Employees load soybeans for China at Tiplam terminal in Santos, Brazil, in March 2017.

China’s soybean imports from Brazil drop in August

China’s soybean imports from Brazil plunged in August from a year ago, customs data shows, as high prices capped purchases of the oilseed from the South American nation. Imports from smaller suppliers including Uruguay and the United States both increased. China, the world’s biggest soybean buyer, imported 6.25 million tonnes of the oilseed from Brazil


There have been two notable exceptions when fertilizer prices spiked to extremely wide levels over crop prices.

The grain-fertilizer balancing act

There’s a strong correlation between grain and fertilizer prices

Every business is an economic equation balancing input costs with output prices, expenses and revenues to achieve the all-important profit margin number. For many businesses, the price of those inputs and outputs are relatively stable. In farming, where outputs are volatile agricultural commodities and inputs are made from equally volatile energy, mineral and metal commodities, managing both sides

(Ozo Foods video screeengrab via YouTube)

Meatpacker JBS to close U.S. plant-based foods business

Chicago | Reuters — Brazilian meatpacker JBS is closing its U.S. plant-based foods business, Planterra Foods, after about two years, the company said on Monday. The closure signals increasing troubles in the plant-based protein sector, where U.S. sales are flattening. Colorado-based Planterra sold fake meat under the Ozo brand, but JBS will now focus on


CBOT December 2022 soft red winter wheat (candlesticks) with 20- and 50-day moving averages (green and black lines), MGEX December 2022 hard red spring wheat (yellow line) and K.C. December 2022 hard red winter wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: CBOT wheat retreats after nearing three-month high

USDA reported lower-than-expected corn stocks Friday; soy harvest progress exceeds expectations

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures settled lower on profit-taking on Monday after approaching a three-month high reached during the previous session, traders said. The setback in wheat futures came after a reduced official estimate of the U.S. harvest and heightened tensions in the Ukraine war put renewed attention on global

Organic exports dipped in 2021

Organic exports dipped in 2021

Canadians’ demand for organic products continued to increase last year

Canada’s organic food exports saw a sharp drop in 2021 compared to 2020’s banner year. Export totals dropped to $417.3 million from nearly $608 million in 2020, according to new figures from the Canadian Organic Trade Alliance (COTA) presented in a Sept. 12 webinar. However, that drop doesn’t look as stark when compared to 2019,



CBOT December 2022 soft red winter wheat (candlesticks) with 20-day moving average (green line), MGEX December 2022 hard red spring wheat (yellow line) and K.C. December 2022 hard red winter wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat soars on new data, Russia’s annexation move

Corn climbs on smaller stocks; soybeans dip after bigger-than-expected stocks

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago wheat spiked on Friday, supported by a drastic cut to U.S. production estimates by the Agriculture Department, and Russia’s annexation of parts of Ukraine followed by increased U.S. sanctions. Corn climbed on smaller-than-expected U.S. stockpiles, while soybeans sank after USDA noted increased stores of the oilseed. The most-active wheat contract


(Leonid Eremeychuk/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. trade commission sues pesticide makers, alleging price scheme

Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Thursday sued two top pesticide manufacturers for allegedly entering into exclusive contracts with distributors that kept prices paid by farmers artificially high. The consumer watchdog agency was motivated to bring the case in part because rising costs and supply chain disruptions from Russia’s invasion of

CBOT November 2022 soybeans (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, green and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans firm on exports, mixed harvest results

CBOT wheat eases after earlier gains; Russia's annexation plans in focus

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures inched higher on Thursday, supported by strong export sales after lower trade much of the week as harvest progresses across the U.S. Midwest, though some farmers report lower-than-anticipated yields, analysts said. Corn and wheat eased ahead of Friday’s U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) quarterly U.S. grain stocks and