Sao Paulo | Reuters –– Truckers protesting high diesel prices in Brazil used road blocks to restrict the flow of soy, corn and other commodities in a key grain-growing region for a third day on Friday, threatening what is expected to be a record harvest. A group of transport companies and independent truckers are blocking […] Read more
Brazilian grain trucker blockade continues, threatens harvest
Deere cuts profit forecast as farm equipment sales decline
Reuters — Farm equipment maker Deere and Co. posted a 43 per cent fall in first-quarter profit and cut its full-year profit forecast as lower corn prices and weak farm income weighed on demand for agricultural machinery. The company, which gets nearly two-thirds of its revenue from farm and turf machinery, cut its 2015 net […] Read more
Swollen U.S. meat inventories mirror strong demand headwinds
Chicago | Reuters –– Slumping demand for meat on the U.S. West and East Coasts boosted pork, beef and chicken inventories to some of their highest levels in years, analysts said following Friday’s U.S. Department of Agriculture monthly cold storage report. Meat processors and grocers normally stash hams in freezers before the Easter holiday and […] Read more
Ireland says China agrees to lift ban on Irish beef
Dublin | Reuters –– China has agreed to lift its ban on Irish beef, Ireland’s Prime Minister Enda Kenny said Friday, making it the only European country to be allowed to export beef to both the U.S. and China. Ireland last month became the first European Union country to regain access to the lucrative U.S. […] Read more
CN set to lock out 4,800 mechanical, clerical staff Monday
Canadian National Railway (CN) plans to lock out about 4,800 unionized employees across Canada starting Monday night (Feb. 23) unless their union agrees to arbitration for a new contract. Montreal-based CN’s move follows Thursday’s announcement by Unifor — the union representing CN’s mechanical, intermodal and clerical workers — that it will hold a strike vote […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat, corn, soybeans close week lower
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures plunged 3.3 per cent on Friday, their biggest decline in nearly two months, on more signs of poor export prospects for U.S. supplies, traders said. Corn and soybean futures also fell, weighed down by a round of end-of-week profit-taking following solid gains on Thursday. But wheat notched the […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle slump before USDA report
Chicago | Reuters –– Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle fell Friday on lower cash prices before the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s monthly Cattle-On-Feed report at 2 p.m. CT, traders said. Analysts expect Friday’s report to show a sizable drop in the number of cattle placed into feedlots last month. This week, market-ready (cash) cattle in […] Read more
Parmalat to shut Quebec mozza plant
The Canadian arm of Italian dairy giant Parmalat plans to close a mozzarella processing plant near Montreal and consolidate its Quebec cheesemaking work at one major facility. Parmalat said Thursday it will close its plant at Marieville, about 40 km east of Montreal, at the end of September. A new production line for mozzarella will […] Read more
Time running out for high durum prices
CNS Canada –– Good-quality durum has enjoyed large premiums over other wheat classes this past year, but opportunities for any unpriced durum still left to sell may be getting harder to find, as attention turns to large global new-crop projections. Durum prices today are topping out at about $9.75 per bushel in Saskatchewan, according to […] Read more
CFIA shrinks restricted zone in B.C. avian flu outbreak
Quarantines ending on poultry and egg farms in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley have allowed federal officials to slightly pull back their zone coverage against the spread of avian flu. As of last Thursday (Feb. 12), federal quarantines are lifted on five of the 11 commercial broiler, turkey and egg farms that were confirmed in December to be […] Read more