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

U.S. grains: Soybeans firm on Chinese trade prospects

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures firmed on Tuesday on hopes of fresh export sales to China after Beijing gave major crushers waivers to import U.S. soybeans without retaliatory tariffs. Futures, however, drifted from early highs as new export deals failed to materialize and as farmers took advantage of the price spike to sell […] Read more

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

U.S. grains: Corn, soy decline as China trade uncertainty lingers

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn and soybean futures closed lower on Tuesday on technical selling and seasonal pressure from the expanding U.S. harvest, along with uncertainty about the terms of a U.S.-China trade pact announced last month, analysts said. Wheat followed the weaker trend, with all three markets retreating from multi-month highs established a […] Read more



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

U.S. grains: Corn jumps four per cent

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures surged more than four per cent on Friday while wheat and soybeans also firmed, buoyed by expectations for a partial U.S.-China trade deal and worries about wintry weather threatening crops in the Midwest, analysts said. Chicago Board of Trade December corn settled up 17-1/2 cents at $3.97-3/4 a […] Read more



Louis Dreyfus’ oilseed processing plant at Yorkton, Sask. (LDC.com)

Louis Dreyfus expects tough year on trade war, swine fever

Paris | Reuters — Agricultural commodity giant Louis Dreyfus warned on Monday that international trade tensions and a swine disease epidemic would continue to weigh on its activities in the rest of the year after pushing down first-half profit. The interim results reversed a rebound in group profits in the second half of last year […] Read more


Italian sausages, cheeses and other traditional foods for sale in Milan’s Piazza del Duomo in December 2016. (Florin1961/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. set to widen trade war on EU front

London/Brussels/Washington | Reuters — The United States won approval on Wednesday to impose import tariffs on US$7.5 billion worth of European aircraft and agricultural goods over illegal EU subsidies handed to Airbus, threatening to trigger a tit-for-tat transatlantic trade war as the global economy falters. The decision by the World Trade Organization pushes a 15-year […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Cargill’s quarterly profit up on beef, egg demand

Chicago | Reuters — Global commodities trader Cargill reported a three per cent increase in adjusted quarterly profit on Thursday, citing strong consumer demand for meat and eggs in North America and growth in its animal nutrition businesses. Cargill, the largest privately held U.S. company, said its adjusted operating earnings rose to $908 million in […] Read more


Wagyu beef on skewers at a Tokyo market. (Michal_Staniewski/iStock/Getty Images)

Japan deal levels field for U.S. beef, but sales surge unlikely

Tokyo/Chicago | Reuters — U.S. beef exporters, unhappy after President Donald Trump pulled out of a multilateral trade pact in 2017, stand to sell more meat in Japan after the U.S. leader and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe cut a deal to slice into tariffs. But agriculture experts say that for now, that boost may […] Read more