By Theopolis Waters CHICAGO, April 15 (Reuters) – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle turned lower, pressured by profit-taking and uncertainty regarding this week’s cash market, traders said. Bullish participants see packers paying steady to higher money for cattle to be delivered during the first full slaughter week after the Easter holiday. They also cited possible […] Read more
Stories by Reuters News Service
French parliament bans cultivation of GM corn
PARIS (Reuters) — France’s lower house of parliament adopted a law on Tuesday prohibiting the cultivation of any variety of genetically modified corn, saying it posed a risk to the environment. France adopted a decree last month to halt the planting of Monsanto’s insect-resistant MON810 corn, the only GM crop allowed for cultivation in the […] Read more
Cargill expects flour merger with ConAgra to be finalized in six to eight weeks
WINNIPEG (Reuters) — Agribusiness company Cargill Inc. expects its flour mill merger with ConAgra Foods Inc. to be resolved positively in six to eight weeks, Executive Chairman Greg Page said on Tuesday. The combined entity, to be called Ardent Mills, would join ConAgra with Horizon Milling LLC — a joint operation between Cargill and U.S. […] Read more
Hard freeze in southern U.S. Plains nips at wheat crop
CHICAGO (Reuters) — Temperatures dropped well below freezing in the southern U.S. Plains wheat belt early Tuesday and likely hurt some fields already stressed by drought, but the relative immaturity of the crop prevented more widespread damage, meteorologists said. “Most of the injury will be to the more advanced crops in irrigated fields of the […] Read more
Most climate models show El Nino’s return within months, UN says
GENEVA, April 15 (Reuters) – A majority of weather forecasting models indicate that an El Nino weather phenomenon may develop around the middle of the year, but it is too early to assess its likely strength, the U.N. World Meteorological Organization said on Tuesday. El Nino, characterised by unusually warm surface temperatures in the central […] Read more
USDA considers mandatory reports of deadly pig virus outbreaks
CHICAGO (Reuters) — The United States is considering rules that would require outbreaks of a deadly pig virus to be reported to the government in an effort to improve tracking of the disease, which has already spread to 30 states, an industry group said on Monday. Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus has killed millions of baby […] Read more
LIVESTOCK-Fund buying sends CME hogs mostly higher
CHICAGO, April 14 (Reuters) – Most Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog contracts gained ground on Monday with help from fund buying and anticipation of reduced production in the weeks ahead, traders and analysts said. Some packing plants plan to be dark during the Easter holiday weekend, limiting their need for hogs. Processors have already cut operations […] Read more
World trade picture improves but 2014 still below trend: WTO
GENEVA (Reuters) — The World Trade Organization slightly raised its 2014 forecast for growth in global goods trade to 4.7 percent on Monday, saying it did not expect a return to the historical trend level of 5.3 percent until 2015. “If GDP forecasts hold true, we expect a broad-based but modest upturn in the volume […] Read more
U.S. pork deal earns two Chinese WH Group executives $600M bonus
HONG KONG (Reuters) — Two senior executives of China’s biggest pork producer WH Group Ltd. received a combined $600 million payout for helping the Chinese company seal last year’s record $4.9 billion takeover of U.S.-based Smithfield Foods Inc, an unusually high incentive for an acquisition. The bonus, disclosed in a public filing, is equivalent to […] Read more
Analyst cuts Black Sea grain crop estimates due to unrest, weather
PARIS (Reuters) — Rising turmoil in Ukraine and persistent dry weather throughout the Black Sea region prompted French analyst Agritel to cut all its 2014 grain output forecasts for the region, a note seen by Reuters on Monday showed. Ukraine and Russia, among the world’s largest grain exporters, have struggled to raise financing to sow […] Read more
