Ag in the News

07/02/2008

National

Rancho Poultry to open $43 million facility in Ky. By Lindsey Klingele on 7/2/2008 for Meatingplace.com Rancho Poultry will open a processing facility in Lebanon, Ky., that will bring 250 jobs to the area, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and Economic Development Cabinet Secretary John Hindeman announced. MORE!

Perdue to layoff 76 at Tenn. facility By Lindsey Klingele on 7/2/2008 for Meatingplace.com Salisbury, Md.-based Perdue Farms announced it is cutting 76 jobs from its prepared-food facility in Monterey, Tenn. MORE!

Formax parent company acquires Weiler By Meatingplace Editors on 7/2/2008 for Meatingplace.com CC Industries, the parent company of Formax, Inc., announced Tuesday that it had acquired Weiler and Co., the Whitewater, Wis.-based manufacturer of grinding, mixing and bone separation equipment. MORE!

Zaxby's debuts snack-sized chicken sandwich By Ann Bagel Storck on 7/2/2008 for Meatingplace.com Athens, Ga.-based fast-casual chicken chain Zaxby's has added the snack-sized Nibbler to its menu this summer. MORE!

Peanuts, Cracker Jack, hot dogs: Survey ranks best baseball franks By Janie Gabbett on 7/2/2008 for Meatingplace.com In celebration of July as National Hot Dog month, the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council polled 625 Americans about their hot dog and ballpark eating habits. MORE!

Wrap Up

Overnight prices. Corn, soybeans and wheat traded higher through much of the overnight session, but were unable to hold gains and finished mostly lower. Corn closed mostly 2 to 3 cents lower, soybeans mostly 3 to 5 cents lower and Chicago wheat mostly 7 to 8 cents lower in overnight trade.

Iowa off to a record start. This won't probably come as much of a surprise, but climate officials note that Iowa has embarked on its wettest year on record. Through June, an average of 24.29 inches of rain have covered the state, well past the normal level of 16.34 inches and the wettest first six months of the year in 136 years of records.

Argentina still working on export tax issue. Lawmakers in the country are coming up with differing proposals on how to address the soybean export tax plan that prompted the farmer strikes. There's no clear sign which way things will go as of yet, adding still more uncertainty to the soybean situation globally.

G8 focus on food. The upcoming Group of 8 (G8) summit this weekend has put food prices on its agenda. Japan is hosting the session and government officials there said the statement is likely to call for more investment in agriculture and for countries to release surplus food stocks. This will mark another major gathering of world finance/government officials that will focus on the issue of food prices. Plus the IMF has a new look at what food prices are doing to developing countries that Jim Wiesemeyer examines in his Inside Washington Today column on the Pro Farmer page.