MarketsFarm — Sugar beet farmers in Canada’s two main growing provinces are hoping for a good year, according to the leaders their respective provincial associations. Wet conditions extended planting in Ontario, said Rob McKerrall, chair of the Ontario Sugarbeet Growers’ Association (OSGA). “There was probably a third of the crop went in fairly early. It […] Read more

MarketsFarm — Expectations for canola production in Canada were revised downward Friday by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). AAFC has now estimated Canadian farmers will produce 18.575 million tonnes of canola in 2019, down about 8.7 per cent from its previous estimate. Earlier this week, MarketsFarm analyst Bruce Burnett predicted canola production would be down […] Read more

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago corn and soybean futures settled up on Friday as investors weighed trade talks between the United States and China and expected cooler U.S. weather against uncertainty over acreage levels following a rain-soaked spring. Some analysts said there may be some technical buying pushing up futures, especially soybeans. They also looked […] Read more

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures reached their highest prices in more than five weeks on Friday on expectations for increased pork demand from China, the world’s top importer. Live cattle futures ended higher after dropping to their lowest prices in more than a week. Hog traders expect China, the […] Read more

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures settled down following a choppy day of trading on Thursday, after hitting the lowest level in more than a week on forecasts for cooler weather and export data showing China had canceled soy purchases for the first time since April. U.S. Agriculture Department data showed the world’s top […] Read more

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures reached their highest prices in about a month on Thursday on expectations of bigger pork imports by China, traders said. A recent rise in Chinese pork prices, linked to an outbreak of a fatal hog disease in Asia, is fueling expectations that buyers there […] Read more

Geneva | Reuters — Swiss inspections group SGS plans to trim its workforce by 2,000 across about 120 countries in a process of natural attrition rather than sudden cuts or corporate restructuring, company spokesman Daniel Rufenacht said on Thursday. CEO Frankie Ng was earlier quoted by Swiss newspapers Handelszeitung and Tribune de Geneve as saying […] Read more

Canadian grain handling and storage equipment maker Ag Growth International plans to dial up its collaboration with ag tech firm Farmobile and has taken a minority stake in the U.S. company to that end. Winnipeg-based AGI announced Tuesday it had agreed to make a “minority equity investment” of US$15 million (C$19.57 million) in Farmobile, effective […] Read more

MarketsFarm — Until the U.S. Department of Agriculture issues its next acreage report, expect the Chicago Board of Trade to remain stuck within a range, a trader said. “Until the August report and the USDA verifies the plenty of preventative planting acres, and if August happens to be hot and dry side, I can expect […] Read more