illegal production and sale of ASF vaccines.

“There is still no approved vaccine for the virus,” says Wiesemeyer. “There have been reports ASF is again spreading across China in both a natural mutation and in a form delivered via these illegal vaccines. These new strains of ASF are said to be less deadly, but also harder to detect. China’s ag ministry is urging local governments to identify any positive samples of the virus and report any strains with artificial gene deletions to provincial veterinary authorities. Farmers are banned from sending infected pigs to slaughterhouses.’

Wiesemeyer says localities are also being urged to increase punishment for illicit activities related to fake vaccines, with drug companies to be fined a maximum amount, and operation licenses to be revoked and those in charge banned from producing veterinary products for life. China is even offering a reward for it.

Related Stories:

China Confirms African Swine Fever Outbreaks in Sichuan, Hubei Provinces

China is Just Part of the Demand Story Sparking a Surge in Pork Prices