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U.S. grains: Wheat, corn, soy sag as traders await U.S. crop report

Chicago | Reuters – U.S. grain futures stumbled on Thursday amid positioning ahead of a federal crop report next week that is expected to show bigger estimates for the nation’s corn and soybean harvests, analysts said. Losses pulled wheat back further from a nine-year high reached on Tuesday at the Chicago Board of Trade. Corn retreated from […] Read more



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U.S. livestock: CME feeder cattle futures slide to five-month low

Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures hit a one-week low on Monday on bigger-than-expected U.S. supplies, while feeder cattle dropped to a five-month low, analysts said. Traders have been expecting cattle supplies to tighten but did not see signs of it in October, said Rich Nelson, chief strategist for agricultural commodities […] Read more



A cornfield in Mexico’s Chihuahua state. (Undefined undefined/iStock/Getty Images)

Mexico won’t limit GMO corn imports from U.S., ag minister says

Ankeny, Iowa | Reuters — Mexico’s agriculture minister said the country would not limit imports of genetically modified (GMO) corn from the United States during a meeting with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in Iowa on Wednesday. Mexico published an executive order late last year that sought to ban in three years the use of […] Read more

CME December 2021 lean hogs (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, dark red and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME hogs near three-week low amid ample supply

Chicago cattle futures also lower

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures fell to their lowest prices in about three weeks on Wednesday amid pressure from plentiful supplies, analysts said. Live cattle and feeder cattle futures also finished lower at CME. Hog supplies tend to increase in the autumn, pushing more pork on the market and weighing […] Read more


CME December 2021 live cattle (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle down on raised beef production forecasts

Pork supply expectations drag on CME December hogs

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures ended lower on Tuesday, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture slightly increased its forecasts for beef production this year and next year. USDA, in a monthly report, raised its 2021 estimate by 0.3 per cent from September because of higher cow slaughtering and heavier average […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. considers faster hog slaughter paces based on staffing

Faster speeds seen as increasing injuries

Chicago | Reuters — The Biden administration is considering a proposal that could allow some pork plants to slaughter pigs more quickly if they boost staffing, a union official said, after a U.S. court struck down a Trump-era rule that removed line speed limits. The proposal put forward by Quality Pork Processors, operator of a […] Read more


CME November 2021 feeder cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, brown and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Profit-taking knocks feeder cattle off high

CME lean hogs seen consolidating

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures ended lower on Friday as profit-taking pressured the market after prices set a one-month high, traders said. The setback came after the most-active November contract had rallied more than six per cent from a four-month low set on Sept. 30. The contract ended down 0.45 […] Read more

CME November 2021 feeder cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, dark red and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Technical buying, solid beef demand boost CME cattle

Chicago lean hogs continue lower

Chicago | Reuters — Technical buying and solid demand for U.S. beef lifted Chicago Mercantile Exchange live and feeder cattle futures on Wednesday, traders said. The cattle markets continue to rebound from recent losses that were technically overdone, analysts said. Front-month CME October live cattle futures reached its highest price since Sept. 16 at 124 […] Read more