Reading Time: 2 minutes Sydney | Reuters –– Australia on Thursday blocked the sale of the country’s largest landowner, private farming group S. Kidman and Co., to foreign investors, saying an agricultural area the size of South Korea should remain in Australian hands. Ownership of farmland is a sensitive political issue in Australia amid concerns that foreign buyers are […] Read more
Australia blocks foreign firm’s deal for largest farm owner
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle extend gains
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures closed higher for a second day in a row Wednesday, helped by more short-covering as expectations improved regarding cash prices later this week, traders said. Spot December finished at 130.975 cents/lb., up 2.95 cents, and February 2.55 cents higher at 133.125 cents (all figures US$). […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle finish strong after wild ride
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle contracts closed higher on Tuesday amid massive short-covering spurred by higher wholesale beef values that overcame selling led by lower cash price expectations for later this week, traders said. Spot December finished at 128.025 cents/lb., up 0.35 cent, and February 0.925 cent higher at 130.575 cents […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle tumble limit down
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures finished Monday’s session down by their three cents/lb. daily price limit after late Friday’s cash prices fell short of expectations, traders and analysts said. Spot December finished at 127.675 cents/lb., and February at 129.65 cents (all figures US$). Live cattle’s trading limit will be expanded […] Read more
Klassen: Feedlots curb buying interest
Reading Time: 2 minutes Despair is the price one pays for setting an impossible aim. Given the phone calls over the past week, producers have been expecting something the market cannot offer. Western Canadian feeder cattle prices were under severe pressure, with 700-plus-pound cattle down $8-$12 from seven days earlier; calves under 700 lbs. traded $4-$8 below week-ago levels. […] Read more
El Nino strengthening, to be among biggest on record: WMO
Reading Time: 2 minutes Geneva | Reuters — The El Nino weather pattern, a phenomenon associated with extreme droughts, storms and floods, is expected to strengthen before the end of the year and become one of the strongest on record, the United Nations’ weather agency said Monday. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said this El Nino was already “strong […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Heavy meat supplies sour CME cattle, hog futures
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures fell sharply on Friday, rounding out the week on a sour note as traders sought cover amid a steep downturn in wholesale beef prices. CME live cattle and feeder cattle futures gave back much of the gains they had made in the past two sessions, after […] Read more
Cargill said restructuring, cutting jobs
Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters –– Cargill Inc., one of the world’s largest privately held corporations, has launched a restructuring that includes job cuts, one company source and four industry sources said Friday, the latest casualty of a downturn in the farm economy. The 150-year-old company, a top commodities trader, is also closing offices, two of the […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle, hogs continue gains for second day
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Livestock futures traders continued to hunt for cover on their short positions Thursday, resulting in Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures climbing a second day after prices slid to contract lows earlier this week. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange saw live cattle and feeder cattle futures on Wednesday bounce back strongly from contract […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME cattle, hogs surge on bargain-buying after selloff
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — The Chicago Mercantile Exchange saw live cattle and feeder cattle futures bounce back strongly from contract lows on Wednesday, with prices hitting their daily limits as traders snapped up bargains and investors covering their short positions. Meanwhile, CME lean hog futures also saw a turnaround as traders bet that contract lows, […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
