LIVESTOCK-CME live cattle plunge 3-cent limit after USDA reports

CHICAGO, July 24 (Reuters) – Some Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle contracts settled down the 3.000-cent per pound daily price limit on Monday following Friday’s bearish U.S. Department of Agriculture cattle reports, said traders. Friday’s USDA monthly Cattle-On-Feed report showed the largest June cattle placements for the month in 11 years. The twice-yearly U.S. cattle […] Read more


Crop futures end week on down note as weather improves

Rain in western Canada and an improved forecast for the U.S. Midwest weighed down crop futures on Friday. Corn notched the biggest decline, sagging 2.7 percent and falling below the key $4 a bushel level. “Corn was down all day long off of unexpected rains through the center of Iowa and a six-to-ten day model […] Read more


Improved cash prices lifts CME live cattle futures

CHICAGO, July 21 (Reuters) – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures finished firmer on Friday, led by higher cash prices than earlier this week, traders said. Technical buying and futures’ discounts to cash returns provided more market support. Investors were awaiting the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s monthly Cattle On Feed report on Friday at 2 […] Read more

Italy institutes origin labels for pasta and rice

ROME, July 20 (Reuters) – All packets of pasta and rice sold in Italy will have to include labels of origin showing where the produce was grown, the government ruled on Thursday, a move aimed at protecting local farmers. The agriculture and industry ministers signed a decree ordering the new labelling policy, saying it would […] Read more


Soybeans surpassed hard red spring wheat acres in Manitoba this year, with just under three million acres planted to the oilseed.  |  File photo

Manitoba spring wheat falls to third place

The Brandon Wheat Kings junior hockey team may want to consider a name change now that hard red spring wheat has become the third string crop in Manitoba. For the first time since records have been kept, hard red spring wheat is not No. 1 or No. 2 in crop acreage in the province. Manitoba […] Read more

Canadian lentil production and exports are expected to drop, and sourcing new crop may be difficult.
|  File photo

Rebound in red lentils up to Mother Nature

Dry conditions on parts of the Prairies will see production drop, but major export markets have sufficient stocks

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Red lentil markets are in gridlock, according to a panel of experts gathered at Pulses 2017. “The Canadian supply may be short, while on the other hand destination markets are full,” said Farhan Adam, chief executive officer with Marina Commodities Inc. “In short, it’s a standstill situation for Canadian lentils. The future […] Read more

EU rapeseed looks good

HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) — The European Union will likely harvest a large rapeseed crop despite extreme weather from drought to excessive rain, experts said. “The crop is looking decent de-spite the weather extremes, and I would expect the EU’s rapeseed imports in the new 2017-18 season will be cut by about 500,000 tonnes to around […] Read more


Australia suffers drought

SYDNEY (Reuters) — Australia’s wheat crop is on course to be closer to 20 million tonnes than the offical June forecast of 24 million as dry weather crimps yields in the world’s fourth-largest exporter. “The market is beginning to factor in a crop of between 19 million to 21 million tonnes,” said Matthew Pattison, a […] Read more

No pea rally expected until winter

A large Indian stockpile will reduce demand to that country but exports to China are expected to increase

VANCOUVER — Big pea inventories in Canada’s top market will keep a lid on prices until winter, says a trader. Eric Fossay, senior merchant with Cargill Canada, said India has lots of stocks on hand and is well covered for the start of 2017-18 with new crop purchases from Canada. “My expectation is demand will […] Read more