(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. grains: Soybeans down on profit-taking before USDA data

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures dropped two per cent on Thursday, the steepest decline in 2-1/2 months, on profit-taking tied to lower veg oil prices and extended weather outlooks for rainfall in Argentina, traders and analysts said. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to run the nation’s Environmental […] Read more









The Big River Resources ethanol plant at West Burlington, Iowa, about 120 km southwest of Davenport. (Steven Vaughn photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. ups biofuel requirements in win for Big Corn

New York | Reuters — The U.S. government on Wednesday announced finalized targets for biofuel use for next year, requiring that energy companies blend 19.28 billion gallons of renewables into the nation’s fuel supply. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a statement set the target for conventional biofuel, or ethanol, at 15 billion gallons and […] Read more

(Keith Weller photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. agency seeks proof of criminal use of dicamba

Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency executed search warrants in parts of southeastern Missouri earlier this month to look for signs of improper use of the herbicide dicamba, the agency said on Tuesday. The searches stemmed from complaints that dicamba, which has only been approved for application on fields before planting season […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. EPA says glyphosate likely not carcinogenic

Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday said its current position on glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, is that the chemical is not likely carcinogenic to humans. The agency’s “proposed” position on the controversial chemical was outlined in a 227-page paper it published on the regulations.gov website, which […] Read more