Ag in the News

06/12/2008

National

S. Korean officials ask U.S. officials for cooperation on beef deal
South Korean officials visiting Washington are seeking cooperation in restricting imports of U.S. beef from cattle older than 30 months of age, the Chosun Ilbo reported. MORE!

Pork exports in April set new record: USMEF
U.S. pork exports in April reached 175,640 metric tons ($391.5 million) in April, smashing the previous one-month record of 156,959 metric tons set in February, the U.S. Meat Export Federation said. MORE!

Online portal for distributing recall information to debut this summer
The Food Marketing Institute and GS1 US, which is part of global standards organization GS1, expect to launch by late summer an online portal for processors to distribute standard recall information to retailers, Supermarket News reported. MORE!

Bloom to launch Guiding Stars nutritional rating program in stores
Bloom, a banner of Salisbury, N.c.-based supermarket retailer Food Lion, announced it will launch the Guiding Stars Nutrition Navigation Program in all its stores this month. MORE!

Wrap Up

'Never seen anything like this.' That's a common refrain in portions of Iowa and no doubt other areas of the Midwest which have been deluged by rain and flooding this week. And, there's more rain falling across a broad portion of Iowa this morning, including areas north of where flooding is already severe. The National Weather Service has even shifted their terminology in some areas, going from "major" to "major severity" in terms of flooding in some locations.

Overnight action. After many contracts locked limit up in Wednesday trade, some profit taking emerged overnight. But corn futures did still manage small gains. Corn futures finished steady to 2 cents higher in most contracts overnight. Soybean futures were 10 to 25 cents lower, while Chicago wheat futures were 14 to 17 cents lower.

Weekly Export Sales this morning. For the week ended June 5, traders expect: wheat sales from 150,000 to 250,000 MT; corn sales from 450,000 to 750,000 MT; soybean sales from 300,000 to 500,000 MT; meal sales from 100,000 to 150,000 MT; soyoil sales from 5,000 to 10,000 MT; and cotton sales from 300,000 to 400,000 running bales.

South Korea-U.S. beef talks Friday. South Korea's trade minister is to arrive in the U.S. for talks Friday with U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab to hold "additional discussions" on mapping out the way to prevent beef from animals over 30 months of age from being shipped to Korea. The focus of those talks is on how to implement a voluntary agreement between U.S. exporters and Korean importers.