File photo of a truck arriving at a Smithfield Foods pork plant at Smithfield, Va. on Oct. 17, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Tom Polansek)

Smithfield Foods to pay US$75 million in pork price-fixing settlement

Follows similar settlement by JBS

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Smithfield Foods has agreed to pay US$75 million to settle a lawsuit by consumers who accused the meat producer and several competitors of conspiring to inflate prices in the $20 billion-a-year U.S. pork market by limiting supply. A preliminary settlement in the antitrust case was filed on Tuesday night with the federal court […] Read more

File photo of a BNSF grain train crossing the Gassman Coulee trestle near Minot, North Dakota. (Photo courtesy BNSF Railway)

U.S. railroad strike averted

Biden calls deal a 'win for America;' strike's impact would have reached up into Canada

Reading Time: 4 minutes Updated | Washington | Reuters — Major U.S. railroads and unions secured a tentative deal on Thursday after 20 hours of intense talks brokered by President Joe Biden’s administration to avert a rail shutdown that could have hit food and fuel supplies across the country and beyond. Biden called the deal a “big win for […] Read more


Photo: File

Larger U.S. barley crop expected in 2022

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Barley production in the U.S. is forecast to be up substantially in 2022, with early indications pointing to the largest crop in seven years. In its latest production estimates, the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast the country’s 2022 barley crop at 3.8 million tonnes, which would be up from the 2.6 million tonnes […] Read more

A Mexican port-of-entry sign on Highway 92 near Naco, Arizona. (Rex_Wholster/iStock/Getty Images)

CUSMA leaders to discuss agreement during Mexico visit

Reading Time: < 1 minute Mexico City | Reuters — U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will discuss terms of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico (CUSMA) agreement, which was ratified in 2018, during a visit to Mexico, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday. “We’ll have a summit to discuss terms of the trade agreement treaty… in Mexico,” […] Read more


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June USDA report includes few changes or surprises

U.S. corn, soybean carryout projections down from May's

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — There were only a handful of major changes in the monthly supply and demand report released Friday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). “I thought it was neutral to a little bit friendly,” said Terry Reilly, grains analyst with Futures International in Chicago. Perhaps most notable were the ending stocks for new-crop […] Read more

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U.S. EPA sets 2020-2022 biofuel mandates, denies refiners waivers

Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday issued biofuel blending mandates for 2022 and the prior two years — with this year’s number below one proposed in December — while denying oil refiners waivers to be exempt from the requirements. The EPA set biofuel blending mandates for 2022 at 20.63 […] Read more


File photo of a flock of sheep in eastern Idaho. (Samson1976/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. sheep herders’ suit alleges cartel-like wage suppression

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters –– Sheep herders in the U.S. West have banded together to sue their employers, accusing them of operating an illegal cartel that artificially suppresses their wages, according to court documents filed Wednesday in Nevada. The case could have implications for how antitrust laws are applied to labour markets, according to legal experts, as the […] Read more

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U.S. eyes baby formula imports amid nationwide shortage

About 40 per cent of formula products out of stock in U.S.

Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — U.S. health regulators will announce action on baby formula imports as soon as Monday to address a nationwide shortage that has left parents scrambling to feed their babies, the Food and Drug Administration’s chief said. FDA commissioner Robert Califf provided no details, but President Joe Biden said last week he was […] Read more


A grain storage bin lay on a gravel road near Litchfield, Nebraska, about 230 km west of Lincoln, after high winds swept across the U.S. Great Plains and upper Midwest, in this still image from a social media video. (Kevin Fulton image via Reuters)

Dust storm, hurricane-force winds tear across U.S. upper Midwest

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Hurricane-force winds tore across the U.S. upper Midwest Thursday evening, sending walls of dust across cities and rural towns, causing widespread property damage and killing at least two people. Straight-line winds up to 170 km/h reached from Kansas to Wisconsin, pushing waves of farmland topsoil across the horizon and plunging communities […] Read more

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U.S. EPA proposal likes canola oil for renewable fuel

A final EPA decision is expected this summer, which, if favourable, could add new demand for Canada's premier oilseed

Reading Time: 3 minutes Canola has another feather in its cap — one which is expected to put more money in farmers’ pockets. In a ‘proposed decision’ released in April the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized canola oil’s value as an environment-friendly alternative to fossil-based fuel — a move that’s expected to add new demand for the crop. […] Read more