Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Poultry company Perdue Farms will buy natural meat maker Niman Ranch, which is Chipotle Mexican Grill’s biggest pork supplier and a brand name on U.S. restaurant menus, the two companies said on Tuesday. Privately held Perdue expects to “soon” close a deal to buy Natural Food Holdings, which owns the Niman […] Read more
Perdue Farms to buy Chipotle pork supplier Niman Ranch
U.S. grains: Prices rise on harvest uncertainty, short-covering
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. grain and soybean futures jumped on Tuesday on expectations that the U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) may lower its domestic harvest estimates at the end of the week. Short-covering in the markets ahead of the release of USDA crop reports on Friday (Sept. 11) helped lift nearby wheat futures from a […] Read more
U.S. grains: China woes push soy to six-year low, soyoil to nine-year low
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures dropped to their lowest levels in over six years on Monday and soyoil touched a nine-year low as concerns about China’s faltering economy fuelled selloffs in commodities and equities markets. Broad selling pressured markets early as investors rushed for the exits after stock prices in China, the world’s […] Read more
U.S. grains: Prices advance on crop, weather worries
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. grain and soybean futures jumped on Wednesday as concerns about poor weather hurting autumn harvests fuelled a recovery from recent losses in the markets. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in a crop report on Aug. 12, may trim its U.S. soybean acreage and ending stocks estimates because of excessive rains […] Read more
‘Noah’s Ark’ rescue mission for endangered poultry
Rare breed hatchery sends chicks as far away as Brazil
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — Less than 24 hours after a deadly infection of bird flu was confirmed at a turkey farm north of Des Moines, Iowa, Bud Wood packed about 3,500 rare baby chicks into boxes and put them in the back of a truck. With the delicate birds just hours old, the president of Murray McMurray […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn sets one-year highs on tighter old-crop U.S. supply
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures reached one-year highs and soybeans jumped on Friday as the U.S. Agriculture Department made bigger-than-expected cuts to its estimates for stocks of crops left over from last year’s harvests. The reductions, revealed in a monthly USDA report, added to concerns about supplies among traders worried that persistent rains […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans rise in rebound from one-week low
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. soybean futures rose from a one-week low on Wednesday on bargain buying and renewed concerns about excessive rains hurting U.S. production, while wheat tumbled on poor export demand. Corn futures ended near unchanged. Forecasts for more unwanted storms in parts of the U.S. Midwest lifted soybeans after weeks of heavy […] Read more
For Chicago futures traders, one final round in the ring
Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– A few dozen Chicago traders donned their multicoloured jackets to trade soybean and Eurodollar futures the old-fashioned way one last time on Monday, marking the end of 167 years of open-outcry trading in the city where it was born. Barring a last-minute delay by U.S. regulators, CME Group ended most of […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn, soy slip on improved U.S. weather, Greece jitters
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. corn and soybean futures dropped on Monday as lighter-than-expected U.S. rainfall eased fears about soggy Midwest crops while worries over Greece and China led investors to shun many commodity markets. Corn prices pulled back from 2015 highs notched last week after heavy Midwest rains raised crop concerns and following a […] Read more
U.S. grains: USDA data ignite biggest daily rallies in five years
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. grain and soybean futures on Tuesday climbed to their highest prices since December after the U.S. Agriculture Department said crop stockpiles and spring plantings were smaller than analysts expected. Traders are keeping a close eye on supply data amid uncertainty about how big the autumn corn and soybean harvests will […] Read more