Redwood City, Calif. | Reuters -- A California farm worker accused of shooting seven people to death near San Francisco, some of them his co-workers, made his first court appearance on Wednesday after he was charged with murder in the state's second deadly gun rampage in recent days. Chunli Zhao, 66, the lone suspect in[...]
Biggest U.S. rail union rejects tentative deal, raising threat of strike
Washington/Los Angeles | Reuters -- Workers at the largest U.S. rail union voted against a tentative contract deal reached in September, raising the possibility of a year-end strike that could cause significant damage to the U.S. economy and strand vital shipments of food and fuel. Train and engine service members of the transportation division of[...]
Trump's payments to farmers hit all-time high ahead of election
Chicago | Reuters -- U.S. President Donald Trump is assuring a bumper year for farmers as the Nov. 3 election approaches, with record government subsidies projected to make up more than a third of farm income in 2020. The aid programs could be key to Trump's chances of success in swing states such as Wisconsin,[...]
How a major U.S. farm lender left a trail of defaults, lawsuits
Harrod, Ohio | Reuters -- After completing a credit review in a half-hour phone call, a BMO Harris Bank underwriter cleared US$12 million in loans for Ohio corn and soybean producer Greg Kruger in 2013. Kruger had initially asked for a $2 million loan to build a grain elevator. But the Chicago-based bank, one of[...]
Altria to marry Canadian pot with big tobacco
Reuters -- Marlboro cigarette maker Altria Group announced a $2.4 billion investment in Cronos Group on Friday, which could give it up to 55 per cent ownership of the Canadian cannabis producer. The deal represents by far the biggest investment by a major tobacco conglomerate in a cannabis company. It comes after Canada legalized the[...]
U.S. grains: Corn tops one-month high on strong U.S. export sales
Chicago | Reuters -- U.S. corn futures touched their highest prices in more than a month on Thursday on strong export demand and as traders adjusted positions ahead of a crop report expected to show supplies tightened over the past year. Soybean futures also rose, extending a rebound from recent losses into a third consecutive[...]
Warm spell raises hopes as Canadian farmers race to finish harvest
Winnipeg/Reuters – Unusually warm temperatures in Western Canada are raising farmers' hopes of a strong finish to a growing season of highs and lows, easing investors' worries about the late harvest. Summer-like weather in Saskatchewan and Alberta, the two biggest wheat and canola-growing provinces in Canada — a top global exporter of both crops —[...]
Harvest woes rally canola, turn some farmers into winners
Winnipeg | Reuters -- As some Western Canada farmers watched rain and snow turn their ripening canola fields into bogs, Rob Stone could count his blessings. Harvest weather was kinder to his farm at Davidson, Sask., about 100 km southeast of Saskatoon, and Stone finished harvesting canola by mid-September. Then, when worries about four million[...]
First U.S. trader convicted of spoofing sentenced to jail
Chicago | Reuters -- A U.S. judge sentenced futures trader Michael Coscia to three years in prison on Wednesday, a lighter punishment than prosecutors had sought for the first person criminally convicted of the manipulative trading practice of spoofing. Coscia also was sentenced to two years of supervised release from jail, in a case that[...]
Prairie farmers eye early start to seeding
Winnipeg | Reuters -- Western Canadian farmers, some of whom could not plant crops last year due to soggy soil, may be able to get a head-start on sowing their fields this spring. Canada is the world's biggest canola exporter and the second largest wheat exporter, but its flat western provinces -- Manitoba, Saskatchewan and[...]
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
