Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — A massive supply of grains has shielded the futures markets from the impact of flooding in the U.S. Midwest so far, with traders largely shrugging off this week’s reports of destroyed storage bins, swamped elevators and questions about if waters will recede in time for planting. The problem is grain glut […] Read more
Grain markets walled off from flood impacts by mountains of supplies
U.S. grains: Corn rises as Midwest floods fuel planting concerns
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures jumped more than one per cent on Thursday to their highest level in 2-1/2 weeks as concerns about delayed planting in the western U.S. Midwest sparked buying and fund short-covering. Soybeans followed corn higher, although gains were restrained by lower-than-expected weekly export sales data and concerns about trade […] Read more
U.S. farmers face devastation following Midwest floods
Reading Time: 4 minutes Winslow, Neb./Chicago | Reuters — Midwestern farmers have been gambling they could ride out the U.S.-China trade war by storing their corn and soybeans anywhere they could — in bins, plastic tubes, in barns or even outside. Now, the unthinkable has happened. Record floods have devastated a wide swath of the Farm Belt across Iowa, […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Live cattle hit contract highs on weather woes
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures rose Tuesday, with the benchmark June contract hitting a high as poor feedlot conditions in portions of the U.S. Plains raised concerns about beef supplies, traders said. Lean hogs closed lower in a profit-taking setback from contract highs set a day earlier. Fat cattle futures […] Read more
U.S. Midwest’s catastrophic floods cause widespread damage
Reading Time: 3 minutes Brownville, Neb. | Reuters — Severe flooding caused by rainfall and melting snow devastated farms and towns in Nebraska and Iowa on Tuesday, leaving at least four people dead and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, with waters yet to crest in parts of the region for several days. The floods inundated stretches […] Read more
Livestock, pets among victims in U.S. Midwest flooding
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The floods that have devastated large swaths of Nebraska and Iowa since late last week left house pets homeless, inflicted an unknown toll on livestock and led to several daring water rescues of animals from dogs to horses. Rescuers in the Omaha area, where the Platte, Elkhorn and Missouri rivers began spilling over […] Read more
U.S. farm belt slammed by floods, heavy snow from bomb cyclone
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — A harsh late-winter storm broadsided a vast swath of the U.S. agriculture industry this week as heavy snow closed roads and buried cattle in the Plains while excessive rain flooded Midwest fields and swamped grain elevators. A “bomb cyclone” hurled hurricane-force winds, sparked tornadoes and dumped heavy snow and rain across the Plains […] Read more
Manitoba to prepare for spring flooding
Reading Time: 2 minutes Some major waterways in agricultural Manitoba are expected to spill their banks this spring, according to the provincial infrastructure department’s first official flood outlook for the year. Assuming normal weather conditions for the season, southern Manitobans can expect levels on the Red River south of the floodway to peak near 2011 levels, the department said. […] Read more
Abrupt mid-March shift into spring predicted
Reading Time: < 1 minute Winter conditions are expected to remain the norm across the Canadian Prairies through the middle of March, when a sudden pattern change brings an abrupt start to spring, according to the latest seasonal forecast from The Weather Network. The quick move from cold to warm conditions raises the risk of flooding in areas with a […] Read more
U.S. agency sees high spring flood risk for Red River
Reading Time: < 1 minute As most of Western Canada continues to brace for frigid temperatures, some in southern Manitoba are already preparing for a messy spring. The U.S. National Weather Service on Thursday reported the Red River is in danger of significant flooding due to rapid snowmelt in March. Its report stated the risk for significant snowmelt flooding is […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
