Chicago | Reuters — David Fullington paid a “ridiculous” price of US$13,600 an acre for a 200-acre farm in Illinois within the last year and says he and his partners would probably bid again for prime land that is in tight supply, despite tumbling grain prices. “No regrets at all,” Fullington said of the purchase […] Read more
No crash in U.S. farmland seen despite tumbling grain prices
CIF Gulf Grain-Nearby soybean basis continue surge on processor demand
CHICAGO, Aug 22 (Reuters) – U.S. CIF Gulf soybeans nearby basis markets were sharply higher, continuing a trend this week, as processors encouraged farmers to sell any remaining beans left from last year’s harvest to meet their immediate crush needs, traders said on Friday. A slower-than-expected start to the southern harvest, typically the first new-crop beans available to processors and exporters, […] Read more
U.S. grain backlog to ease after firms, union reach tentative deal
Chicago | Reuters — A backlog in grain shipments from the biggest U.S. West Coast terminal should start easing as inspections resumed on Tuesday, after unions and grain companies reached a tentative agreement to end a labour dispute. The agreement, between port workers and a group of Pacific Northwest grain companies, was announced by a […] Read more
USDA to resurrect monthly soybean crush report
Chicago | Reuters –– The U.S. Department of Agriculture will bring back a much-sought-after monthly oilseeds reports eliminated two years ago due to federal belt-tightening, the director of a key USDA statistical agency said on Wednesday. The Congressional budget legislation passed last week gives USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service the authority and funds to create […] Read more
Big U.S. harvest boosts Cargill earnings
U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill on Thursday reported a 36 per cent rise in quarterly profit, supported by a bigger U.S. crop harvest in 2013 that led to lower grain prices and boosted profit margins on meat sales. Minneapolis-based Cargill, a top global commodities trader, reported net earnings of $556 million for its second quarter ended […] Read more
U.S. farm sector bracing to ‘sober up’ from boom in 2014
Reading Time: 3 minutes After more than six years of unprecedented boom in the U.S. farm economy driven by a government-backed drive for biofuels, record-low interest rates and rising food exports, American grain farmers and their bankers are bracing for change. U.S. farmers have just finished harvesting their largest corn crop in history — taking the steam out of […] Read more
Analyst gives U.S. Congress a 50-50 chance of passing Farm Bill in 2013
With no new law, the existing bill could be extended or parity pricing legislation of 1938 might be reinstated
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters / The chances of the U.S. Congress passing a five-year Farm Bill by year’s end are a little better than 50-50 given the gridlock over food stamps for the poor, a top farm policy expert said November 11. “There is a slightly better chance than 50-50 that we will get a bill rolled into […] Read moreArctic blast puts wheat crop at risk in U.S. Plains
Frigid weather headed to the U.S. Plains states next week will push the young wheat crop into dormancy and cause damage if snow fails to blanket the crop before the Arctic blast hits the region, an agricultural meteorologist said on Wednesday. The potential risks of winterkill damage, though, eased from earlier in the week as […] Read more
Trick or treat? Grain hedgers haunted by the ghost of MF Global
Two years ago on Halloween thousands of U.S. grain farmers got the scare of their lives when broker MF Global collapsed and more than a billion dollars of their money went missing. MF Global customers have now, through a court-appointed trustee, recovered about 98 per cent of the money, which had been in supposedly “safe” […] Read more
Cargill picks new CEO to take over Dec. 1
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters / Agribusiness Cargill Inc. announced David MacLennan, its president and chief operating officer, will be its new chief executive officer Sept. 12. MacLennan replaces CEO Gregory Page, 62, who is stepping down. MacLennan told Reuters that Cargill will keep on the same path set under Page’s leadership, focusing on investments outside of North America […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
