Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago corn and soybean futures settled up on Friday as investors weighed trade talks between the United States and China and expected cooler U.S. weather against uncertainty over acreage levels following a rain-soaked spring. Some analysts said there may be some technical buying pushing up futures, especially soybeans. They also looked […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn, soy gain as market wrestles with export, crop prospects
U.S. livestock: Hogs top five-week high on China demand expectations
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures reached their highest prices in more than five weeks on Friday on expectations for increased pork demand from China, the world’s top importer. Live cattle futures ended higher after dropping to their lowest prices in more than a week. Hog traders expect China, the […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soy falls on cooler weather, China cancellation
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures settled down following a choppy day of trading on Thursday, after hitting the lowest level in more than a week on forecasts for cooler weather and export data showing China had canceled soy purchases for the first time since April. U.S. Agriculture Department data showed the world’s top […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs rise amid hopes of China pork demand
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures reached their highest prices in about a month on Thursday on expectations of bigger pork imports by China, traders said. A recent rise in Chinese pork prices, linked to an outbreak of a fatal hog disease in Asia, is fueling expectations that buyers there […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs near limit up on renewed pork export hopes
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures soared by the daily limit and approached a one-month high on Wednesday on renewed hopes that China will increase pork imports to compensate for pigs killed in a widespread outbreak of a fatal swine disease. China’s agriculture ministry said a new outbreak of African swine […] Read more
Flax prices muted
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Flax yields are expected to be average at harvest season, thanks to the combination of more seeded acres and inclement growing conditions. Export numbers have been lower in recent years, due in part to China having opted to import flax from other countries besides Canada. According to an early 2019 report from FarmLead, […] Read more
Cargill shuts China feed mills as swine fever spreads
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Cargill shuttered animal-feed mills in China in recent months partly because the rapid spread of a fatal hog disease has reduced demand, a company executive said Friday. The closures highlight the pain for global agriculture companies from the outbreak of African swine fever in China, the world’s top hog producer and […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME hogs book biggest one-week climb since April
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures closed higher on Friday and the most-active August contract recorded its biggest weekly gain since April, supported by expectations of thinning U.S. hog supplies, traders said. A glut of hogs has hung over the futures market for months, but traders see supplies starting to […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Lean hogs end lower
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures fell about three per cent on Thursday on sluggish cash markets, traders said, retreating after a two-session surge that lifted the August contract to a near-three-week high a day earlier. CME August lean hogs settled down 2.55 cents at 79.175 cents/lb., one day after […] Read more
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
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
