Reuters — U.S. agricultural commodities trader Cargill on Thursday reported a rise in third-quarter profit on stronger results in food ingredients and grain handling, but warned about headwinds from oversupplied grain markets and low commodity prices. The privately-held company is exiting lower-margin operations, including its U.S. pork business, and expanding deeper into food ingredients and […] Read more
Cargill books higher profits, warns of tough markets
Monsanto cools on large-scale M+A outlook
Chicago | Reuters –– Monsanto on Wednesday effectively pulled itself out of the mergers-and-acquisitions flurry in the seeds and agrochemicals industry, nearly a year after making a bid for rival Syngenta. The St. Louis-based company, which also reported a drop in second-quarter earnings, now sees its best dealmaking opportunities in smaller acquisitions, licensing deals and […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn tumbles four per cent on acreage forecast shock
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures plunged more than four per cent on Thursday in the market’s steepest drop since mid-August after the U.S. Agriculture Department forecast 2016 planted acreage well above trade expectations. Soybeans firmed on USDA’s lower-than-expected soybean acreage and quarterly stocks estimates, although gains were limited by spillover pressure from corn. […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat drops from two-week high
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures tumbled more than two per cent on Wednesday, erasing two sessions of gains, as forecasts for rain in some dry areas of the southern Plains eased concerns about reduced yields. Corn and soybeans also declined as traders adjusted positions ahead of the U.S. Agriculture Department’s planting intentions and […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat jumps as Plains dryness sparks short-covering
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures jumped nearly two per cent on Monday on technical buying and short-covering amid concerns about adverse weather in parts of the winter wheat belt that could damage developing crops. Corn firmed slightly as spillover support from rallying wheat offset concerns about abundant global feed grain stocks and a […] Read more
U.S. Senate blocks bill that would override state GMO labeling laws
Reuters — The U.S. Senate on Wednesday blocked a bill that would nullify state and local efforts to require food makers to label products made with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as the industry races to stop Vermont’s law from taking effect on July 1. The proposed legislation from Republican Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas comes […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat jumps for seventh straight day
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures climbed for a seventh straight session on Thursday, the longest such streak in nearly two years, as a weaker U.S. dollar and concerns about adverse crop weather sparked fund short covering and other buying. Soybeans also rose for a seventh day while corn advanced for the sixth time […] Read more
U.S. EPA moves to pull crop insecticide from sale
CLARIFIED, March 7, 2016: Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it was moving to halt sale of insecticides from chemical firms Bayer and Nichino America containing an active ingredient, flubendiamide, found to pose risks to the environment. Bayer CropScience had anticipated the action after rejecting the EPA’s request to voluntarily […] Read more
Barge accidents rise on flood-swollen Mississippi River
Chicago | Reuters –– The U.S. Coast Guard temporarily halted shipping traffic on the Mississippi River in New Orleans on Friday after a tow boat struck stationary barges in a fleeting area, marking at least the fifth barge accident this week on the flood-swollen river. High water has severely restricted barge shipping traffic on the […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat surges as USDA cuts acreage view
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. grain prices rallied on Tuesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture slashed its estimate of winter wheat seedings by more than anticipated and unexpectedly cut its corn and soybean production view. Wheat futures surged nearly three per cent to a three-week high on fund short covering while corn and soybeans […] Read more