Canada funds work to develop more resilient soybeans
The government of Canada awarded up to C$2.3 million over four years to Performance Plants Inc. (PPI) to develop change-resistant, high-yielding soybeans. The award is through the AgriScience Program–Projects Component, an initiative under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership. PPI’s objective is to create soybean varieties that are more heat and drought-tolerant, herbicide-resistant, use water efficiently...
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...
Grain market review: Coarse grains
The last several weeks have seen a mixed trend for maize (corn), although there was weakness in the United States on planting and yield expectations. The July World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report from the US Department of Agriculture added more bullish ideas on demand to the factors involved. In its Grain Market...
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...
Australian winter crop totals expected to increase 9%
Australia’s overall winter crop production is expected to increase 9% to 51.3 million tonnes in 2024-25 and be the fifth highest on record, according to the June report from ABARES. Wheat production is forecast to increase by 12% to 29.1 million tonnes, while barley production is estimated at 7% to 11.5 million tonnes. Canola production...
Bunge, Zen-Noh to buy stake in Brazil terminal
Bunge Global SA and Zen-Noh Group have agreed through a joint venture to purchase 50% of a grain terminal at the Port of Santos from Brazilian rail operator Rumo for 600 million reais ($115.3 million), Reuters reported, citing a securities filing. Rumo said in the filing that it had tied up the binding agreement to sell its...
Grain market review: Wheat
As harvests approach, the focus for wheat traders is increasingly on the weather, especially its impact on Russia’s crop with low moisture earlier in the year and continued cold temperatures in May. A larger crop than last year is forecast, but with prices in a long-term downtrend, wheat consumption is forecast to outstrip growth. US Wheat Associates (USW) reported in its May 14 Wheat Letter Blog that “across the Northern Hemisphere, wheat price and crop development are dominating market discussion.”
India’s wheat stocks drop to 16-year low
India’s wheat stocks in government warehouses on May 1 reached their lowest level since 2008 with a 10.3% year-on-year drop, Reuters reported. Two years of low crops resulted in the sale of record volumes to boost domestic supplies and lower local prices.
US, Russia may hold key for bullish market
A ridge of high pressure evolved recently over the heart of Russia’s grain production region grabbing some attention in the commodity trade. Ridges of high pressure aloft over Russia tend to occur in years of El Niño to La Niña transition. Sometimes a similar ridge of high pressure evolves over the central United States impacting the Great Plains, western Corn and Soybean Belt and the southeastern Canada Prairies with drier and warmer-than-usual weather. Producers and traders who are looking for…
Larger second crop to boost Argentina’s soy production
Argentina’s soybean production is expected to increase in 2024-25, with a larger planted second soy crop, according to a report from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Production is estimated at 51 million tonnes, up 1.5 million tonnes from the previous harvest. Soybean planted acreage is forecast to increase to 17.8 million hectares with an increased second soy crop planting due to fears of a dry year and the potential threat of the chicharrita…