News
Weather report: Rain spreads across the Corn Belt
In the West, warmth is returning to the Pacific Coast States and northern Rockies. On the Plains, heavy showers are maintaining the threat of flooding across the northern tier of the region, primarily in North Dakota and eastern Montana. In the Corn Belt, corn and soybean planting activities have been slowed or halted by showers and locally severe thunderstorms, except in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.
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D.C. Watch: Farm bill progressing
The Senate Agriculture Committee made quick work of the farm bill last week. Passage by the full Senate is likely by this week. The House Agriculture Committee also passed a version of the farm bill last week, and it could come to the House floor in June.
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Help for flood affected farmers
The USDA’s Farm Service Agency is assessing what it can do to help farmers whose land and property was damaged by recent floods in the Midwest.
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USDA says has detected virus in Iowa hog population
USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories has detected porcine epidemic diarrhea (PEDV), a virus associated with outbreaks of diarrhea and vomiting, in the Iowa hog population, a USDA spokesman said on Friday.
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Oil rallies for third day, shrugging off firm dollar
Oil rose for a third straight session on Friday, supported by a raft of strong economic data from top oil consumer the United States that also boosted U.S. equities, even as the dollar hit a multi-year high.
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Ag markets diverged significantly Friday afternoon
The equity and U.S. dollar markets proved quite strong again Friday, but commodity traders seemed to pay more attention to the negative demand aspects of the greenback rally than to the economic strength implied by stock gains.
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Hog Outlook: Retail prices up 2.4 percent over the last 2 years
The average price of pork in grocery stores during April was $3.458 per pound. That was down 0.8 cents from March and down 0.1 cents from April 2012.
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Premium Standard Farms now Murphy-Brown of Missouri
Premium Standard Farms, LLC, a unit of Smithfield Foods, Inc. hog production subsidiary, Murphy-Brown, LLC, announced recently it has changed its name to Murphy-Brown of Missouri, LLC, effective immediately.
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Lower Q1 live swine imports
First-quarter U.S. imports of live swine from Canada, at 1.3 million head, were almost 8 percent lower than in the same period last year.
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Canada to target U.S. products in meat labels dispute
Canada will put forward a list of U.S. products that it will target in retaliation over a dispute with its largest trading partner about country of origin labels on meat, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said on Friday.
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Vilsack: Food, Farm and Jobs Bill critical for U.S. producers
This year, passage of a long-term, comprehensive Food, Farm and Jobs Bill is critical to providing certainty for U.S. producers. This includes the continued availability of conservation programs that give our farmers, ranchers and private foresters the means to conserve the soil, protect our water and sustain America’s natural resources.
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- Corn futures relapse in wake of Wednesday's rally
- Commentary: Kiwi controversy
- Wet U.S. Midwest sections may lead to fewer corn acres
- U.S. revises meat-labeling rules to satisfy WTO ruling
- Where’s the rain? Parched states can’t shake the drought
- U.S. House votes to force approval of Keystone pipeline
