CBOT September 2019 wheat with Bollinger (20,2) bands, a gauge of market volatility. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat hits one-week top after USDA report

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures climbed to their highest in more than a week after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) lowered its forecast of global wheat production in a monthly supply and demand report on Thursday. Corn and soybeans followed the firm trend in wheat. Chicago Board of Trade September wheat settled […] Read more

(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Cargill quarterly profit drops on trade tensions, U.S. floods

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Global commodities trader Cargill reported a 41 per cent drop in adjusted quarterly profit on Thursday, citing supply disruptions stemming from the U.S.-China trade war and also flooding in the central United States that hit marketing and transportation of grains and livestock. Cargill, the largest privately held U.S. company, said adjusted […] Read more


El Nino seen transitioning to neutral in next month or two

El Nino seen transitioning to neutral in next month or two

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — The El Nino weather pattern is likely to transition into ENSO-neutral conditions in the next month or two, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday. “ENSO-neutral” refers to periods in which neither El Nino nor La Nina is present, according to the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC). ENSO-neutral conditions are […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. Midwest floods to weigh on diesel demand come harvest

Reading Time: 2 minutes Putnam County, Ill. | Reuters — A disappointing planting season due to massive flooding in the U.S. Midwest this spring is expected to have spillover effects on diesel demand during harvest season, analysts and traders said. Heavy storms that lingered over the Midwest left millions of acres unseeded and put crops that were planted late […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Major grain traders face one-two punch from U.S. floods, trade war

Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Severe U.S. weather likely dented earnings for large grain companies including Archer Daniels Midland and Bunge for a second straight quarter, adding to headwinds from a still-unresolved U.S.-China trade war, analysts and economists said. ADM and Bunge, as well as peers Cargill and Louis Dreyfus, known as the ABCD quartet of […] Read more




CBOT September 2019 wheat with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat, corn down on crop conditions, weather

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago corn and wheat futures settled down on Tuesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) raised its condition ratings for both grains and more crop-friendly weather was forecast for the Midwest. “This downward trend has been led by wheat,” said Ted Seifried of Zaner Group. “These crop conditions are absolutely […] Read more


CME August 2019 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hogs limit up on firming cash pork, China hopes

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures roared higher on Tuesday, with the most-active August and October contracts settling up by the daily three-cent-per pound limit on a mix of technical buying, firmer cash pork values and optimism about U.S. trade talks with China, traders said. CME’s most-active August lean hogs […] Read more

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U.S. refiners urge EPA to keep biofuel waiver requests secret from USDA

Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — A law firm representing small U.S. refineries has urged the Environmental Protection Agency to keep refiners’ applications for waivers from the nation’s biofuel policy secret from the Department of Agriculture, arguing that the petitions include confidential business information. The request, made by Perkins Coie in a letter to the EPA dated […] Read more