Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump has tentatively approved a plan to increase the amount of biofuels that oil refiners are required to blend each year to compensate for exemptions handed out to small refiners by the Environmental Protection Agency, two sources familiar with the matter said. The plan is intended to […] Read more
Trump backs plan boosting biofuel quotas 10 per cent in 2020
Trump trade-war aid sows frustration in farm country
Reading Time: 4 minutes Rochester, Minnesota | Reuters — The U.S. government is paying Texas cotton farmer J. Walt Hagood US$145 an acre for losses related to U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies. But Minnesota soybean farmer Betsy Jensen will get just US$35 an acre. Both farmers’ sales have taken heavy blows in Trump’s trade war with China. Neither […] Read more
Trump promises ethanol-related ‘giant package’ to please farmers
Reading Time: 3 minutes Washington/South Sioux City | Reuters — President Donald Trump said on Thursday his administration is planning a “giant package” related to ethanol that would please U.S. farmers angry that many more oil refiners have been freed from obligations to use the corn-based fuel. Clashes between farmers and the oil industry over biofuel policy have posed […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybean futures rise as trade tensions ease
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures rose on Monday as President Donald Trump predicted a trade deal with China, cooling fears about escalating tensions with the top importer of the oilseed. Traders grew hopeful that the world’s two largest economies could move toward an agreement to end their trade war as Trump said he […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn edges higher on cool weather
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures inched higher on Thursday, stabilizing from three-month lows set a day earlier, supported by worries that cool weather could slow the maturity of the delayed U.S. crop, analysts said. Wheat rose on technical buying and better-than-expected weekly U.S. export sales. But soybean futures declined, retreating from early strength […] Read more
Mexico and U.S. reach deal to end tomato tariff spat
Reading Time: 2 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Mexican tomato producers have reached a deal with the U.S. government to avoid an anti-dumping investigation, Mexican Economy Minister Graciela Marquez said on Wednesday, ending a testy tariff dispute that had rumbled on for months. Under the deal, the vast majority of Mexican tomato exports will be subject to border […] Read more
White House seen aiming to calm U.S. farmer unrest over biofuels
Reading Time: 3 minutes New York/Washington | Reuters — President Donald Trump’s administration has been scrambling to stem the tide of rising anger in Farm Belt states after its decision this month to allow numerous oil refiners to mix less ethanol into their gasoline, sources told Reuters on Tuesday. Trump held a two-hour meeting on Monday with members of […] Read more
Bunge CEO looks to avoid ‘stroke-of-the-pen’ risk in ongoing trade war
Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters — A year removed from a losing bet that the U.S.-China trade war would be promptly resolved, global grains trader Bunge is facing an even more uncertain business environment, with a new CEO determined not to get burned again. Gregory Heckman, who joined Bunge’s board late last year and took on the […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn, soy, wheat rise but post big weekly losses
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn, soybean and wheat futures rose on Friday on a technical rebound as traders evened up positions after the grains market posted sharp declines during the week. The heavy weekly losses — corn posted its biggest weekly drop in percentage terms since June 2016 — stemmed from a surprise boost […] Read more
Ag-state senator says Trump EPA ‘screwed us’ with biofuel waivers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — Iowa’s Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency has “screwed” the U.S. ethanol industry and farmers by granting waivers to 31 small petroleum refineries, effectively exempting them from an obligation to use more ethanol in their products. The powerful senator, who represents the largest ethanol-producing state in […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
