Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures fell to a seven-week low on Tuesday as signs of adequate global supplies and softening world cash prices triggered a round of what appeared to be fund-driven long liquidation, analysts said. Corn futures also fell while soybeans ended flat to fractionally higher after the U.S. Department of Agriculture […] Read more

U.S. grains: Wheat sags on adequate world supplies, fund selling
Corn follows wheat lower; soy flat

Ethanol woes spur new feed focus for Green Plains
Biofuel maker to reinvent itself as DDGS-based feed maker
Chicago | Reuters — Green Plains Inc., one of the biggest U.S. ethanol producers, is planning to flip its business model upside down to survive a crash in prices for the corn-based fuel. The company will invest some $400 million in the next two to three years at its 13 plants to make high-protein, corn-based […] Read more

Drones to be tested against Africa’s locust swarms
U.N.'s FAO testing drones to detect, spray pests
Nairobi | Thomson Reuters Foundation — The United Nations is to test drones equipped with mapping sensors and atomizers to spray pesticides in parts of east Africa battling an invasion of desert locusts that are ravaging crops and exacerbating a hunger crisis. Hundreds of millions of the voracious insects have swept across Ethiopia, Somalia and […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soybeans up as China pledges to fulfill purchases
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures rose for a sixth straight session on Monday on expectations that Beijing will meet the purchasing targets agreed in the Phase One trade deal with Washington, although concerns about the coronavirus outbreak in China capped gains. The most active soybean futures contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade […] Read more

CFIA rethinking limits on travellers’ personal food imports
Consultation running until March
The federal government is considering changes to the amounts of food travellers can bring into Canada with them from other countries for their personal use. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Thursday announced public online consultations on the proposed new limits, which CFIA said would “better reflect the volume of foods typically moved by travellers […] Read more

U.S. grains: Wheat, corn up on technical buying, export optimism
Soybean traders remain cautious
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn and wheat futures rose on Thursday on chart-based buying and short-covering coupled with optimism about prospects for U.S. agricultural export sales to China, traders said. Soybean futures firmed but trailed the advances in grains. Chicago Board of Trade March corn settled up 4-1/4 cents at $3.83-1/2 per bushel after […] Read more
Probe eyes possibility of ‘co-ordinated behaviour’ in Big Ag
Competition Bureau probes majors' response to FBN's Canadian launch
Canada’s Competition Bureau is investigating leading agriculture companies for allegedly attempting to drive a California-based online farm-supply retailer out of the Canadian market. Documents filed in Federal Court show Federated Co-operatives, Cargill, Winfield United Canada, Univar Canada, BASF Canada Inc., Corteva and Bayer CropScience (and, by extension, Monsanto Canada) are all under investigation. Investigators with […] Read more

GFO quits Grain Growers of Canada
Grain Farmers of Ontario flags national group's 'governance' and structure
Grain Farmers of Ontario has dropped out of Grain Growers of Canada. The Ontario organization, which represents about 28,000 barley, corn, oat, soybean and wheat farmers in the province, cited a lack of representation in the national policy group. GFO publicly announced its withdrawal in a news release on Thursday, days after it informed the […] Read more

U.S. grains: Corn, wheat slide on strong dollar, export uncertainty
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago wheat and corn futures fell on Thursday as a strengthening dollar dampened U.S. export prospects and traders continued to wait for signs of China buying agricultural goods, analysts said. Soybean futures eked out a modest advance. Chicago Board of Trade March corn settled down 1-1/2 cents at $3.79-1/4 per bushel […] Read more

Canada to cut speed limits for trains hauling dangerous goods
New curb follows another Saskatchewan crash, fire
Ottawa/Winnipeg | Reuters — The federal government said Thursday it would impose temporary speed limits on trains hauling dangerous goods after a Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) crude oil train derailed and caught fire. The accident, which happened in the early hours of Thursday near Guernsey, Sask., about 40 km south of Humboldt, was the second […] Read more