Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures tumbled two per cent or more on Monday, with the front-month June contract falling by its three-cents per pound daily limit in a technical selloff, traders said. Sufficient cattle supplies and weaker trades last week in U.S. Plains cash steer markets also weighed on futures. […] Read more

U.S. livestock: June live cattle limit down in technical selloff

U.S. ethanol makers snap up cheap sorghum after China tariffs
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. ethanol makers have joined global livestock producers to snap up discounted American sorghum supplies after buyers in China backed out of deals due to stiff anti-dumping tariffs on the grain imposed by Beijing in a mounting trade dispute. Sorghum is used to feed animals and represents a fraction of the […] Read more

POET unseats ADM as top global fuel ethanol maker
Chicago | Reuters — Privately held, U.S.-based POET has overtaken industry pioneer and global grain merchant Archer Daniels Midland to become the top ethanol producer in the world, the companies told Reuters. ADM had been the biggest ethanol maker since the U.S. began requiring refiners to mix billions of gallons of biofuels into the nation’s […] Read more

USDA to evaluate new release schedule for livestock reports
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is analyzing information and surveying the livestock sector to determine whether the agency should change the times it releases cattle and hog reports, a top agency official said on Tuesday. USDA is open to changing its schedules in 2019 if the review indicates that is warranted, […] Read more

U.S. to export pork to Argentina after 26 years
Washington/Chicago | Reuters — U.S. pork exporters will soon be free to ship meat to Argentina for the first time in 26 years after the two countries thrashed out an agreement to overturn an Argentinian import ban. The deal is a sliver of good news for U.S. farmers facing trade tariffs and disruption to exports […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soybeans rally as market digests Chinese tariff threat
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures rallied more than one per cent on Thursday as investors played down the immediate impact of proposed Chinese tariffs on U.S. supplies, a move that had sent prices plunging a day earlier. U.S. wheat futures jumped as much as two per cent, lifted by worries that cold temperatures […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soy, corn tumble as China slaps tariffs on imports
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures tumbled two per cent on Wednesday after China readied tariffs against U.S. soy, corn, beef and other goods to retaliate against the Trump administration’s planned tariffs on Chinese exports as a trade war intensified. U.S. corn futures also fell sharply, then recovered a portion of the heavy losses. […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hogs mostly higher on bargain-buying
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. livestock futures were mostly higher on Wednesday, with both cattle and hogs recovering from recent lows on bargain buying and positioning ahead of government supply data, traders and analysts said. Most lean hog contracts jumped three per cent or more on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange after earlier notching lifetime lows. […] Read more

U.S. grains: Wheat drops on forecast for rains
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago wheat futures dropped to a 2-1/2-week low on Friday on outlooks for rains by this weekend that should alleviate stress on some crops in the parched U.S. Plains growing region, traders said. CBOT May contract wheat settled down 11 cents at $4.67-3/4 per bushel, bringing the losses for the week […] Read more

U.S. grains: Chicago wheat sharply lower in technical sell-off
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade wheat fell nearly two per cent on Thursday in a technical sell-off amid outlooks for rain in the parched U.S. Plains crop belt, traders and analysts said. Disappointing weekly U.S. wheat export sales added to headwinds, with CBOT May wheat dropping 10 cents to $4.78-3/4 per bushel, […] Read more