News

AMES, IOWA, US — A grain dust incident occurred on May 14 at Landus Cooperative’s Jefferson, Iowa, US, location causing property damage. No injuries were reported.

According to Landus Cooperative, the incident occurred at 8:00 AM and local fire and emergency services responded to the explosion.

The cause of the incident is yet unknown but during the initial investigation following the explosion smoldering grain in a self-contained bin located next to the grain elevator was discovered. A salvage company specializing in extinguishing ...

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US — Kansas City Southern (KCS) on May 13 said its board of directors has determined that Canadian National Railway’s (CN) proposal to acquire the business is a “company superior proposal” to one originally put forth by Canadian Pacific (CP) on March 21. As a result, KCS said it has notified CP that it intends to terminate KCS’s merger agreement with CP and enter into the definitive agreement with CN. KCS said CP still has the right ...

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – Russia’s wheat production for marketing year 2021-22 is forecast to decline by 9% as poor weather in recent months has reduced yield prospects, according to a May 13 Global Agricultural Information Network report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The drop in wheat output, to 77.5 million tonnes, is projected to more than offset increases in corn and barley production of 6% and 7%, respectively. The USDA forecasts Russia’s total grain production to decline by 5% to ...

WASHINGTON, DC, US – The US Department of Agriculture on May 12, in its initial wheat supply-and-demand forecasts for 2021-22 as presented in the May World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, projected the carryover of wheat on June 1, 2022, at 774 million bushels, down 98 million bushels, or 11%, from an upwardly revised 872 million bushels forecast for 2021 and compared with 1.028 billion bushels in 2000. If the forecast is realized, the 2022 carryover would be the ...

WASHINGTON, DC, US — In the first survey-based projection of the 2021 crop, the US Department of Agriculture in its May Crop Production report forecast winter wheat production in 2021 at 1.282 billion bushels, up 111.903 million bushels, or 10%, from 1.171 billion bushels in 2020.

The USDA winter wheat forecast was based on a harvested area projected at 24.612 million acres, up 7% from 23.024 million acres in 2020, and an average yield forecast at 52.1 bushels per acre, up ...

BEIJING, CHINA — China’s corn production in the 2021-22 marketing year is expected to increase 4.3% due to increased acreage and yields, Reuters reported, citing the agriculture ministry.

China is expected to produce 271.81 million tonnes of corn, up from 260.67 million tonnes a year ago.
Acreage was up 3.4% to 42.67 million hectares with farmers willing to expand the planting area on better benefits.

China’s corn prices have hit record highs on tightened supplies.

Corn yields were seen up 0.8% from the ...

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US — Late last month, the American Association of Railroads announced a partnership with Railinc and a coalition of agricultural shippers that will institute an online portal designed to ensure safety standards are met and to prevent cross-contact with food allergens.

A secure, searchable user interface is expected to go live in late 2021. It will share essential information about previous contents of a rail car, making it easier for shippers to comply with the US Food and ...

WASHINGTON, DC, US — The US Department of Agriculture said China, in three recent transactions, the latest announced May 11, has purchased a total of 3.060 million tonnes of US corn to be delivered in the 2021-22 marketing year, which begins Sept. 1, an indication that China likely will continue to import large volumes of US corn in the coming year.

China’s first purchase of US corn for delivery in 2021-22 was made May 7. The transaction involved 1.36 million tonnes. ...

MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA — Canadian National Railway announced it has placed an order for 1,000 new generation, high-capacity grain hopper cars that are lighter, shorter and enable CN to move more grain, with less equipment. The order is part of CN’s broader program to build and renew a fleet of 6,000 hopper railcars over the next three years.

CN said the new railcars will be built in a TrinityRail manufacturing plant in Mexico.

The announcement comes as CN continues to make a ...

WASHINGTON, DC, US — Flour production in January-March 2021 totaled 103.634 million cwts, down 4.543 million cwts, or 4.2%, from a revised 108.177 million in the first quarter of 2020, according to data issued May 3 by the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Flour production was down 3.353 million cwts, or 3.1%, from 106.987 million in October-December 2020.

The drop of 4.5 million cwts was the largest year-to-year fall in quarterly flour production in more than ...