Chicago | Reuters — Syngenta moved closer to putting a troubled biotech corn seed launch behind it with a US$1.5 billion settlement with farmers this week, but grain traders who filed two remaining lawsuits may be less ready to compromise, legal experts said. The company was sued three years ago by the farmers and traders […] Read more
ADM, Cargill still pursue Syngenta over corn rejections
Strong beef demand lifts Cargill profit for quarter
Chicago | Reuters — Global commodities trader Cargill reported a 14 per cent rise in quarterly profit on Wednesday as strong beef demand and ample supplies of cattle lifted earnings for its animal nutrition and protein segment for a fifth straight quarter. The gains in protein offset a weaker year-on-year result for Cargill’s origination and […] Read more
Bunge leaves door open to selling itself
Reuters — Bunge Ltd. kept the door open on Wednesday to a sale of the company as it reported a 34 per cent drop in quarterly earnings and cut its full-year outlook, but its chief executive officer predicted a grains market rebound that would reverse the slide. CEO Soren Schroder said planned cost cuts should […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle mostly firm on short covering
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures were mostly higher on Friday, lifted by end-of-week short covering following a decline to nine-month lows a day earlier, traders said. Futures, however, remain anchored by plentiful supplies of market-ready cattle and weak cash markets as fed cattle in the U.S. Plains this week traded […] Read more
Harvey’s floods scatter cattle in Texas, swamp cotton fields
Chicago | Reuters — South Texas ranchers are scrambling to relocate cattle from massive flooding spawned by Tropical Storm Harvey, with many hauling livestock up to the north of the state while others rush to move the animals to higher ground nearby. About 1.2 million cattle are located in a 54-county disaster area drenched by […] Read more
U.S. farmers confused by Monsanto’s Xtendimax instructions
Chicago | Reuters — With Monsanto’s latest flagship weed killer, dicamba, banned in Arkansas and under review by U.S. regulators over concerns it can drift in the wind, farmers and weed scientists are also complaining that confusing directions on the label make the product hard to use safely. Dicamba, sold under different brand names by […] Read more
Bunge leaves door open to selling itself, cuts 2017 forecast
Chicago/Reuters – Bunge Ltd kept the door open on Wednesday to a sale of the company as it reported a 34 percent drop in quarterly earnings and cut its full-year outlook, but its chief executive officer predicted a grains market rebound that would reverse the slide. CEO Soren Schroder said planned cost cuts should also […] Read more
Tennessee restricts dicamba use as problems spread
Chicago | Reuters — Tennessee on Thursday imposed restrictions on the use of dicamba, a flagship pesticide for Monsanto, to become the fourth state to take action as problems spread over damage the herbicide causes to crops not genetically modified to withstand it. Dicamba is sprayed by farmers on crops genetically modified to resist it […] Read more
Two states ban dicamba after drift complaints
Reuters — Missouri joined Arkansas on Friday in banning the use and sale of dicamba after a rise in complaints that the herbicide is drifting into neighbouring fields and damaging crops, the states’ agriculture departments said Friday. Dicamba use and complaints about its use have spiked in the past two years in the U.S. More […] Read more
U.S. farmers slam Trump’s Cuba clampdown
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. farm groups criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to retreat from his predecessor’s opening toward Cuba, saying it could derail huge increases in farm exports that totaled US$221 million last year. A trade delegation from Minnesota, one of the largest U.S. agriculture states, vowed to carry on with its planned visit […] Read more
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