US confined space incidents decrease in 2023
According to researchers at Purdue University, the number of documented agricultural confined space incidents in the United States decreased 34% in 2023 compared to the previous year. The total was also down from the five-year and 10-year average. Purdue University’s Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department has documented and investigated incidents involving grain storage and handling...
Dryness stressing Ukraine, Russia crops
As if the Russia/Ukraine war was not enough to deal with, the region has been enduring a very dry summer. Crop stress in the region is peaking for the third time this growing season with very warm to hot temperatures and limited rain. Soil moisture has never been much more than marginally adequate since spring. Recently, the...
USDA lowers US wheat production estimate
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Aug. 12 lowered its estimate for US all-wheat production this year based on forecasts for lower soft red winter, other spring and durum wheat production that more than offset increased hard red winter and white winter wheat forecasts. The Department lowered its forecast for 2024-25 global and US...
Cargill earns two BIG Sustainability Awards
Business Intelligence Group (BIG) has named Cargill the winner of a pair of 2024 BIG Sustainability Awards in recognition of the company’s global efforts within the agriculture and food value chains. Cargill was the recipient of both the Sustainability Leadership Award and Sustainability Initiative of the Year Award for its Hatching Hope program. These BIG...
Canada, Russia wheat production threatened by dryness
A recent insurgence of heat and dryness in western and south-central Canada’s Prairies has raised concern about spring cereal production. The region had one of its best starts to the growing season in years, and dryness kicks in while wheat and barley are reproducing, sending some chills up many producers’ spines. The marketplace does not...
US wheat, corn, soybean stocks up from 2023
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on June 28 said domestic stocks of wheat, corn and soybeans on June 1 were up more than 20% from a year earlier. The USDA, in its quarterly Grain Stocks report, estimated June 1 old-crop all wheat stocks, which comprise the 2024 carryover, at 702 million bushels, up 23%...
Key US crop areas battle too much, too little rain
Weather typically is the main force affecting agricultural commodity markets, from planting in the spring (or fall for winter wheat) to harvest in the fall (or summer for winter wheat), especially during the growing season for all crops. The most recent examples were from Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter, and Brazil, the world’s largest...
Grain market review: Oilseeds
The prospect of ample supplies, despite weather problems in some producing regions, is pushing oilseeds prices lower. The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture said on June 12 in its Oilseeds: World Markets and Trade report that the US soybean oil price premium compared to other major exporters has declined, and...
COFCO, GROWMARK enter agreements on grain assets
COFCO International, Ltd. and GROWMARK Inc., on June 20, announced they have entered into definitive agreements regarding grain assets in Illinois. Beijing, China-based COFCO International has agreed to purchase GROWMARK’s minority stake in a transloading facility located in Cahokia. In contrast, GROWMARK has agreed to purchase a Chicago grain warehouse facility, known as the B-House, from...
COCERAL increases EU grain outlook
In its latest 2024 European Union/United Kingdom grain crop forecast, released on June 10, COCERAL increased its projection slightly to 296 million tonnes, about 500,000 tonnes higher than the previous projection in March. If realized, it would still be about 3.2 million tonnes higher than production in 2023, said COCERAL, a European association focusing on...