Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures firmed on Thursday, supported by renewed optimism that the U.S. and China, the world’s largest soybean buyer, will resume trade talks. Chicago Board of Trade January soybeans settled up 5-1/4 cents at $8.88-3/4 per bushel after reaching $8.97-1/2, the contract’s highest since Nov. 2 (all figures US$). CBOT […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans end firm as hopes build for China talks
Canada to work with China on trade deal despite USMCA clause, Trudeau says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Singapore | Reuters — Canada and China will continue to work together toward an “eventual” free trade deal, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday. This is despite the country being a signatory to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which specifies that if one of its partners enters a free trade deal […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans higher on slow harvest pace
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures rose on Wednesday on a slower-than-expected harvest pace and news of fresh export sales, although plentiful global supplies kept a lid on the market, analysts said. Wheat futures fell on sluggish export demand while corn futures ended narrowly mixed. Chicago Board of Trade January soybean futures settled up […] Read more
Stalled farm bill could move fast after Democrat House win
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters – Congress may swiftly resolve a drawn-out impasse on the U.S. Farm Bill now that Democrats are poised to retake control of the legislative body, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee said on Wednesday. Collin Peterson, ranking member and presumptive new chair of committee, said passing the crucial agricultural legislation was going […] Read more
Trump’s trade war looms over divided U.S. farm belt ahead of vote
Reading Time: 4 minutes Reuters – Chuck Wirtz voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election, inspired by the then-political outsider, but the veteran Iowa hog farmer now has buyer’s remorse as the U.S. Republican president’s trade policy exacts a heavy toll on his business. Wirtz, 56, estimates the tariffs resulting from the U.S. trade war with China and […] Read more
Hog industry worldwide getting slaughtered in trade war
Reading Time: 5 minutes Beijing/Chicago/Carambei | Reuters – Ken Maschhoff, chairman of the largest U.S. family-owned pork producer, has watched profits fall as trade tensions rise between the United States and China. His company, The Machhoffs, has halted U.S. projects worth up to $30 million and may move some operations overseas. Investing in domestic operations now would be “ludicrous” […] Read more
EU clear to start talks to increase U.S. beef imports
Reading Time: < 1 minute Brussels | Reuters — European Union countries agreed on Friday to allow negotiations to start with Washington on increasing U.S. beef imports into Europe, in a move that could ease transatlantic trade tensions. The Commission, which negotiates on behalf of the 28 EU nations, said it would open formal talks in the coming days on […] Read more
U.S. Senate will not vote on USMCA in 2018, McConnell says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Senate’s top Republican said on Tuesday that senators will not vote to approve a revised North American trade pact in 2018, leaving the issue to the next Congress. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell told Bloomberg Television that the Senate will not have time to take up the new United […] Read more
World crop briefs: China seeks cuts to soy in feed
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — The China Feed Industry Association is proposing soybean meal in hog rations be reduced, to offset rising costs and reduced supplies caused by the U.S.-China trade war. China imported about 87 per cent of its soybean needs last year and one-third of that came from the U.S., according to a report in […] Read more
Trump raises ethanol use in gasoline, appeases farmers ahead of elections
Reading Time: 3 minutes Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump launched an effort on Tuesday to increase ethanol use in the nation’s gasoline pool, delivering a long-sought political victory to the nation’s Farm Belt and angering oil refiners ahead of November’s congressional elections. Trump announced the lifting of a ban on summer sales of gasoline blended with […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
