Chicago | Reuters –– Global outbreaks of bird flu in poultry have altered the flow of U.S. chicken meat, eggs and grain around the world, adding to challenges faced by domestic exporters and giving a leg up to Brazil, which has so far escaped the disease. Different strains of avian flu have been detected across […] Read more
Bird flu redirects trade flow of U.S. chicken, eggs, grains
Minnesota finds source of Palmer amaranth on CRP land
Reuters — An invasive weed likely entered Minnesota through seed planted on land in a U.S. conservation program, state agriculture officials said on Thursday, bringing to a close an official probe of a growing threat to agricultural production. Infestations of the weed, Palmer amaranth, have affected other states in the U.S. Midwest through seed planted […] Read more
Palmer amaranth threatening U.S. corn fields
Winterset, Iowa | Reuters — A U.S. government program designed to convert farmland to wildlife habitat has triggered the spread of a fast-growing weed that threatens to strangle crops in America’s rural heartland. The weed is hard to kill and, if left unchecked, destroys as much as 91 per cent of corn on infested land, […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soy futures crumble after U.S. predicts record plantings
Chicago/Reuters – U.S. soybean futures fell to fresh five-month lows on Friday after federal crop forecasters said spring plantings would reach an all-time high above traders’ expectations. Farmers in arid Plains states, the Midwest and south are shifting to plant soybeans, instead of corn and wheat, as the crop provides one of the few bright […] Read more
Top U.S. chicken-producing state sees first case of bird flu
Chicago | Reuters — Georgia has confirmed its first-ever case of bird flu in commercial poultry, its agriculture department said on Monday, widening an outbreak of the disease into the United States’ biggest chicken meat-producing state. A flock of 18,000 chickens used for breeding was culled after testing positive for H7 bird flu, according to […] Read more
Brazil beef scandal leaves fewer options for global buyers
Chicago | Reuters –– Global beef buyers will likely need to cobble together supplies from several nations if a scandal persists in Brazil’s meat sector because supply constraints and politics are already limiting trade flows, market analysts said Monday. China suspended imports of all meat products from Brazil, the world’s top beef exporter, as a […] Read more
Tyson accelerates shift away from antibiotics in chicken
Chicago | Reuters — Tyson Foods in June will switch its retail line of company-branded chicken products to birds raised without any antibiotics, a top executive said on Tuesday, accelerating the meat sector’s shift away from the drugs. The change will make Tyson, which is the largest U.S. chicken processor, into the world’s leading producer […] Read more
Tyson reveals subpoena linked to alleged price fixing
Reuters — Tyson Foods disclosed on Monday it has received a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission following allegations it conspired with rivals for years to fix chicken prices. The chicken sector, which is dominated by a handful of large meat companies, has come under increased scrutiny over the past year as customers […] Read more
As Trump meets biotech CEOs, farm advisers fret over empty USDA spot
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has left the agriculture secretary as the last department head to be named to his cabinet, while a meeting with the chief executives of two agribusiness giants gave a hint at a roster of farm issues the incoming president will face. Trump met on Wednesday with the […] Read more
USDA finds bird flu in Montana wild duck
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday it had detected a type of bird flu in a wild duck in central Montana that appeared to match one of the strains found during an outbreak of the disease in 2014 and 2015 that led to the deaths of millions of chickens. […] Read more
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