Reading Time: 4 minutes Chicago | Reuters — David Fullington paid a “ridiculous” price of US$13,600 an acre for a 200-acre farm in Illinois within the last year and says he and his partners would probably bid again for prime land that is in tight supply, despite tumbling grain prices. “No regrets at all,” Fullington said of the purchase […] Read more
No crash in U.S. farmland seen despite tumbling grain prices
CIF Gulf Grain-Nearby soybean basis continue surge on processor demand
Reading Time: 2 minutes CHICAGO, Aug 22 (Reuters) – U.S. CIF Gulf soybeans nearby basis markets were sharply higher, continuing a trend this week, as processors encouraged farmers to sell any remaining beans left from last year’s harvest to meet their immediate crush needs, traders said on Friday. A slower-than-expected start to the southern harvest, typically the first new-crop beans available to processors and exporters, […] Read more
U.S. grain backlog to ease after firms, union reach tentative deal
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — A backlog in grain shipments from the biggest U.S. West Coast terminal should start easing as inspections resumed on Tuesday, after unions and grain companies reached a tentative agreement to end a labour dispute. The agreement, between port workers and a group of Pacific Northwest grain companies, was announced by a […] Read more
USDA to resurrect monthly soybean crush report
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– The U.S. Department of Agriculture will bring back a much-sought-after monthly oilseeds reports eliminated two years ago due to federal belt-tightening, the director of a key USDA statistical agency said on Wednesday. The Congressional budget legislation passed last week gives USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service the authority and funds to create […] Read more
Big U.S. harvest boosts Cargill earnings
Reading Time: 3 minutes U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill on Thursday reported a 36 per cent rise in quarterly profit, supported by a bigger U.S. crop harvest in 2013 that led to lower grain prices and boosted profit margins on meat sales. Minneapolis-based Cargill, a top global commodities trader, reported net earnings of $556 million for its second quarter ended […] Read more
Arctic blast puts wheat crop at risk in U.S. Plains
Reading Time: 2 minutes Frigid weather headed to the U.S. Plains states next week will push the young wheat crop into dormancy and cause damage if snow fails to blanket the crop before the Arctic blast hits the region, an agricultural meteorologist said on Wednesday. The potential risks of winterkill damage, though, eased from earlier in the week as […] Read more
Trick or treat? Grain hedgers haunted by the ghost of MF Global
Reading Time: 3 minutes Two years ago on Halloween thousands of U.S. grain farmers got the scare of their lives when broker MF Global collapsed and more than a billion dollars of their money went missing. MF Global customers have now, through a court-appointed trustee, recovered about 98 per cent of the money, which had been in supposedly “safe” […] Read more
Cargill picks new CEO
Reading Time: 3 minutes Agribusiness Cargill Inc. on Wednesday said its CEO will step down on Dec. 1 in the latest management shuffle among the world’s top agricultural trading houses. Gregory Page, 62, will be replaced by David MacLennan, Cargill’s president and chief operating officer, as part of the company’s ongoing succession plans, the company said. MacLennan told Reuters […] Read more
Cargill doubles annual earnings after strong quarter
Reading Time: 3 minutes U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill on Wednesday reported a sixfold rise in fourth-quarter net earnings and nearly doubled full-year earnings, citing strength in its core grain-based and financial services. Minneapolis-based Cargill, one of the world’s largest privately held corporations and a top commodities trader, reported $483 million in earnings for the fourth quarter ended May 31, […] Read more
Dry area expands in western U.S. Corn Belt – Drought Monitor
Reading Time: 2 minutes Abnormally dry areas expanded in the U.S. western Corn Belt, including the top crop state of Iowa, over the past week to put much of the corn crop at risk, according to a weekly drought report. The U.S. Drought Monitor, issued by state and federal climate experts, said dry conditions in the U.S. Midwest for […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
