Cairo/Abu Dhabi | Reuters — Egypt reinstated on Sunday a controversial ban on wheat shipments containing even the slightest amount of a common grain fungus, baffling traders who had returned to the Egyptian market just last month when the ban was lifted. The world’s largest wheat importer said on Sunday it was re-introducing its zero […] Read more
Egypt bans ergot in wheat, again
Russia muscling into rivals’ wheat markets
Moscow | Reuters — Russia is muscling in on the markets of its European and North American competitors as it overtakes the European Union to become the world’s biggest wheat exporter for the first time. Russia is expecting a record crop in the 2016-17 marketing season, which began on July 1, while EU harvests are […] Read more
Quality still a question for Canada’s big wheat crop
CNS Canada — Canadian farmers are sitting on a very large wheat crop this year, but the moisture that helped boost yields also caused disease issues and supplies of higher-quality wheat may still be in short supply. While the spring wheat harvest is just getting started and it’s hard to get a firm handle on […] Read more
Egypt’s wheat corruption scandal takes down supply minister
Cairo/Abu Dhabi | Reuters — Egypt’s Minister of Supply Khaled Hanafi has resigned amid the highest-profile corruption case since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power in 2014. Hanafi’s resignation is the most senior-level fallout from a probe into whether millions of dollars intended to subsidize farmers were used to purchase wheat that did not […] Read more
Ardent’s organic wheat program expands to Saskatchewan
U.S. flour processor Ardent Mills’ plan to double organic wheat acres in the U.S. by 2019 has rolled into Saskatchewan. Ardent, the joint North American flour venture of agrifood firms Cargill, CHS Inc. and ConAgra, said Wednesday it has so far expanded “Organic Initiative 2019,” which it launched in December, to seven U.S. states plus […] Read more
Egyptian prosecutor says millions in local wheat falsely claimed
Cairo | Reuters –– Egypt’s general prosecutor said on Sunday that local wheat suppliers worked with government employees to falsely claim 621 million Egyptian pounds (C$92.5 million) worth of grain that does not exist. Egypt has been embroiled in a controversy over its local wheat supplies, with grains industry officials claiming that over two million […] Read more
Quarantined Washington wheat negative for GMO
Reuters — No genetically modified (GMO) wheat has been found in a Washington state farm’s crop tested after an unapproved biotech variety was discovered growing there in June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Friday. The quarantined grain will be allowed to enter the marketplace, USDA said. USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service […] Read more
Prairie wheat bids tick downward
CNS Canada –– Spring wheat cash bids across Western Canada recorded minor losses during the week ended Friday. The declines were traced to weakness in U.S. futures and some minor strengthening in the Canadian dollar. Depending on the location, average Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat prices were down $3 per tonne, according to price […] Read more
Japan, Korea block certain U.S. wheat varieties
Chicago | Reuters — Japan and South Korea have both taken steps to block certain imports of U.S. wheat after unapproved genetically-modified (GMO) plants from Monsanto seeds were found growing in Washington state, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Monday. Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said it will […] Read more
Weak U.S. wheat futures watching European crops
Commodity News Service Canada – U.S. wheat futures are trading just above their weakest levels in 10 years, but the lows may be in for the time being as funds are already holding large short positions and attention turns to problems with the European crop. “We’re really just following the EU,” said wheat-broker Austin Damiani, of […] Read more
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