Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures climbed on Monday amid news reports that Beijing and Washington are close to settling a lingering trade dispute, a breakthrough that could boost China’s demand for U.S. soy and other agricultural products. Corn also rose, pulling away from a three-month low struck in the previous session. Wheat prices […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans firm on trade deal hopes
Soaring river freight hits U.S. farmers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. farmers are running out of options for their just-harvested corn and soybeans as delays on the Mississippi River, the main conduit for crops to export markets, cause shipping backlogs, while grain storage on the river’s banks is filling up. Low river levels and backups at aging locks have slowed navigation […] Read more
Barge accidents rise on flood-swollen Mississippi River
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– The U.S. Coast Guard temporarily halted shipping traffic on the Mississippi River in New Orleans on Friday after a tow boat struck stationary barges in a fleeting area, marking at least the fifth barge accident this week on the flood-swollen river. High water has severely restricted barge shipping traffic on the […] Read more
U.S. grain shippers await El Nino dryness after unseasonable flood
Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– The clear Midwestern skies that El Nino cycles typically bring could be a boon to the U.S. heartland this spring, after recent record rain levels soaked the region, swamping farmland and disrupting grain export shipments on swollen rivers. Farm fields across the Midwest are saturated, according to the U.S. Department of […] Read more
U.S. grain prices soar as floods shut waterways, threaten crops
Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. grain farmers scrambled to find shelter for their crops and handlers hunted for alternative transportation routes, as widespread floods shut waterways from Illinois to Missouri and spurred a surge in physical prices of corn and soybeans. The sudden jump in prices could complicate a months-long stand-off between farmers who are […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
