Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures jumped to their highest level in six weeks on Thursday on worries that rains in the U.S. Plains next week will be insufficient to relieve intensifying drought conditions. Traders kept their eyes on weather forecasts after dryness in key parts of the Plains, including Nebraska and Oklahoma, sparked
U.S. grains: Wheat hits six-week high on dry weather worries
H5N2 avian flu arrives in South Dakota
Chicago | Reuters — A virulent strain of avian flu has spread for the first time to poultry in South Dakota and infected a fourth turkey flock in Minnesota, the nation’s top turkey producer, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday. The latest infections of H5N2 flu show the virus, which can kill almost an
U.S. grains: Corn hit by one-two punch of plantings, stocks data
Chicago | Reuters –– A double-whammy of U.S. crop reports pegging corn plantings and inventories above traders’ estimates knocked down grain futures on Tuesday and fuelled forecasts for further price declines. Taken together, the data lifted expectations for corn supplies after U.S. farmers brought in a record harvest last year, signalling a boon for livestock
U.S. developing bird flu vaccine, no distribution plans yet
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. government is developing a vaccine to protect poultry from new strains of avian flu that have recently killed birds from Arkansas to Washington state. Within two months, scientists at a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) research lab in Georgia will test the vaccine on chickens to see how well
U.S. may impose tougher curbs to contain bird flu in Arkansas
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. authorities are considering imposing tougher restrictions in Arkansas to contain a virulent strain of avian flu in the heart of the country’s poultry region in a bid to minimize international trade disruptions and contain the virus. The H5N2 flu discovered in Arkansas last week is the state’s first case of
U.S. bird experts mystified by Midwest avian flu spread
Chicago | Reuters — A virulent strain of avian flu that has killed turkeys in the heart of the nation’s poultry region has been found through molecular testing to be nearly identical to viruses isolated in migratory ducks. But some wildlife experts are skeptical of suggestions that wild birds are responsible for spreading the H5N2
U.S. exports at risk as bird flu enters heart of poultry country
Chicago | Reuters — A case of bird flu confirmed Wednesday in the heart of America’s poultry region, is certain to mean more export restrictions, increasing U.S. supply and likely forcing the world’s biggest poultry companies to trim prices. The U.S. government announced the infection of highly pathogenic H5N2 avian flu in turkeys in Arkansas
U.S. grains: Soybeans set five-week high on predicted drop in plantings
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures jumped to a five-week high on Thursday after the U.S. Agriculture Department projected farmers will plant fewer acres than traders expected in response to falling prices. Corn futures also advanced, while wheat finished flat to lower. USDA, in data released at its annual Agricultural Outlook conference, projected 2015-16
CME Group to close most open-outcry futures trading pits
Chicago | Reuters — CME Group will shutter most of its open-outcry futures pits by July 2, the world’s largest futures market operator said Wednesday, bringing down the curtain on a once-raucous tradition that has been in decline since the rise of computerized trading. The decision ousts traders of products ranging from grain and livestock
Cargill begins selling GM corn seed at centre of lawsuits
Reuters — Cargill has started selling a variety of genetically modified Syngenta corn seed that previously disrupted U.S. grain trading, now that China has approved imports of the biotech crop. Cargill, one of the top U.S. grain exporters, began selling seed containing the Agrisure Viptera trait last month and scrapped a policy that required farmers
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