Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters — With seeding roughly halfway complete, the 2023 U.S. hard red winter wheat crop is already being hobbled by drought in the heart of the southern Plains, wheat experts said. Seeding plans may be scaled back in the U.S. breadbasket despite historically high prices for this time of year, reflecting rising global […] Read more
U.S. winter wheat growers seed into dust as Plains drought persists
Biden overhauling U.S. marijuana policy
Prior federal offenses to be pardoned; moves could ease U.S. business for cannabis firms
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Joe Biden took steps to overhaul U.S. policy on marijuana on Thursday by pardoning thousands of people with federal offenses for simple marijuana possession — and initiating a review of how the drug is classified. Biden said thousands of people with prior federal convictions could be denied employment, housing […] Read more
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
