New York | Reuters — Egg and red meat lovers may find reason to rejoice in a decision by a U.S. advisory health panel to remove warnings about dietary cholesterol, saying that there is no link to dangerous levels of blood cholesterol that cause disease. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee until now had recommended that […] Read more
Love to eat eggs? U.S. panel now says they’re not a health risk
West Coast port impasse beefs up U.S. meat stockpile
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. meat exporters caught in the middle of the West Coast port labour standoff diverted millions of pounds of chilled pork and beef into cold storage facilities over the last few weeks, creating an oversupply of meat, analysts said. Redirected protein shipments come as frozen inventories are starting to build ahead […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans set five-week high on predicted drop in plantings
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures jumped to a five-week high on Thursday after the U.S. Agriculture Department projected farmers will plant fewer acres than traders expected in response to falling prices. Corn futures also advanced, while wheat finished flat to lower. USDA, in data released at its annual Agricultural Outlook conference, projected 2015-16 […] Read more
U.S. EPA to propose biofuels standards this spring
Grapevine, Tex. | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to put out a proposal that will address Renewable Fuels Standards for 2014, 2015 and 2016 this spring, an agency official at an industry conference in Grapevine, Tex., said Thursday. The agency will address all three years at once and plans to look at […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Improved fundamentals extend CME hogs’ advances
Chicago | Reuters –– Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hogs gained for a second straight session on Thursday, helped by firmer cash and wholesale pork prices, traders said. April futures closed up 2.825 cents per pound at 67.05 cents, and May 2.325 cents higher at 76.725 cents (all figures US$). Thursday morning’s average market-ready (cash) hog […] Read more
Repair, inspection staff at CN prep for strike vote
Locomotive and rail car maintenance, repair and inspection staff at Canadian National Railway (CN) plan to take a strike vote early next week, their union said Thursday. Unifor, the largest union at CN with over 4,800 members, said Thursday it will hold the vote over a period of up to three weeks, and would set […] Read more
Double-cropping project aims to cut Indian lentil imports
Researchers on a project in India and Bangladesh say they hope it will greatly reduce their lentil imports. Farmers in the project are growing lentils in fields left fallow after rice harvests, with the help of a research and training project by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). In a […] Read more
Cow-calf producers asked to take survey
The Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) is asking every cow-calf producer in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba to complete the Western Canadian Cow-Calf survey. The deadline to complete the survey is Feb. 28. It can be filled out online but the website also provides an option to print the survey and mail it postage-free. First […] Read more
Mustard acres expected to soften slightly in 2015
CNS Canada — Canadian mustard seeds could be vying for attention this spring from some of their more lucrative rivals, the chairman of the Saskatchewan Mustard Seed Development Commission predicts. “I would say mustard acres would be down a little bit from the previous year just based on the profit potential for other crops,” said […] Read more
USDA sees reduced U.S. plantings of corn, soy, wheat in 2015-16
Washington | Reuters –– U.S. farmers will plant fewer acres of soybeans, corn, wheat and cotton in the 2015-16 marketing year in response to falling prices, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Thursday. At its annual Agricultural Outlook conference, USDA forecast lower prices for most major U.S. crops following bumper harvests in 2014-15. “Consecutive […] Read more