Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — JBS USA on Monday halted production at a Nebraska beef plant that slaughters about five per cent of U.S. cattle due to a fire, but said the company expects to resume operations on Tuesday. The temporary closure highlighted concerns among lawmakers and ranchers that the U.S. is vulnerable to supply disruptions […] Read more
JBS plans to reopen Nebraska beef plant damaged in fire
'Primary production areas' not hit
Ransomware attack on JBS halts Canadian, U.S. slaughter
Cyberattack likely from Russia, White House says
Reading Time: 4 minutes Chicago/Aboard Air Force One | Reuters — Brazil’s JBS SA told the U.S. government that a ransomware attack on the company that has disrupted meat production in North America and Australia originated from a criminal organization likely based in Russia, the White House said on Tuesday. JBS is the world’s largest meatpacker and the cyberattack […] Read more
Trump questions request for Chinese delay on farm trip
Reading Time: 2 minutes United Nations | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday questioned a decision by his top trade negotiators to ask Chinese officials to delay a planned trip to U.S. farming regions after trade talks last week, saying he wanted China to buy more U.S. farm products. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters at […] Read more
Hopes for trade breakthrough fade as China cancels U.S. farm visits
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — A U.S.-China trade deal appeared elusive on Friday after Chinese officials unexpectedly canceled a visit to farms in Montana and Nebraska amid two days of ongoing talks in Washington. Chinese officials were expected to visit U.S. farmers next week as a goodwill gesture, but canceled to return to China sooner than […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn up on China buying, flood worries
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures rose to a 3-1/2-week high on Friday as China booked its largest purchase of the grain in more than five years and as flooding in the western U.S. Midwest raised concerns over spring planting. Technical selling and profit-taking later pulled corn from the highs, although the market closed […] Read more
VIDEO: Tractor operator saves cow trapped in mud after flood
Reading Time: < 1 minute AccuWeather – Dubas Equipment in Nebraska shared this video of the careful efforts a tractor operator used with a front loader to save the life of a cow stuck in the mud after the state’s historic flooding. The video has since gone viral so Dubas has put together a “Nebraska Strong” t-shirt to sell with […] Read more
Grain markets walled off from flood impacts by mountains of supplies
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
Floods shut nearly a sixth of U.S. ethanol production
Reading Time: 3 minutes Mead, Neb./New York | Reuters — Massive flooding in the U.S. Midwest has knocked out roughly 13 per cent of the nation’s ethanol production capacity, as plants in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota have been forced to shut down or scale back production following the devastation. Production facilities owned by large companies like Archer Daniels […] Read more
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. 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
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
