Overall, therefore, corn market participants were left to wallow on the sidelines and return their focus to Friday's USDA planting intentions report, which should provide the first official insight into US production prospects of the major grains markets for the coming year. Chart-based players who dominated proceedings Monday were also denied clear signals Tuesday as prices on both a nearby and deferred basis kept within Monday's price channel. Overall, therefore, corn market participants...

Premium Standard Farms produces pork products for retail, wholesale, food service, export and other processor markets. The company bills itself as the nation's second-largest pork producer and sixth-largest pork processor. With annual sales of $11 billion, Smithfield is the leading processor and marketer of fresh pork and processed meats, and the largest producer of hogs, in the United States. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise...

ZOOM DAVID PETERSON/THE REGISTER Daron Wilson, general manager of the Voyager plant in Emmetsburg, points out an area where Broin considered building half a dozen circus-style tents, each a football field in size, to store the corn stover the project will need. ZOOM DAVID PETERSON/THE REGISTER Daron Wilson, general manager of the Voyager plant in Emmetsburg, points out an area where Broin considered building half a dozen circus-style tents, each a football field in size, to store the corn...

We believe we are continuing to establish a solid market position and are building a leading national brand in China for pork and pork products. During the year we doubled our production capacity, expanded both our geographic footprint and our customer base, and enhanced our logistic systems and product lines. In 2007, Zhongpin will continue to expand its capacity with the addition of 10,800 metric tons of capacity for processed pork at its existing facilities and the construction of two...

For farms animals, it can make all the difference in the world. Paul Shapiro of The Humane Society of the United States' Factory Farming Campaign says reducing our dependence on factory farming practices, such as keeping pigs and chickens in cages their whole lives, might cut food supplies enough to require some modest diet changes toward more grains and vegetables. Cruelty is not necessary, as plenty of farmers realize and practice. Paul Shapiro of The Humane Society of the United States'...

With the lagoon moratorium set to expire in September, there are several proposals at the statehouse on what to do next. Carolyn Justice, a Republican, introduced legislation Tuesday that would effectively block most new lagoons, but also help swine farmers willing to experiment with other ways to treat hog waste pay for the new technology. In that time, environmentalists have tallied the ponds' damage to rivers and land, and neighbors have complained about their overpowering stench....