Chicago | Reuters — U.S. grain and soybean futures touched one-week highs on Monday as fears eased that a trade war with China will take a bite out of crop exports. The markets ultimately closed lower on technical selling and profit-taking, analysts said. However, traders were breathing easier after China’s commerce ministry on Friday did
U.S. grains: Soybeans hit one-week high as trade fears ease
U.S. pork to feel further chill from China tariff threat
Beijing/Chicago | Reuters — China’s threat of steep tariffs on U.S. pork imports knocked down U.S. hog futures prices and shares of producers on Friday, while increasing fears of hard times for farmers already facing weaker demand from the world’s top buyer of the meat. U.S. farmers have worried for months that rising trade tensions
Walmart patents hint at future where its drones tend the farms
New York/Chicago | Reuters — Walmart’s patent filings hint that it may see a future where farmers use its drones to not only spot crop problems but selectively apply chemicals or even disperse pollen to bring shoppers the freshest and cheapest food possible. The world’s largest retailer applied for six patents last year on drones
USDA pulls plan to stiffen rules for organic egg farms
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture scrapped proposed rules on Monday that for the first time would have mandated specific space requirements for hens laying organic eggs and spelled out what it means for the birds to have access to the outdoors. USDA determined it did not have the authority to impose
Continental Grain to push Bunge to consider potential sale
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. agricultural investor Continental Grain plans to push Bunge to consider a potential sale, a person familiar with the matter said on Monday, after Archer Daniels Midland approached Bunge about a takeover. It was unclear how Continental Grain would pressure Bunge, one of the world’s top agricultural merchants. But the company,
U.S. judge halts California plan for warnings on glyphosate
Chicago | Reuters — A federal judge has temporarily blocked California’s plans to require cancer warnings on products containing glyphosate, in a win for manufacturer Monsanto. U.S. District Judge William Shubb said the warnings would be misleading because glyphosate is not known to cause cancer, according to court documents filed on Monday in California. He
U.S. grains: Soybeans near one-year high
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures neared a one-year high on Friday as concerns mounted about crop losses from a searing drought in Argentina, the world’s biggest exporter of soymeal and soyoil. Argentina, which is also the world’s No. 3 supplier of soybeans and corn, has been grappling with dry weather since late last
U.S. grains: Soymeal rally lifts soy, corn
Reuters — U.S. soybean meal futures jumped to their highest level since July 2016 on Tuesday as a drought kept the heat on crops in Argentina, the world’s top exporter of the livestock feed. The rally helped lift soybean and corn prices, which touched seven-month and six-month highs, respectively. Sizzling conditions in Argentina since November
U.S. grain firms set up co-ops in tax law’s wake
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. agricultural merchants are scrambling to register themselves as cooperatives after a blunder in the country’s new tax law gave farmers a tax break for selling grains to co-ops rather than private firms. Private crop handlers — including the “big four” merchants Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus —
ADM, Syngenta settle suit over biotech corn exports
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. grain merchant Archer Daniels Midland has settled a lawsuit with Syngenta over the seed company’s launch of a biotech corn strain that roiled grain exports to China, according to regulatory documents filed on Friday. ADM sued Syngenta four years ago for selling the corn variety known as Agrisure Viptera or
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