Ag in the News

01/17/2008

National and International

Workers kill 400,000 chickens after outbreak of bird flu
Health workers slaughtered tens of thousands of chickens Wednesday after an outbreak of bird flu killed more than 35,000 birds in eastern India, officials said. MORE!

PETA alleges abuses at two Tyson broiler plants
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on Wednesday alleged workers at two Tyson chicken plants abused animals, based on video footage collected while a PETA supporter was employed at the facilities in 2007. MORE!

Ammonia leak injures 34 at JBS-Swift pork plant: report
An ammonia leak injured 34 workers at JBS-Swift & Co.'s Worthington, Minn., pork plant on Tuesday night, the Worthington Daily Globe reported. MORE!

Pilgrim's Pride named one of Forbes' top 400 companies
Forbes has named Pilgrim's Pride Corp. one of the 400 Best Big Companies in America, the Pittsburg, Texas-based company has announced. MORE!

Poultry exports to Russia jump in 2007
Poultry exports to Russia were up 24.4 percent in volume over the first 11 months of 2007, the United States Poultry and Egg Export Council's mission to Russia has announced. MORE!

Organic Trade Association says no to clones
The Organic Trade Association (OTA) said meat, milk and other products produced from cloned animals would not be able to be sold as organic in the United States. MORE!

Wrap Up

Overnight rebound. Soybean futures were 12 to 17 cents higher, corn around a nickel higher and Chicago wheat mostly 9 to 12 cents higher in overnight trade. Outside markets were price-supportive as crude oil and gold firmed, while the dollar weakened.

Weekly Export Sales. For the week ended Jan. 10, traders expect: wheat sales from 350,000 to 450,000 MT; corn sales from 1.6 to 2.1 million MT; soybean sales from 350,000 to 450,000 MT; meal sales from 75,000 to 125,000 MT; soyoil sales from 8,000 to 16,000 MT; and cotton sales from 80,000 to 130,000 running bales.

Rep. Peterson turning somber. The same issues that have bedeviled farm bill writers for months are still present and have resulted in House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) becoming more somber about his farm bill finish line outlook. In an interview with Jim Wiesemeyer, Peterson went through the issues that are still confronting lawmakers when it comes to finishing the farm bill. It's a very revealing session which you can read the details of in Jim's Inside Washington Today column found on the Pro Farmer page.

China takes more steps on inflation. Just a day after the country put controls on food prices, China raised bank reserve requirements 0.5 percentage points to 15.0% beginning Jan. 25 as the country's central bank works to control lending. A hike of at least 1.0 percentage point had been anticipated. And, they're not alone. South Korea is putting a freeze on electricity and other utility rates for the first half of the year and may also considering reducing taxes on wheat and corn.