CHICAGO (Reuters) – Some U.S. beef packers are reaping their best profits in 2 1/2-years after the price for beef that they sell to grocers and restaurants hit historic highs, analysts and economists said. Margins for beef processors such as Tyson Foods and Cargill Inc. will continue to widen as long as they are able […] Read more
Stories by Reuters News Service
U.S. grain groups ask Syngenta to delay GM corn not approved by China
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two leading U.S. grain groups have asked Syngenta AG, the world’s largest crop chemicals company, to halt commercialization in the United States of two genetically modified (GM) strains of corn not currently approved in China. The National Grain and Feed Association and North American Export Grain Association asked Syngenta to hold back […] Read more
EU wheat exports could rise as corn fills domestic feed needs – COLUMN
(The author is a Reuters market analyst. The opinions expressed are his own.) CHICAGO – European Union wheat exports are already projected to hit a record 26 million tonnes in 2013-14, but thanks to an abundant supply of cheap corn making its way into feed rations at the expense of wheat, the total amount of […] Read more
Saudi tender latest in wheat demand bump
HAMBURG (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia is the latest in a string of countries this week to buy or tender for wheat to take advantage of its bargain price. The Saudi state grains authority GSFMO has issued an international tender to purchase 660,000 tonnes of wheat, European traders said on Thursday. The recent fall in corn […] Read more
U.S. pork stocks jump to record high
Jan 22 (Reuters) – A jump in the amount of pork bellies stored in U.S. warehouses pushed overall pork inventories in December to a record level, U.S. Department of Agriculture data on Wednesday showed. Analysts think companies are storing product now in expectation of tighter supply later this year. USDA’s monthly Cold Storage report showed […] Read more
Live and fed cattle futures score new high with cash, beef prices
By Theopolis Waters CHICAGO, Jan 22 (Reuters) – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures hit a new high on Wednesday, fueled by similar moves in cash and wholesale beef prices, traders and analysts said. Cash, or slaughter-ready, cattle in Texas and Kansas traded at $147 per hundredweight on Wednesday, surpassing last week’s $142 record in […] Read more
U.S. hog producers take steps to guard against PEDv at winter meetings
(Reuters) – Concern among the top U.S. hog-producing states over a virus that is killing millions of baby pigs has reached such an extent that officials at an industry gathering in Minnesota this week swabbed the trade floor to test for the virus. Meeting organizers in Iowa are relying on producers’ knowledge of basic biosecurity […] Read more
Yellowstone managers reject vaccinating bison with biobullets
(Reuters) – Yellowstone National Park managers have rejected a plan to use air rifles to shoot America’s last herd of purebred bison with so-called biobullets containing a vaccine against brucellosis, in a decision that has riled the U.S. livestock industry. Roughly half of Yellowstone’s 4,600 bison are estimated to have been exposed to brucellosis, a […] Read more
Canada’s Saputo wins majority control of Australia’s Warrnambool
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Canada’s Saputo Inc. said on Wednesday it has secured majority control of Australia’s Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Co. Holdings Ltd., putting pressure on rival bidder Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co. to concede defeat. Saputo said it had increased its shareholding in Australia’s oldest dairy maker to 52.7 percent, giving it control after […] Read more
Live cattle futures trade mixed; hogs weaker
(Reuters) – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures traded mixed in choppy action on Wednesday morning, pressured by caution about cash prices, while persistent record-high beef prices offered support, traders said. The record-setting pace in wholesale beef values on Tuesday sent packer margins to a 30 month high. CME livestock investors are keeping tabs on […] Read more
