Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters – U.S. live cattle futures shot to a six-month high on Friday and feeder cattle reached their highest prices since May on fund buying and strength in the cash market, analysts said. Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) December live cattle settled up 2.3 cents at 119.525 cents per pound after reaching 119.7 cents, […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Live cattle set six-month high on fund buying, firm cash prices
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures retreat from multi-month highs
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters – U.S. cattle futures fell on Thursday in a turnaround from multi-month highs reached the previous session. Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) December live cattle ended 1.075 cents lower at 117.225 cents per pound after reaching 118.600 cents on Wednesday, its highest since April 25. CME most-active January feeder cattle futures slipped 0.125 […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn prices stumble on hopes for better U.S. harvest conditions
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters – U.S. corn futures slipped on Thursday on expectations that weather conditions may turn more favorable for harvesting, giving a small break to soggy fields and farmers, traders said. Drier weather across the U.S. corn belt from Friday through much of next week should allow growers to make better progress after rain, […] Read more
Bunge shares slide as China trade war, pig disease upset exports
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters – Agricultural merchant Bunge Ltd warned on Wednesday of a drop in annual profits due to mounting challenges to its grain trading and processing business from the U.S.-China trade war and a fatal pig disease in Asia, sending shares down more than 4 percent. The company reported better-than-expected third-quarter profits, driven by higher margins […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn futures edge up on worries over U.S. weather, late harvest
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters – U.S. corn futures crept higher on Wednesday on uncertainty about unfavourable weather threatening the size and quality of delayed autumn harvests. Traders were watching forecasts as snow and rain are expected in parts of the Corn Belt, followed by chilly temperatures. The weather could further delay autumn harvests, after rains and […] Read more
Tyson bans ractopamine from its U.S. hog supply
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — Tyson Foods in February will stop buying U.S. hogs raised with a growth drug banned by China, the company said on Thursday, as global meat suppliers seek an edge in boosting sales to Chinese buyers facing a huge pork shortage due to an outbreak of a fatal pig disease. The halt in the […] Read more
U.S. farmers cheered by apparent trade truce
Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. farmers cheered the Trump administration’s announcement of a potentially dramatic increase in U.S. agricultural sales to China on Friday but warned they needed to see a follow-through of actual purchases. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the agricultural purchases could scale up to $40 billion-$50 billion annually as part of a […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn falls after higher yield estimate surprises traders
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures dropped to their lowest prices in more than a week on Thursday after the U.S. Agriculture Department surprised traders by raising its domestic yield estimate in a monthly crop report. The losses dragged down soybean futures, which earlier approached a three-month high on lower-than-expected U.S. yield and ending […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs slip despite record-large pork sales to China
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures sagged on Thursday as the confirmation of record-large weekly pork export sales to China failed to impress traders who have been expecting a surge in demand for months. Uncertainty about when the pork will be shipped to China also kept a lid on gains, traders said. The […] Read more
JBS USA to produce pork without ractopamine
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — JBS USA will remove a growth drug banned by Beijing from its U.S. hog supply, the company said on Friday, accelerating the competition for pork exports as China grapples with a devastating pig disease. The meat packer’s move away from the drug ractopamine, a feed additive, shows how companies are maneuvering […] Read more