(Photo courtesy United Soybean Board)

U.S. confirms China soybean purchase, but no clarity over more sales

Chicago/Washington | Reuters — U.S. government officials on Thursday hailed China’s first meager purchase of U.S. soybeans since its trade war with the United States began in July and said they hoped for, but could not guarantee, more to come. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced private sales of 1.13 million tonnes of U.S. […] Read more



(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. grains: Soy climbs on hopes for China buying

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures closed higher on Tuesday as traders anticipated potential Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products, and shrugged off a bearish monthly global soy inventories report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Corn firmed, led by soybeans, but wheat futures fell after USDA raised its forecasts of U.S. and global […] Read more

(USDA.gov via Flickr)

USDA keeps domestic soy stocks view steady

Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Agriculture Department on Tuesday left its estimate for domestic soybean supplies unchanged but boosted its outlook for world stocks amid rising expectations for the South American crop. U.S. soybean ending stocks for the 2018-19 marketing year were pegged at 955 million bushels, the government said in its monthly supply […] Read more



CBOT January 2019 soybeans, with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans firm on China trade hopes

Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. soybean futures firmed for the fifth time in six sessions on Friday on solid weekly export sales data and short-covering ahead of the weekend as the market waited for signs that China may soon resume purchases from the United States. Corn also advanced and wheat climbed to a 5-1/2 week […] Read more


Resurrection of GIPSA Rule a bad idea

Free Market Reflections with Steve Dittmer

I’m sure you all are tired of bad ideas from south of the border. So I’m sad to report that one of our fringe groups down here has partially resurrected one of the most self-destructive ideas to ever come out of government, in collusion with attorneys and livestock industry malcontents. Those of you with memory […] Read more