Hard white winter wheat growing in North Carolina in 2010. (Dave Marshall photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. winter wheat conditions mostly fair to good

MarketsFarm — The condition of the bulk of the U.S. winter wheat crop, taken from data provided by 17 reporting states, was at 29 per cent fair and 48.1 per cent good at the end of January. The rest of those states’ crops stood at 4.2 very poor, 12.1 poor and 7.2 per cent excellent, […] Read more

(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Cargill suspends shifts at Kansas beef plant after explosion

Chicago | Reuters — Cargill said Thursday it had suspended some shifts at its Dodge City, Kansas beef-packing plant after an explosion injured two employees. Cargill spokesman Daniel Sullivan said the company expects the facility to be fully operational soon and that it would meet all it customer commitments. The company is investigating the cause […] Read more

Workers sit outside the Tyson Fresh Meats processing plant at Holcomb, Kan. on Aug. 12, 2019, three days after a fire heavily damaged the facility. (Photo: Reuters/Adam Shrimplin)

USDA to probe beef market after Tyson plant fire

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue ordered an investigation into widening prices between cattle and beef on Wednesday after a recent fire at a Tyson Foods slaughterhouse in Holcomb, Kansas, shut the plant. Cattle prices have tanked because the fire temporarily eliminated a key buyer of livestock. Producers have worried that meat […] Read more




(NationalBeef.com)

Marfrig to buy control of U.S.-based National Beef

Sao Paulo | Reuters –– Brazil’s Marfrig Global Foods said Monday it would buy control of Kansas City-based National Beef Packing for US$969 million, in a deal that would make it the world’s No. 2 beef processor. Marfrig also said it was seeking to sell an existing U.S. unit, Keystone Food. The proceeds will be […] Read more




The Mississippi River. (Mark D. Tomer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

New Year’s Day cold snap to hit U.S. winter wheat, rivers

Chicago | Reuters — A New Year’s Day cold snap in the southern U.S. Plains poses a threat to winter wheat, particularly in Kansas, the country’s biggest producer of the grain, agricultural meteorologists said. Farmers in Kansas grow hard red winter (HRW) wheat, the largest U.S. wheat class that typically is milled into flour for […] Read more

Syngenta’s headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. (Photo courtesy Syngenta)

Syngenta agrees to settle GMO corn litigation

Reuters — Syngenta has agreed to pay close to US$1.5 billion to resolve lawsuits stemming from its decision to commercialize a genetically modified strain of corn before China approved importing it, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The Swiss company confirmed that it has reached a settlement, without confirming the financial terms. […] Read more