Ag in the News

02/07/2008

National and International

American Humane Assn. pushes for real-time video of plant operations
The American Humane Association (AHA) is launching an initiative to move the meat processing industry toward adopting a standard of oversight that ultimately would include real-time video feeds from plants, which could be accessible over the Internet. MORE!

Cattle cycles could be thing of the past: report
The U.S cattle inventory will likely remain flat through the end of the decade and the days of fairly predictable cycles could be over, agribusiness financial services provider Rabobank said in a report on the U.S. beef industry. MORE!

Wal-Mart's British subsidiary to breed Wagyu cattle Asda Group PLC, the Wal-Mart subsidiary that is Britain's second-largest grocery chain, announced that it will begin br
d rising grain prices, "pigjackers" have taken to stealing truckloads of pigs in effort to cash in on soaring prices, Newsweek reported. MORE!

Texas Chicken to compete with KFC in the UK
Texas Chicken, the international arm of Atlanta-based chain Church's Chicken, announced plans to expand into the United Kingdom with 36 locations by the end of March and a total of 50 locations by the end of the year. MORE!

China taps pork reserve to combat 'pigjacking'
With the value of hogs rising amid a supply shortage caused by blue ear disease and rising grain prices, "pigjackers" have taken to stealing truckloads of pigs in effort to cash in on soaring prices, Newsweek reported. MORE!

Wrap Up

Weekly Export Sales this morning. For the week ended Jan. 31, traders expect: wheat sales from 350,000 to 500,000 MT; corn sales from 1.0 to 1.5 million MT; soybean sales from 700,000 to 900,000 MT; meal sales from 100,000 to 150,000 MT; soyoil sales from 40,000 to 70,000 MT; and cotton sales from 150,000 to 250,000 running bales.

Wheat keeps moving higher. Wheat futures kept up their gains in overnight action, rising 5 1/2 cents to 25 3/4 cents, with the biggest gains in nearby months. Corn futures were mixed, down 3/4 cent to up 3/4 cent while soybeans were mostly weaker, with contracts up 1/2 cent to down 15 1/2 cents.

Tyson to cut additional workers in Emporia. Original plans were to cut 1,500 jobs at the Emporia, Kansas, Tyson Foods beef plant. But after further examination, the company has decided to close slaughter operations Feb. 13, while beef production will cease Feb. 15. However, value-added beef processing is expected to start Feb. 20.

Brazil removes wheat import duty. Brazil has removed its import duty on wheat imports from outside the Mercosur countries. They took the move after determining that supplies of Argentine wheat wouldn't be sufficient. The action applies to up to 1 MMT of wheat imports through June 30.