Chicago | Reuters — U.S. grain merchant Archer Daniels Midland has settled a lawsuit with Syngenta over the seed company’s launch of a biotech corn strain that roiled grain exports to China, according to regulatory documents filed on Friday. ADM sued Syngenta four years ago for selling the corn variety known as Agrisure Viptera or […] Read more
ADM, Syngenta settle suit over biotech corn exports
Monsanto loses bid to stop Arkansas’ dicamba ban
Chicago | Reuters — An Arkansas judge on Friday dismissed a Monsanto lawsuit aiming to stop Arkansas from blocking the use of a herbicide the company makes, dealing a blow to its attempts to increase sales of genetically engineered seeds. Monsanto, which is being acquired by Bayer, filed the lawsuit last year in a bid […] Read more
U.S. grains: Hard red winter wheat jumps as traders watch weather
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures sagged on Friday, pulling back from a rally above $10 a bushel a day earlier, while hard red winter wheat futures climbed to their highest price in more than three months. Traders in both markets were eyeing unfavourably dry weather in important growing areas: Argentina for soybeans and […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans retreat from seven-week high
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures pulled back on Thursday after concerns about drought in rival exporter Argentina temporarily pushed prices above US$10 a bushel for the first time in seven weeks. The market finished unchanged, breaking a streak of eight sessions with consecutive advances. A ninth session would have marked the longest string […] Read more
U.S. grains: Highest grain prices in weeks as U.S. dollar falls
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. grain and soybean futures rose to their highest prices in weeks on Wednesday on technical buying, a slide in the U.S. dollar and dry weather in rival exporter Argentina. The dollar’s decline to a three-year low prompted corn and wheat traders to buy back previously sold positions, brokers said, after […] Read more
ADM approach to Bunge a potential U-turn on oilseed strategy
Chicago | Reuters –– Archer Daniels Midland’s proposed takeover of Bunge could signal a change in the company’s strategy on oilseeds, giving the top U.S. grain merchant a much bigger capacity to crush soy just months after ADM’s CEO said the firm would cut spending on the sector. The potential strategic change comes as the […] Read more
Arkansas restricts dicamba for 2018
Chicago | Reuters — In a blow to manufacturers Monsanto and BASF, Arkansas state lawmakers voted on Friday to bar sprayings of a controversial weed killer after mid-April to protect farmers from potential crop damage. Arkansas will prohibit the use of herbicides based on dicamba from April 16 to Oct. 31, the strictest state limits […] Read more
ADM reported making takeover approach to Bunge
Reuters — Top U.S. grains merchant Archer Daniels Midland has proposed a takeover of Bunge Ltd., the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, a move that could set up a battle for Bunge with London-based rival Glencore. Large grain traders which make money by buying, selling, storing, shipping and trading crops have struggled in recent […] Read more
Rush on to reverse U.S. tax boon for ag co-ops
Chicago | Reuters — Republican U.S. senators are working with some of the world’s biggest agricultural merchants to undo a last-minute provision in the tax overhaul that threatens to distort the grains market and starve private firms of corn, soy and wheat supplies. It was included during final revisions of the tax bill that passed […] Read more
Major U.S. grain firms fear harm from new tax law
Chicago | Reuters — The new U.S. tax law is poised to drive more control over the nation’s grain supply to farmer-owned co-operatives, provoking concern among ethanol producers and privately run grain handlers that they could be squeezed out of the competition to buy crops. Until now, the co-operatives, private companies and publicly traded firms […] Read more