Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. grain and soybean futures prices rebounded on Thursday on renewed Chinese buying of corn and soy and as forecasts for sub-freezing temperatures across the country stoked concerns that some vulnerable crops may sustain damage. Gains, however, were tempered by plentiful supplies and worries about demand as traders started positioning ahead […] Read more
U.S. grains: Futures rebound on Chinese buying, Midwest frost concerns
Freezing forecast raises concern about Midwest crops
Trump asks U.S. Justice Department to look into meat price disparities
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had urged the Justice Department to look into allegations that the meatpacking industry broke antitrust law because the price that slaughterhouses pay farmers for animals had dropped even as meat prices rose. “I’ve asked the Justice Department to look into it. … I’ve […] Read more
U.S. grains: Choppy markets settle lower as demand destruction persists
Corn, soybeans down slightly as traders square positions
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn and soybean futures fell slightly on Tuesday as traders squared positions at month-end. A faster-than-average U.S. seeding pace in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Monday crop conditions report pressured corn futures, while traders noted the condition of U.S. winter wheat was not as good as expected. Demand for […] Read more
U.S. grains: Active planting weighs on corn
Chicago wheat hits lowest level since March 19
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago corn futures slid on Monday on favourable U.S. planting weather coupled with struggling crude oil prices that continue to pressure demand for corn-based ethanol, analysts said. Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) wheat futures slipped to one-month lows as expected rain across Europe eased concerns about crop stress while competitive Saudi […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn gains on short-covering
Soy firms on export deal
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures rose 2.4 per cent on Wednesday as traders unwound bearish bets following the market’s decline to its lowest since September 2009 on Tuesday, traders said. “Corn got down to the lowest prices yesterday we have seen in many years, and we have a short-covering bounce,” said Greg Grow, […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn hits lowest since September 2009
Soybeans firm on bargain buying; wheat mixed
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures fell 1.4 per cent on Tuesday to a fresh 10-1/2-year low as crumbling demand for fuel due to the global coronavirus pandemic threatened the ethanol sector. “They are taking their cue from energy,” said Mark Schultz, chief market analyst at Northstar Commodity. “It is a pretty tough business […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Corn values stabilize
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — The April world agriculture supply and demand estimates (WASDE) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture didn’t hold much sway over corn on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) on Thursday. Corn ending stocks for the U.S. were pegged at 53.15 million tonnes, about five million tonnes higher than the previous month’s report. However, […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans, wheat climb on currency
Corn rises and falls with oil
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean and wheat futures on Thursday posted their biggest gains in two weeks, as a falling U.S. dollar made exports more attractive against South American and Black Sea grain producers. Corn futures climbed early on strong U.S. export sales and an early jump in crude oil prices, but settled only […] Read more
Low-path H7N3 bird flu believed to have gone high-path in U.S.
High-path H7N3 found in South Carolina turkeys
Reading Time: 2 minutes A low-pathogenicity (“low-path”) strain of H7N3 avian influenza that recently turned up in turkeys in the southeastern U.S. appears to have gone high-path. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on Thursday confirmed highly-pathogenic H7N3 avian flu in a commercial turkey flock in Chesterfield County, in northern South Carolina. “It […] Read more
USDA raises corn, soy, wheat supply outlook
Ending stocks expected up on slowing export demand
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Agriculture Department raised its outlook for domestic supplies of corn on Thursday on expectations for reduced usage by ethanol producers, as demand for the alternative fuel has been cratering due to the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The government also bumped up its wheat and soybean ending stocks view […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
