Bakers, farmers struggle to make a little dough

Chicago’s iconic sandwiches — Italian beef heroes dripping with gravy, and hotdogs loaded with pickles and hot peppers — wouldn’t be such culinary institutions without the bread. But this fall, bakers faced a crisis getting the right kind of bread to delis and sandwich shops locally and across the United States. Gonnella Baking Co. —[...]

North America's millers, bakers scramble to satisfy bread binge

Chicago/Winnipeg | Reuters -- North American flour mills and bakeries are rushing to boost production as the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus leads to consumer stockpiling of staples such as bread and pasta. The virus' spread prompted orders to stay at home in some U.S. states, including New York, California and Illinois last week, following[...]


U.S. dairy farmers get little help from Canada trade deal

Madison, Wisconsin/St. Claude, Manitoba | Reuters – Minnesota farmer Paul Fritsche can no longer afford health insurance as he struggles to sustain a dairy farm that has been in his family for nearly a century. With U.S. milk prices in the fourth year of a slump due to chronic oversupply, Fritsche, 58, is unsure whether[...]

Canada's dairy farmers cling to protections as Trump demands concessions

Winnipeg/Chicago | Reuters -- Canadian dairy farmers want trade negotiators to keep their hands off the protected sector in increasingly contentious talks with the United States, however loudly U.S. President Donald Trump demands greater access, an executive with Canada's biggest dairy lobby group said Monday. The sector, worth $21 billion in farm and processed dairy[...]


Canadian dairy sector skimming global exports, U.S. complains

Winnipeg/Chicago | Reuters -- Canada's surging exports of protein-rich skim milk powder have angered farmers in the U.S., as the sheltered dairy sector in Canada draws the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump for its high tariffs. Canada cannot expect to have both a protected system and compete globally, U.S. Dairy Export Council CEO Tom[...]

Global buyers of quality wheat face disappointment in Canada

Winnipeg/Chicago | Reuters -- Buyers looking to Canada for high-quality wheat to make bread as drought roils output in the northern U.S. may be thwarted, as dry weather has also hit crops there. Wheat plants with the high protein content needed to bake bread have shrivelled in the U.S., one of the world's top exporters,[...]


U.S. grains: Corn, soybeans slide on outlook for record crops

Reuters -- Chicago corn futures fell on Monday after two straight days of gains while soybeans slid to a contract low on forecasts of record crops in the U.S. Wheat also weakened on profit-taking as the focus returned to large global crops. Chicago Board of Trade new-crop December corn fell 1.1 per cent or four[...]

U.S. grains: Wheat adds two per cent gain to weather-related rally

Reuters -- Chicago wheat futures climbed two per cent on Monday, extending last week's rally on worries over potentially lower crop yields in the U.S. Plains. Wheat's gains helped pull corn and soybeans close to the multi-week highs they touched on Friday. Weather concerns encouraged investors to cover short positions, said Mark Schultz, chief analyst[...]


CBOT soybeans fall two per cent as rain tempers worries

U.S. soybeans fell two per cent on Monday for the second straight session as forecasts for more rain this week eased concerns about declining U.S. harvest prospects and offset a tighter-than-expected supply outlook from the government. Corn slipped on reports of big yields from the early U.S. harvest, adding to a sharp drop since last[...]

Corn, soy snap rally, up sharply for week

U.S. grain markets Friday snapped a furious three-week rally that had sent corn prices up more than a third since mid-June, as a downbeat U.S. jobs report provided an excuse for traders to book profits. Although new U.S. Midwest forecasts showed only marginal relief from what may be the worst drought in a quarter-century, traders[...]