A macrophage (immune response) cell in early stages of infection with African swine fever virus, magnified about 1,000x. (Keith Weller photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

China’s cabinet sees ‘shortcomings’ in bid to contain swine fever

Beijing | Reuters — China has shown shortcomings in some aspects of preventing African swine fever, and the situation remains complicated and severe, the country’s cabinet said Wednesday. The management of transporting live hogs is not strict enough, while there is insufficient capacity in testing for African swine fever virus in hog slaughtering, processing and […] Read more

CBOT August 2019 soybeans, with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans slide in post-holiday markets

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures settled down almost two per cent on Friday, pressured by relatively ample U.S. stockpiles as traders shrugged off support from strong weekly export sales. Analysts attributed the weakness in futures to improved U.S. crop weather and uncertainty about demand for U.S. soybeans, given large carry-over supplies from the […] Read more


ICE July 2019 canola (candlestick chart) compared to CBOT July 2019 corn (line). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: All eyes on King Corn

MarketsFarm — ICE Futures canola contracts trended lower over the past two weeks and could have some more room to the downside before eventually returning higher with summer weather markets and expected strength in Chicago corn futures. The November canola contract settled at $450.40 per tonne on Wednesday. The contract could have another $5-$10 to […] Read more

CBOT September 2019 soybeans (candlesticks) compared to September corn (line). (Barchart)

CBOT weekly outlook: USDA report leaves trade unsteady

MarketsFarm — Chicago Board of Trade markets were volatile following Friday’s U.S. Department of Agriculture’s acreage report, which saw more corn acres and fewer soybeans than expected. “We had a sharp break, but now we’re starting to recover a bit,” said Steve Georgy, president of Allendale Inc. in Illinois. USDA’s next world agriculture supply and […] Read more



CME August 2019 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs end down, live cattle up

Chicago | Reuters –– Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures closed lower on Wednesday on technical selling including profit-taking and long liquidation ahead of the U.S. Independence Day holiday, along with bearish supply fundamentals, traders said. CME’s benchmark August lean hogs contract ended down 0.6 cent at 78.375 cents/lb., turning lower after rising to […] Read more