Reading Time: < 1 minute Weather conditions across the Canadian Prairies and the United States Midwest will likely take somewhat different paths during the first half of July, according to Drew Lerner, president of World Weather Inc. in Overland Park, Kan.
Diverging weather between Prairies, Midwest
Too many tractors: As boom times fade, farm equipment piles up
Reading Time: 3 minutes Falling crop prices are leaving American agriculture equipment sellers with an excess of unsold tractors and combines. To cope with the surplus, dealers are discounting machines, suspending new orders, and even auctioning off equipment at reduced prices.
Tyson Foods to close Iowa pork plant with 1,200 workers
Packer's pork business saw loss of $128 million in last fiscal year
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.
U.S. farmers face harsh economics with record corn supplies in silos
Growers miscalculated when they held on to corn rather than booking sales, experts say
Reading Time: 5 minutes Farmers across the United States are kicking themselves for putting off corn sales after fields dried up in May and June, fueling expectations for higher prices and smaller harvests. Instead, prices tanked as rains saved the crop. The size and speed of the price collapse stung farmers and left their storage bins stuffed with record amounts of corn.
Study shows how U.S. farm landscapes could be reshaped by climate
Plains' wheat belt would see 'hollowing-out'
Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Thomson Reuters Foundation — Climate change could render swaths of agricultural land largely useless for farming in the U.S. South, and force Midwestern farmers to move corn and soybeans elsewhere as crop yields decline, researchers said on Monday. The profits of growing six key crops are set to fall by almost a third […] Read more
New Year’s Day cold snap to hit U.S. winter wheat, rivers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — A New Year’s Day cold snap in the southern U.S. Plains poses a threat to winter wheat, particularly in Kansas, the country’s biggest producer of the grain, agricultural meteorologists said. Farmers in Kansas grow hard red winter (HRW) wheat, the largest U.S. wheat class that typically is milled into flour for […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soy futures weaken on improving weather
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures fell for the second day in a row on Tuesday, pressured by improving weather for harvest in the U.S. Midwest as well as rain forecasts that will boost early crop development in Brazil, traders said. “We are leaking lower,” said Brian Rydlund, a broker at CHS Hedging. “We […] Read more
Polar vortex redux? U.S. forecasters say it could hit next week
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– Forecasters are sending chills down some spines with a prediction that much of the northern half of the U.S. could see frigid weather next week similar to life-threatening lows the polar vortex brought to parts of the country in 2014. Anticipation of a freezing blast began to build this week when […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Soy bearish, corn bullish ahead of tour results
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn and soybean traders are eagerly awaiting the results of a multi-state crop tour, while concerns over Chinese demand are also overhanging the markets. The Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour’s full results are due to be released Friday. So far the tour has been bullish for corn, […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans drop on rainy U.S. Midwest outlook
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures fell 1.5 per cent on Tuesday, pressured by concerns about cooling demand from top importer China and forecasts for rain in the U.S. Midwest at a key point in the crop’s development. Corn firmed as a weekly U.S. Department of Agriculture report showed a slight decline in the […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
