Beijing | Reuters –– China wants to give the market a bigger role in setting farm prices and move away from a controversial state stockpiling policy that has led to bulging grain inventories and a surge of cheap imports, a top agricultural official said Tuesday. That policy, in which grains are bought at artificially high […] Read more
China said planning bigger role for market in grains pricing
Obama proposes creation of stand-alone U.S. food safety agency
Reuters — U.S. President Barack Obama has proposed bringing together the country’s food safety operations into one agency to better monitor food quality in a move that would reshape the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The proposal was put forward as part of the President’s 2016 budget plan. The new agency would combine the food […] Read more
Cargill begins selling GM corn seed at centre of lawsuits
Reuters — Cargill has started selling a variety of genetically modified Syngenta corn seed that previously disrupted U.S. grain trading, now that China has approved imports of the biotech crop. Cargill, one of the top U.S. grain exporters, began selling seed containing the Agrisure Viptera trait last month and scrapped a policy that required farmers […] Read more
Canola variety’s clubroot claim taken with caution
A new variety of canola with “intermediate” resistance to a new type of clubroot may be cause for optimism, but Alberta’s canola grower group says farmers need to know more before they buy. The Alberta Canola Producers Commission (ACPC) warned Monday that growers will need more specifics about claims that a new canola variety has […] Read more
Prairie CWRS bids weaken slightly
CNS Canada — Average cash bids for Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat generally moved lower during the week ended Friday. Average CWRS prices lost about C$1-$4 per tonne, with prices ranging from about $197 per tonne in north-central Saskatchewan to $216 per tonne in Manitoba, according to bids from a cross-section of delivery points […] Read more
U.S. grains: Markets sag under pressure from hefty global supplies
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures dropped to a four-month low on Monday while corn and soybeans hovered near multi-month lows as large crop inventories kept a lid on prices. Traders focused on hefty grain supplies as crop weather improved in South America, with scattered showers in Brazil easing concerns about drought curtailing soybean […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs fall to four-year low, cattle tumble on supply
Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. lean hogs fell one per cent to a more than four-year low on Monday, while live and feeder cattle also tumbled as investors liquidated long holdings on signs of plentiful supplies. Hog prices declined in U.S. Midwest cash markets, where pork packers had enough of the animals for their slaughter […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder cattle market turning over
Western Canadian feeder cattle prices were very uneven over the past week. Market reports from the major feeding regions reflected values steady to $3 higher, while other reports were steady to $5 lower. Gains were noted on cattle under 500 pounds, such as in central Alberta, where a small group of exotic and Charolais-based steers […] Read more
NASA launches satellite to map soil moisture
Reuters — An unmanned Delta 2 rocket was launched Saturday to put a NASA satellite into orbit that is expected to improve drought monitoring and flooding forecasts. The 39-metre rocket, built and flown by United Launch Alliance, lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 6:22 a.m. PT, the U.S. National Aeronautics and […] Read more
Argentina to restrict wheat export permits if low prices paid
Buenos Aires | Reuters –– Wheat exporters who buy the grain from Argentina’s farmers will not be issued permits if they pay the growers significantly less than the international price for the crop, the government said Friday. The announcement, by Economy Minister Axel Kicillof, followed complaints by local producers that government restrictions on wheat exports […] Read more