Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean and corn futures posted losses for the fourth straight week on worries about the escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and China, although prices rose for the day on Friday as some traders covered short positions. Soybeans ended 1.2 per cent lower on the week, after plunging to their […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soy, corn fall for fourth week over trade tensions
U.S. pork, fruit producers brace for second wave of Chinese tariffs
Beijing/Chicago | Reuters — U.S. producers of pork, already saddled with duties enacted in an earlier round of the escalating trade dispute with China, are bracing for further pain after Beijing hit the products with additional tariffs due to come into effect next month. China implemented a 25 per cent duty on most U.S. pork […] Read more
As U.S., Canada spar, farm hopes ride on two men in lobster boat
Reuters — While Justin Trudeau vowed last week not to be pushed around and U.S. President Donald Trump called the Canadian prime minister “weak,” two key officials in their governments with a seemingly harmonious relationship were making fishing plans. On Friday, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue visited the farm of Canadian Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay […] Read more
Over 14 per cent of U.S. farm exports seen at risk in trade disputes
Des Moines | Reuters — More than 14 per cent of US$140 billion in annual U.S. farm exports have been or are likely to be hit by retaliatory tariffs in trade disputes with countries such as China and Mexico, a top U.S. trade negotiator said on Thursday. Mexico imposed tariffs on U,S, products ranging from […] Read more
U.S. biodiesel lobby drops effort to adjust tax credit
Chicago | Reuters — The biggest U.S. biodiesel lobbying group has dropped its nine-year push to convert a US$1-per-gallon tax credit available to blenders of the biofuel into one for producers, the vice-president of federal affairs said on Friday. The tax credit benefits companies that blend biodiesel into fuel sold at U.S. gas stations. It […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans stumble as U.S.-China trade talks disappoint
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures fell on Friday on disappointment that trade talks did not move Washington and Beijing closer to a deal to resolve the mounting dispute that has crimped U.S. crop sales to China. Prices retreated after a one per cent rise on Thursday that was fueled by “unfounded rumours” the […] Read more
U.S. ethanol makers snap up cheap sorghum after China tariffs
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. ethanol makers have joined global livestock producers to snap up discounted American sorghum supplies after buyers in China backed out of deals due to stiff anti-dumping tariffs on the grain imposed by Beijing in a mounting trade dispute. Sorghum is used to feed animals and represents a fraction of the […] Read more
Monsanto product to deactivate dicamba residue in sprayer tanks
Chicago | Reuters — Monsanto is launching the first product that deactivates a controversial herbicide inside spraying equipment after it is used, the company said on Tuesday, its latest attempt to prevent unintended crop damage associated with dicamba. The new product aims to stop farmers from accidentally applying traces of dicamba on crops that cannot […] Read more
Steel tariff shrapnel hits U.S. farmers
Kane County, Ill. | Reuters — Lucas Strom, who runs a century-old family farm in rural Illinois, canceled an order to buy a new US$71,000 grain bin last month — after the seller raised the price five per cent in a day. The reason: steel prices jumped right after U.S. President Donald Trump announced tariffs. […] Read more
U.S. lawmakers skeptical of promises to shield farmers from trade dispute
Overland Park, Kan. | Reuters — U.S. lawmakers and the farm industry were skeptical of the Trump administration’s promise to shield farmers from the rapidly escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and China, concerned about the lack of details in protecting the agricultural export sector now embroiled in the back-and-forth. Major farming states supported U.S. […] Read more