U.S. grains: Wheat drops on profit-taking

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures sank 3.2 per cent on Friday, following a six-day rally that had pushed prices to their highest in 7-1/2 months, traders said. “This has just been a fantastic week of gains,” said Bill Gentry, a broker at Risk Management Commodities. “The funds are taking a […] Read more


U.S. grains: Wheat, soybean futures rally

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures rose for the sixth day in a row on Thursday, with new forecasts calling for extended dryness in the U.S. Plains pushing prices to fresh 7-1/2-month highs, traders said. Soybean futures rallied to a 13-month high on signs of strong export data. Parched soils in Argentina that threatened […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. livestock: Spot cattle rise, deferreds weak

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures were mixed on Thursday, with the front-month contract edging higher after hitting a 2-1/2-week low on Wednesday. Deferred cattle contracts were weaker, remaining under pressure from weak cash markets. Strong export data provided support to the nearby contracts. The U.S. Agriculture Department reported weekly beef […] Read more



Private grain handler Minn-Kota Ag Products has been setting up a new shuttle facility at Barney, N.D., about 80 km south of Fargo. (MKAP.com)

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 — […] Read more