Reading Time: < 1 minute Mexico City | Reuters — Chicago corn futures settled higher on Friday, making the fourth straight week of gains, after a week of flash sales to China and demand for ethanol processing. Soybeans closed lower, ending a gains streak since late March, as a record Brazilian harvest tempered concern about drought losses in Argentina. The […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn continues climb, closes higher for fourth week
Traders watching cooler weather in U.S. southern Plains
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle pull back from all-time highs
Chicago lean hogs up off contract lows
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures retreated on Friday after racing to all-time highs during the previous three sessions as tightening U.S. supplies rallied cash prices. Profit-taking and technical pressured futures following the surge, though the market could still post new highs moving forward, analysts said. Surging cash prices this week […] Read more
Russia says Black Sea grain deal may be nearly over
Ukraine and UN to blame for backlog of ships, Russia alleges
Reading Time: 2 minutes Moscow | Reuters — Russia on Thursday said there would be no extension of the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal beyond May 18 unless the West removed a series of obstacles to the export of Russian grain and fertilizer. The Ukraine grain Black Sea export deal was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in […] Read more
U.S. grains: Chicago grains close lower as weather improves
USDA reports flash corn sale to China
Reading Time: 2 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Chicago grains futures reversed earlier gains to close lower on Thursday, as weather improved and despite Russia saying there would likely be no extension of the wartime grains corridor deal, analysts said. Soybeans lost ground from their earlier rally as weather in the Northern Hemisphere looked clearer. “U.S. weather is […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle hit another record high
Cattle producers seen playing hard ball; hogs touch contract lows
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures set a record high for the third consecutive session on Thursday as producers held out for higher prices from meatpackers searching for supplies, brokers said. Strong cash prices and tightening supplies have pushed futures above a 2014 record for the front-month contract, after ranchers reduced […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle hit record high as packers scramble for supplies
Chicago lean hogs continue lower
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures stormed to an all-time high on Wednesday as meatpackers scrambled to buy livestock at a time when supplies are tightening, brokers said. Ranchers have reduced their herds due to high feed costs and drought in the western U.S., forcing packers such as Tyson Foods and […] Read more
France says pesticide ban will not hit grain exports
Fumigant can't be in 'direct contact' with grains
Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — France will ensure that a decision by health and safety agency ANSES to ban the use of a pesticide in direct contact with grains does not hamper its exports outside the European Union, its trade and agriculture ministers told Parliament on Tuesday. In late October ANSES cleared the use of phosphine […] Read more
U.S. grains: Chicago grains up after jumpy day of Black Sea concerns
Markets await U.S. export sales data on Thursday
Reading Time: < 1 minute Mexico City | Reuters — Chicago grains futures closed higher Wednesday, after a mixed day underpinned by renewed Russian criticism of the deal allowing Ukraine to export grain from Black Sea ports. Soybean and corn futures settled up, regaining some ground lost earlier in the session amid a bumper soy harvest in Brazil and an […] Read more
Outlook for Black Sea grain deal ‘not so great,’ Kremlin says
Grain deal due to expire next month; Russia wants financial, insurance obstacles removed
Reading Time: 2 minutes Moscow | Reuters — The Kremlin on Wednesday said the outlook for the landmark U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal was not great as promises to remove obstacles to Russian exports of agricultural and fertilizer exports had not been fulfilled. The grain deal is an attempt to ease a food crisis that predated the Russian invasion […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Slow start to Saskatchewan spring
Timely pulse seeding still expected
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — While below-normal temperatures have welcomed the start of spring, pulse seeding in Saskatchewan is expected to start on time in 2023 if the weather co-operates. “We’ve had a slow start to spring,” said Saskatchewan Pulse Growers (SaskPulse) executive director Carl Potts. “It’s still a bit of time before seeding would normally start across […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
