Reuters — The U.S. government plans to buy milk and meat from farmers as part of an initial US$15.5 billion effort to help them weather the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Wednesday. The decision comes amid rising pressure from the U.S. farm lobby for government purchases as growers and […] Read more
Tag Archives pandemic — page 18
Trump administration aims to buy milk, meat to help farmers, Perdue says
Homeland Security to ease visa rules for ag workers
ICE weekly outlook: Loonie’s rally kept canola lower
CBOT soymeal, soyoil also drag on canola
MarketsFarm — Canola prices dropped over the last week due to a combination of factors, according to David Derwin of PI Financial in Winnipeg. The Canadian dollar was one of those factors, as it had a small rally that pushed the loonie to almost 72 U.S. cents. That rally ended Wednesday, however, when the dollar […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Poor ethanol demand weighing on corn
MarketsFarm — Losses in crude oil and ethanol have weighed heavily on grain and oilseed markets, with Chicago Board of Trade corn falling to fresh contract lows Wednesday. General uncertainty over COVID-19 is expected to keep a bearish tone in the market. “The big thing has been the overall slowdown in ethanol production,” said Tom […] Read more
Quebec pork plant to restart at reduced pace
Olymel plant closed due to COVID-19 cases
Olymel plans to gradually bring a hog plant in Quebec’s Mauricie region out of a two-week shutdown starting Tuesday following a number of COVID-19 cases among its employees. The meat packing arm of Quebec-based Sollio Co-operative Group announced Saturday it will resume slaughter and cutting operations at Yamachiche, Que. starting Tuesday. Nine people working at […] Read more
USDA raises corn, soy, wheat supply outlook
Ending stocks expected up on slowing export demand
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Agriculture Department raised its outlook for domestic supplies of corn on Thursday on expectations for reduced usage by ethanol producers, as demand for the alternative fuel has been cratering due to the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The government also bumped up its wheat and soybean ending stocks view […] Read more
Smithfield shuts South Dakota pork plant over COVID-19
Chicago | Reuters — Smithfield Foods, the world’s biggest pork processor, is temporarily closing a massive plant at Sioux Falls, S.D., the company said Thursday, after more than 80 workers there tested positive for coronavirus. The shutdown is the latest disruption to the U.S. food supply chain from the pandemic and comes as grocery store […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Canola market floating headline to headline
MarketsFarm — The ICE Futures canola market moved lower during the week ended Wednesday, but activity was choppy as futures reacted to broad swings in global financial markets. While the looming growing season should be starting to garner some attention, the COVID-19 pandemic “has grabbed all of the headlines and all of the oxygen out […] Read more
Pandemic to delay StatsCan’s agriculture reports
MarketsFarm — Farmers, commodity traders and market analysts will have to wait a while for agriculture-related reports from Statistics Canada in 2020. The main reason for the delay is the COVID-19 pandemic, said John Seay, an analyst with StatsCan’s agriculture, energy, environment and transportation statistics branch in Ottawa. “Given the COVID-19 outbreak, senior management is […] Read more
Canadian, U.S. farms face crop losses on foreign worker delays
Winnipeg/Chicago | Reuters — Mandatory coronavirus quarantines of seasonal foreign workers in Canada could hurt that country’s fruit and vegetable output this year, and travel problems related to the pandemic could also leave U.S. farmers with fewer workers than usual. Foreign labour is critical to farm production in both countries, where domestic workers shun the […] Read more
Federal carbon tax rises despite opposition, pandemic
Ottawa not backing away from scheduled increases
Ottawa — The federal government has pushed ahead with an increase to the carbon tax despite continued calls from the agriculture sector for reprieve from the program. The price on carbon rose from $20 per tonne to $30 per tonne effective April 1. The federal Liberal government is standing firm on its commitment to increase […] Read more
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