Reuters — McDonald’s Corp. warned Friday that business will be weak in the first half of 2015 and it is cutting its annual construction budget to the lowest in more than five years as it opens fewer restaurants in struggling markets. The world’s largest fast-food chain, with more than 36,000 restaurants around the globe, just […] Read more
McDonald’s says rough ride to continue into 2015
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle futures plunge before USDA report
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures slumped on Friday, with nearby contracts down the three-cents-per-pound price limit, ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s monthly Cattle-On-Feed report at 2 p.m. CT. Analysts expect the report to show a decline in the number of cattle placed in feedlots last month. February and […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat falls on dollar pressure
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures firmed on Friday on support from bigger-than-expected U.S. export sales, traders said. “The exports are pretty important,” said Bill Gentry, broker at Risk Management Commodities in Lafayette, Indiana. “(They show) the corn has got some value at these and lower levels.” Soybeans dropped near three-month lows, capping a […] Read more
CP books record profit, more grain revenue in 2014
Increased revenue from Canadian and U.S. grain traffic alike helped boost Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) to a record full-year profit in 2014. Calgary-based CP on Thursday reported net income of $1.476 billion on $6.62 billion for the year ending Dec. 31, up from $875 million on $6.133 billion in 2013. For its fourth quarter, the […] Read more
Work stoppage possible for CN engineers in mid-February
The union for engineers on Canadian National Railway’s (CN) trains warns a work stoppage could come as early as mid-February barring progress in talks with the company. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) said Thursday CN has “refused” to extend conciliation talks, now due to end Saturday, by another 60 days. The engineers’ last collective […] Read more
U.S. grains: Markets weaken under pressure from firming U.S. dollar
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. grain and soybean futures slipped on Thursday as the rising U.S. dollar made farm products less competitive on the global market. The U.S. is having a hard time competing for grain export business, with Ukraine and South America undercutting U.S. corn prices, said Tomm Pfitzenmaier, analyst for Summit Commodity Brokerage […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cash price plunge sends CME hogs to another two-year low
Chicago | Reuters –– Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hogs drifted to a two-year low for a third straight session on Thursday, pressured by the steep drop in cash and wholesale pork prices, traders said. February closed 0.75 cent per pound lower at 71.6 cents, and April fell 1.35 cents, to 72.875 cents (all figures US$). […] Read more
Women players drop legal battle over World Cup turf
Reuters –– Players who had begun legal action over the use of artificial surfaces at this year’s Women’s World Cup have dropped their case, their lawyers said on Wednesday. A group of elite women’s players had sued FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), arguing that artificial turf surfaces for the tournament, which takes place […] Read more
Scientists create ‘genetic firewall’ for new forms of life
New York | Reuters — A year after creating organisms that use a genetic code different from every other living thing, two teams of scientists have achieved another “synthetic biology” milestone: They created bacteria that cannot survive without a specific manmade chemical, potentially overcoming a major obstacle to wider use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). […] Read more
Lethbridge College to set up farm BRM curriculum
One of the first initiatives to be set up in Lethbridge College’s new agribusiness program will be a business risk management curriculum, drafted in a new partnership with the province’s cattle feeders association. The college and Alberta Cattle Feeders Association announced Wednesday they’ll jointly develop programming to be “offered in a variety of delivery modes […] Read more