Farmland values in the U.S. Midwest, one of the world’s top grain growing regions, jumped 10 percent in the third quarter compared to a year ago due to rising agricultural prices and the low cost of money, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said on Thursday. Get the full story »
Inside these posts: farming
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Near record income expected for Indiana farmers
Many Indiana farmers who had been worrying about a late summer drought are now looking forward to some extra spending money thanks to high grain prices, which a Purdue University farm analyst expects will boost the state’s farm income about 25 percent this year.
Canada lets slip one reason for blocking BHP bid
Canada’s farm minister offered one reason that Canada blocked the proposed takeover of Potash Corp. on Thursday, but markets will have to wait a month for all the details to emerge.
Farm Minister Gerry Ritz, in comments his office later said were just speculation, argued that letting BHP Billiton buy the fertilizer giant would have offered Australia’s farm sector too much of an advantage. Get the full story »
Wal-Mart to boost locally sourced fresh food
Shoppers at a Wal-Mart in Orland Hills, Ill. (David Pierini/Chicago Tribune)
Wal-Mart is planning to double the sales of fresh produce it sources from local farms in its U.S. stores by the end of 2015, part of a strategy to revamp its global produce supply chain.
The world’s largest retailer said it would also sell more than $1 billion each year in food sourced from 1 million small and medium-sized farms in emerging markets by the end of 2015. That would help increase income for those farmers by 10 to 15 percent in the same time frame, Wal-Mart said. Get the full story »
Court allows part of organic-milk case to proceed
A federal appeals court says a group of dairy consumers can proceed with parts of a lawsuit alleging that several national retailers and an organic dairy company falsely labeled the dairy’s milk.
US: Soybean crop will hit record high in 2010
Soybeans being harvested in Argentina, March 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Diego Giudice)
Associated Press | U.S. farmers will plant a record soybean crop this year while also boosting corn acres by 3 percent, according to an Agriculture Department estimate. The increases could boost year-end reserves of the major food crops and ease fears of food shortages after high demand from the ethanol industry and overseas consumers drew down supplies two years ago.
Crop futures fell Wednesday morning on the Chicago Board of Trade after the USDA estimate was released. Soybeans for May delivery fell 38 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $9.36 a bushel, and corn was down 8.5 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $3.46 a bushel. Wheat fell 10.5 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $4.615 a bushel.
