Workers sit outside the Tyson Fresh Meats processing plant at Holcomb, Kan. on Aug. 12, 2019, three days after a fire heavily damaged the facility. (Photo: Reuters/Adam Shrimplin)

USDA to probe beef market after Tyson plant fire

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue ordered an investigation into widening prices between cattle and beef on Wednesday after a recent fire at a Tyson Foods slaughterhouse in Holcomb, Kansas, shut the plant. Cattle prices have tanked because the fire temporarily eliminated a key buyer of livestock. Producers have worried that meat […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soy slumps on improved crop rating

U.S. grains: Soy slumps on improved crop rating

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. soybean futures retreated on Tuesday on improving crop prospects and a lack of progress in trade talks with China, the world’s top importer of the oilseed, traders said. Prices took a hit after soybeans climbed on Monday on short covering and hopes for easing tensions in the trade war between […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder cattle market recovers

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling markets traded $4-$6 higher on average; some packages in Alberta sold $8 to as much as $10 above week-ago levels. Larger feedlot operations were very aggressive on 750- to 900-pounders. The quality of yearlings is excellent at this time of year. Comments from the front row suggest most […] Read more



CBOT December 2019 wheat with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat slides on global supplies, drags corn lower

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures fell to a three-month low on Tuesday, pressured by ample global supplies and technical selling, analysts said. Corn futures also hit a three-month low, turning down as wheat sagged and storms brought crop-friendly rains to the Midwest. But soybean futures clung to modest gains, supported by declining U.S. […] Read more

Canada/U.S. border signage in downtown Detroit. (RiverNorthPhotography/Getty Images)

USDA attache to Canada predicts larger wheat crop

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — A new report from the Ottawa-based attache to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has raised its estimate of total wheat production in Canada for 2019. The report Thursday from attache Phil Hayes increases FAS’s estimate of wheat production in Canada for 2019 to 32.65 million tonnes, compared to last […] Read more





CBOT December 2019 corn with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn futures break losing streak

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures steadied near a three-month low on Thursday as traders said the market was oversold following sharp declines stemming from a bearish U.S. Agriculture Department harvest forecast issued on Monday. Soybean futures traded higher overnight but turned lower after a weak export sales report. Soy futures settled near session […] Read more

CBOT November 2019 soybeans with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soybean futures fall

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures fell 1.5 per cent on Wednesday, with investors shedding risky assets as concerns about the global economy spilled over into the grain markets. Forecasts for some rain in key growing areas of the U.S. Midwest in the coming weeks added to the pressure on the corn market and […] Read more