AGCanada

Manitoba corn growers have made good progress planting over the past two weeks, but the late start is expected to limit expansion into non-traditional growing areas, according to an official with the Manitoba Corn Growers Association. After planting a record 300,000-acre corn crop in 2012, strong prices and improving varieties had Manitoba farmers intending to expand corn acres in the province to as many as 400,000, according to early Statistics Canada survey data. "We're probably 70 to 80 per…
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Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures closed higher on Friday aided by short-covering ahead of the May 25 to May 27 U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend, traders and analysts said. CME live cattle gained one per cent for the week despite weaker cash cattle and wholesale beef prices. June cattle ended at 120.575 cents, 1.45 cents per pound higher, and August ended up 1.025 cents at 119.225 cents (all figures US$). "It was quiet before the holiday with short-covering the main feature," a…
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Nearby U.S. soybean futures fell on Friday for the first time in seven sessions and spot corn futures eased after two days of gains as investors squared positions ahead of the three-day U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend. Deferred contracts of both commodities posted modest gains in thin trading volume. Wheat prices declined on profit-taking following a two per cent surge a day earlier and on forecasts for rain in the southern Plains wheat belt this weekend that could boost yields slightly in…
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Warmer conditions in Alberta have advanced the seeding process the past two weeks, but most areas are still a week behind normal, according to a provincial crop specialist. "The last few years we've had cool, wet Mays," said Harry Brook with Alberta's Ag-Info Centre in Stettler. "This year May was cool and wet early on, but it's warmed up. It's compensated quite a bit, but we're still behind by about a week." Seeding in southern Alberta is done, he added, with the central, northeast and…
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Industry representatives from Alberta and throughout Canada have told the federal and provincial agriculture ministers they've been having a successful mission in Kazakhstan. "The industry people who I've been travelling with have told me just about every day they've been here they've had very productive meetings," Alberta Agriculture Minister Verlyn Olson, said Thursday on a press conference call from Kazakhstan. Olson accompanied federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz on a trade mission that…
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Warmer temperatures and dry skies across growing areas of the U.S. have allowed farmers to make huge gains in seeding activities -- although the haste to plant may not necessarily produce the best crop. Across the U.S., farmers raced to get crops sown after a slow start to the 2013 season. The changing weather was the biggest driver in the weekly progress. Instead of below-average temperatures, values climbed to normal levels in the eastern Corn Belt and to a few degrees above normal in the…
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Up against the World Trade Organization's Thursday deadline to bring its country-of-origin labelling (COOL) law into compliance with trade obligations, the U.S. government has chosen to make matters worse for Canadian producers, Canada warns. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday it has published a new final COOL rule in the U.S. Federal Register, taking immediate effect but including a six-month period of "industry education and outreach" for affected U.S. meat…
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Dutch authorities have arrested the head of a meat trading company at the centre of a horsemeat scandal that prompted a massive recall of tainted beef products, the public prosecutor's office said on Thursday. Willy Selten, the owner of meat wholesaler Willy Selten BV, was detained on suspicion of fraud and forgery for his alleged involvement in false labelling of meat products. Authorities also detained another former manager of the company, which prosecutors said processed 300 tonnes of…
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Argentine port workers ended a four-day-old strike on Thursday, their labour union said, setting the stage for resumption of crucial soy and corn exports from the South American grains powerhouse. "We just signed a deal," said Edgardo Quiroga, an official with the CGT labor union representing the workers. "We are going to call a meeting of members to lift the strike." As stocks of corn and soybeans in the U.S. run low ahead of the autumn harvest, global importers are relying heavily on South…
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Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures sagged on Thursday as lower cash cattle prices weighed, analysts and traders said. So far this week, cash cattle in Texas and Kansas traded at $124 per hundredweight (cwt), down $1 from a week ago, said feedlot sources (all figures US$). Packers bought cattle for next week's slaughter that will be shortened by one day due to the May 25-27 U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend. CME live cattle lost ground despite wholesale beef prices eking out a new…
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