Soybean planting is just beginning, but already the crop s planting progress is falling behind the curve as noted in the USDA data: Yep, corn, the grain market already besieged with intensified demand a la the ethanol craze, the price of which had been elevated during the fall to more than $4 a bushel. This is not surprising given the sizable carry-out and cover in soybeans, via last year s leftover US crop, and the bumper crop harvested in South America. HenceI observe the chart on...

USDA stated Monday that it had found no evidence of harm to human health from contaminated feed based on several factors, including content dilution, in the actual hog to human food chain. The premium of futures to cash showed traders somewhat fearful last week over this issue but that seems to have dissipated. Hogs are now in a seasonal trend to track higher and packer bids are reflecting this fresh demand amid tight cash supplies. The CFTCs Commitment of Traders report for futures and...

The 58-year-old who works 950 acres in central Illinois didn't immediately join the Illinois farmer cooperatives pooling together to build a 100 (m) million-gallon-a-year ethanol plant. President Bush says the additive distilled from mashed, fermented grain is a cheap-and-easy alternative to high-priced foreign oil, and some day it's already been an economic boon for rural stretches. So it goes for ethanol, the fuel additive in the midst of a booming renaissance after decades largely as an...

Prices of rice increased and the prices of edible oil declined slightly at the wholesale level while the prices of other essential commodities remained unchanged in the city markets over the past week. Prices of Minicate variety of rice remained more or less unchanged at Tk 1010-1020 per maund at wholesale level, traders said. During the last week at the retail level packaged coarse flour was selling at Tk 27-Tk 28 per kg, unchanged from the previous week in the city markets. But, at the...

Soybeans should trade higher on corn spillover but gains should be tempered by ideas that Monday's planting progress report should show a decent increase in the eastern U. CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures are predicted to begin trading 1-to-3 cents higher Monday, as a higher start expected in corn futures and spillover from firm trading overnight is expected to underpin prices, traders said. Ideas that producers will be able to plant their corn crop despite the...

Import alert on food products from China widens Elizabeth Weise and Julie Schmit USA Today WASHINGTON The Food and Drug Administration is enforcing a new import alert that greatly expands its curtailment of some food ingredients imported from China, authorizing border inspectors to detain ingredients used in everything from noodles to breakfast bars. Import alert on food products from China widens Elizabeth Weise and Julie Schmit USA Today WASHINGTON The Food and Drug Administration is...

They are considered more market-oriented than subsidies pegged to commodity prices, because farmers don't have to grow a particular crop - or any crop at all - to get the fixed payments. The rest of the fixed payments would be given to farmers in the form of vouchers to buy crop insurance or to invest in special accounts, under the Iowa group's plan. Ron Heck, a Perry farmer who is a leader of the soybean group, said the fixed payments don't help farmers that much because the money gets...

The Philippine government is pushing biofuels to cut the country's annual $6 billion plus oil import bill and rely more on locally-produced crops such as coconut, sugar, jathropa, palm oil and soybeans. But despite hailing the new legislation as an economic and environmental breakthrough, the government has yet to explain how it will implement and police the change. Motorists were surprised to hear use of the cleaner fuel was now mandatory. A forecourt supervisor at Petron, the country's...

FDA had also collected approximately 85 samples of rice protein concentrate and products made with rice protein concentrate and, of those tested thus far, 27 were positive for melamine and/or melamine related compounds. The alert notes that as of April 26, 2007, FDA had collected approximately 750 samples of wheat gluten and products made with wheat gluten and, of those tested thus far, 330 were positive for melamine and/or melamine related compounds. The FDA also notes that in recent...