Reading Time: 2 minutes Tyson Foods will permanently close a pork plant in Perry, Iowa, the meatpacker said on Monday, eliminating jobs for about 1,200 workers.

Tyson Foods to close Iowa pork plant with 1,200 workers
Packer's pork business saw loss of $128 million in last fiscal year

CN closes deal on Iowa railway
The agreement will link about 275 track miles to the carrier's U.S. rail network
Reading Time: < 1 minute Canadian National Railway (CN) has inked a deal to buy an Iowa railway and connect it to its U.S. rail network, the company announced Dec. 6.

Vilsack hopes fertilizer firms don’t take advantage of Ukraine crisis
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Thursday he hoped fertilizer and agriculture supply companies affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine would not take unfair advantage of the situation, amid already-high fertilizer and crop prices. Fertilizer costs have soared due to rising demand and lower supply as record natural gas and […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soybeans ease as Midwest’s rains seen boosting crop
CBOT December corn up, wheat down
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures fell for a second straight session on Friday as rains were seen boosting harvest prospects in some dry areas of the Midwest farm belt. Wheat futures fell on profit-taking and spillover pressure from lower soybeans, although concerns about global supplies limited declines. Corn was lower much of the […] Read more

Tyson fires seven managers after probe into COVID-19 wagering
Employees had been suspended following lawsuit
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Tyson Foods said Wednesday it had fired seven managers at an Iowa pork plant after investigating allegations that they took bets on how many employees would catch COVID-19. The independent investigation, led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, came in response to a lawsuit filed by the son of a worker at […] Read more

Vilsack expected to return as USDA secretary
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington/Chicago | Reuters — U.S. President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack for agriculture secretary, Axios reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The Biden transition office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. Vilsack, who led the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under […] Read more

U.S. grains: Corn, soy ease as harvest, export prospects weighed
Wheat ends higher after mixed trade
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybeans slipped on Thursday after a seven-month peak a day earlier, while corn eased as traders set recent storm damage against generally strong prospects for harvest yields. Wheat ended higher as traders digested competing signals for global supply. The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade closed down […] Read more

Minnesota fields thrive, Iowa storm damage continues on crop tour
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Scouts on an annual U.S. Midwest crop tour continued to see fields battered by an Aug. 10 derecho storm in central Iowa on Thursday, with corn stalks snapped and ears littering the ground due to the hurricane-like winds. In Iowa, crop prospects swung wildly from field to field, according to scouts […] Read more

Storm and drought impacts on Iowa corn seen in crop tour
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — A clearer picture of damage to crops in the path of last week’s derecho storm emerged on Wednesday, as crop scouts on an annual tour scrambled across blown-over corn stalks and wind-battered soybean fields in Illinois and Iowa. Iowa officials on Tuesday warned much of the crop in the path of […] Read more

Trump visits Iowa as officials warn storm destroyed corn crops
Reading Time: 2 minutes Cedar Rapids | Reuters — U.S. lawmakers and state officials from Iowa said on Tuesday that much of the state’s corn crop will not be harvested following a fierce windstorm last week, as President Donald Trump visited to review the damage. The destruction from the Aug. 10 derecho storm compounded troubles for a U.S. agricultural […] Read more