(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Cargill stops using human antibiotic against disease in turkeys

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. meat processor Cargill has stopped using an important antibiotic for people to prevent disease in turkeys, the company said Tuesday, the latest food maker to drop the drug amid concerns about the impact on human medicine. Cargill has not used the drug, gentamicin, to prevent disease in turkeys that supply […] Read more


(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. grains: Soybeans extend rebound on robust export demand

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures jumped on Friday, extending a rebound from 3-1/2-month lows hit earlier this week, as strong export demand offset supply pressure linked to bumper harvest prospects. Wheat futures also climbed while corn crept higher as the grain markets consolidated after falling to 10-year and near two-year lows, respectively, this […] Read more

(McDonalds.com)

McDonald’s to remove corn syrup from buns

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — McDonald’s Corp. will replace corn syrup in hamburger buns with sugar this month and has removed antibiotics that are important to human medicine from its chicken months ahead of schedule, it said Monday, moves that are part of its drive to target increasingly health-conscious consumers. The fast food company also said it eliminated […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

First U.S. trader convicted of spoofing sentenced to jail

Reading Time: 2 minutes 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 […] Read more



(Stephen Ausmus photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. grains: USDA report pushes wheat to six-year low, corn to 11-week low

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. wheat futures sank to a six-year low on Thursday and corn futures hit an 11-week low after the agriculture department said farmers had planted more of the grains than expected. Soybean futures soared to two-week highs as plantings fell short of analysts’ estimates. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in […] Read more

(AllflexUSA.com)

Online U.S. cattle auction halts activity

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– Organizers of an online U.S. cattle auction that ranchers and traders had hoped would help restore transparency to livestock pricing nationwide said on Wednesday they would suspend activity indefinitely after just four sessions. The Fed Cattle Exchange, which held its first live feeder cattle auction on May 25, determined that it […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Bayer crop unit apologizes to farmers after Twitter gaffe

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters –– Bayer AG’s crop science division apologized on Monday for a tweet that suggested reduced meat demand could benefit the environment, in a bid to appease outraged farmers who buy the company’s seeds and chemicals. The tweet, published on the official Bayer CropScience (@Bayer4crops) account on Sunday, linked to a Vox.com article […] Read more

The Nile River at Cairo. (CIA.gov)

‘Unorthodox’ agriculture policies seen costing Egypt

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– Egypt, the world’s top wheat importer, faces US$860 million in extra costs and lost export opportunities this year because of “unorthodox agricultural measures,” including a zero-tolerance policy on ergot fungus in wheat, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday in a report. The report, from a USDA attache in Cairo, criticized […] Read more