Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — Bayer’s Monsanto division on Wednesday lost a final appeal in a long-running French legal battle in which the crop chemical maker has been held liable for a farmer’s accidental inhalation of a herbicide. Monsanto had been trying to overturn a decision by an appeals court in 2019 that had found the […] Read more
Monsanto loses final appeal over French farmer’s herbicide accident
Pilgrim’s Pride strikes deal over U.S. chicken price-fixing charges
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — U.S. poultry company Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. said Wednesday it will pay a US$110.5 million fine after striking a plea deal with the Justice Department over price-fixing charges on chicken products. The guilty plea makes Pilgrim’s Pride, mostly owned by Brazilian meatpacker JBS, the first U.S. chicken company to reach an agreement with the […] Read more
Brazil millers oppose sale of GMO wheat
Importing costs would rise, Abitrigo says, as Argentina approves new wheat
Reading Time: < 1 minute Sao Paulo | Reuters — Brazilian wheat millers association Abitrigo opposes the approval of genetically modified wheat products for sale in Brazil, saying it will make imports of the cereal more costly and impact prices on the domestic market. The statement comes after Argentine authorities approved a new genetically modified wheat that can resist drought […] Read more
Syngenta buys biologics group Valagro
Reading Time: < 1 minute Zurich | Reuters — Syngenta, the Swiss agrichemicals giant owned by ChemChina, has acquired Italian biologicals group Valagro, a company with US$175 million in 2019 sales that uses natural solutions to fight pests and diseases and to improve crops. Syngenta said in a statement Tuesday the acquisition positioned its crop protection business as a key […] Read more
Food retail order boom may ease after big quarter, Conagra says
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Conagra Brands put better-than-expected first quarter sales on Thursday down to heavy ordering by retailers worried about the durability of supply chains in the months ahead as a second wave of coronavirus cases takes hold. Shares in the foodstuffs maker dipped as much as three per cent before recovering after chief financial officer […] Read more
Bayer plans more cost cuts, impairment charges
Pandemic now expected to hit crop science wing
Reading Time: 2 minutes Berlin | Reuters — German drugs and chemical company Bayer announced plans on Wednesday for more than 1.5 billion euros (C$2.34 billion) of cost cuts as of 2024 and said it would take impairment charges on its agricultural business as it battles with low commodity prices. Bayer said that the impact of the coronavirus on […] Read more
Trump issues permit for Alaska-to-Alberta railway
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump has issued a presidential permit for a private-sector proposal to build a railway from northeastern Alberta’s oil sands to ports in Alaska, a project that still faces numerous hurdles. Trump said over the weekend on Twitter he would issue the permit, which he signed on Monday but […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures rise on supply concerns
CME lean hog futures down
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Live cattle futures rose to their highest in more than a month on Thursday, supported by signs of a stabilizing cash market and concerns about tight supplies in the coming months, traders said. “The feedlots believe… that we have a marketing hole for most of October into December,” Don Roose, president […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Live cattle futures up ahead of USDA report
Hogs also up ahead of separate USDA data
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures gained on Wednesday, as traders weighed continued strong slaughter rates against expectations for higher placements in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s end-of-week Cattle on Feed report. “The beef market looks like it’s possibly stabilizing, and that should be supportive for cattle prices in the near term,” said […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hog futures gain on export optimism
CME cattle down ahead of USDA report
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures markets climbed on Tuesday on optimism over China’s continued purchases of U.S. grains, traders said. Exporters sold 266,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans to China and 264,000 tonnes to unknown destinations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported on Tuesday, marking the 13th consecutive business day of sales to […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
