Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters — The European Commission announced more help for the agriculture sector on Monday, following protests by farmers who say they have been hit hard by a Russian ban on Western food imports. The focus of the support package is on the dairy, pigmeat, fruit and vegetable sectors. It includes measures such as […] Read more
EU promises protesting farmers more help, no new money
Cargill to stop selling seed, inputs in Black Sea region
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– Cargill will stop selling seeds, fertilizer and crop chemicals to farmers in the Black Sea region, as the global trader continues to cut back operations in the face of sliding commodity prices. The 150-year old company, one of the world’s largest privately held corporations, is in the middle of a restructuring […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat rises on bargain buying
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures firmed Wednesday, edging higher on a round of bargain buying and short-covering a day after prices hit their lowest in nearly six years, traders said. Corn and soybean futures were close to unchanged for most of the day but closed in negative territory. A bearish […] Read more
U.S. grains: Fund short-covering lifts grain/soy complex
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean and corn futures climbed to six-week highs on Tuesday on fund-driven buying as the grain complex shrugged off weakness in global equity markets and crude oil, traders said. But wheat futures settled flat as all three commodities pared gains by the close. At the Chicago Board of Trade, the […] Read more
Russia now expected to leave grain tax scheme intact
Reading Time: 2 minutes Moscow | Reuters — Russia, one of the world’s largest wheat exporters, is not expected to change its current regime of taxes on grain exports, sources said on Friday, following proposals to change them. Concerns over the possibility of tougher limits on Russia’s foreign sales of wheat sent global prices to a one-month high earlier […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat snaps rally, soy firm, corn flat
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. wheat futures fell on Wednesday on fund-driven technical selling and a proposal by Russia’s farm ministry to cut a wheat export tax, which tempered speculation about export restrictions. Corn coasted for the second straight day, while soybean futures rose on dry weather concerns in South America and southern Africa. At […] Read more
Major investment to build Farmers Edge’s data power
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian precision agronomy and farm data management firm Farmers Edge plans to keep taking its services to previously underserved acres around the world, with a major cash infusion from a group of its backers. Japanese commodities trading and investment firm Mitsui, Toronto commercial real estate company Osmington and the Green Growth Fund operated by investment […] Read more
Russia said considering export duties for corn, barley
Reading Time: < 1 minute Moscow | Reuters –– Russia’s agriculture ministry is considering introducing an export duty for corn and barley, Russian news agency Interfax reported Wednesday, citing First Deputy Minister Evgenii Gromyko. “We will discuss this question,” he said. Gromyko added that the question was planned to be discussed at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat up on talk of Russia curbing exports
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures climbed to a one-week high on Monday on short-covering and concerns about the possibility that Russia might limit exports, traders said. Soybeans rose, led by soymeal, while corn ended nearly unchanged. At the Chicago Board of Trade, March wheat settled up six cents at $4.81-1/2 per bushel (all […] Read more
Russia considering export duties on fertilizers
Reading Time: < 1 minute Stavropol | Reuters –– Russia’s government is looking into introducing duties on exports of mineral fertilizers to make them more affordable for the country’s farmers, President Vladimir Putin said Monday. Meeting his loyalists from the pro-Kremlin public movement, the All-Russia People’s Front, Putin heard compalints from a farmer saying that massive exports of mineral fertilizers […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
