Bulk Freight News & Industry Updates - Stay Ahead in Trucking

WASHINGTON--The Teamsters union filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration on Friday seeking to block the government's plan to allow Mexican trucks back into the U.S., in a sign of the growing rift between unions and the administration over trade. The suit challenges a deal the U.S. signed with Mexico in July to resolve a longstanding dispute over cross-border trucking. The agreement ended a two-decade-long ban on Mexican trucks entering the U.S. The North American Free Trade Agreeme

Two months after an acrimonious late-night standoff on a related issue, Gov. Jerry Brown and farmworker advocates have struck a deal to give state regulators new powers that could help agriculture workers unionize. The measure, introduced in the Legislature on Friday, would allow the state's Agriculture Labor Relations Board to certify a union if it finds that a grower has acted illegally to affect the outcome of a labor election. The legislation would also accelerate the mediation process fo

Wisconsin's largest grain handling conglomerate is once again under new ownership. The Illinois-based Archer Daniels Midland Company announced it has acquired five grain storage elevators from Olsen Brothers Enterprises, as well as four other elevators from Olsen's Mill Acquisition Company/Ag Services of Wisconsin. ADM has also assumed a lease for another elevator from OMAC. Terms of the deals were not disclosed. The news comes about six weeks after the Wisconsin State Supreme Court ruled tha

DECATUR, Ill. -- It's a small city that rises up for three days every two years at a Decatur site with the smell of crushed soybeans wafting from a nearby Archer Daniels Midland plant. The Farm Progress Show creates a city of buildings, grain bins and heavy equipment and fills it with lots of people. The Decatur Chamber of Commerce estimates that 150,000 visitors attend the three-day event, which is sometimes referred to as the World's Fair of Agriculture. As the largest farm show

The U.S. unemployment rate held at 9.1% in August, while payrolls also remained unchanged, the Labor Department said Friday. Trucking jobs declined by 900 workers, while the total transportation and warehousing sector lost 2,400 workers, Labor figures showed. The unemployment rate was in line with economists' projections, Bloomberg reported. The unchanged payrolls figure followed a revised 85,000 increase in July that was less than originally reported. The payroll and unemployment fi

The sharp eyes of a trucker helped nab a thief in Quebec earlier this week, along with a trailer containing $150,000 worth of stolen cheese from Moncton. Codiac RCMP say the refrigerated trailer was parked in a lot on Caledonia Road in the Caledonia Industrial Park last Saturday. Sometime after 3:15 p.m. the trailer was stolen and the crime was discovered the next day and reported to police. Cpl. Mike Gaudet said the trailer was gone, but a transport truck was found in that same lot that d

CHICAGO, Sept 1 (Reuters) - U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill [CARG.UL] said on Thursday it will not accept Syngenta's (SYNN.VX) genetically modified Agrisure Viptera corn at its North American wet milling plants until the corn variety receives regulatory approval from the European Union. Another major grain handler, Bunge North America (BG.N), has also barred Agrisure Viptera from its facilities, awaiting additional export market approval, particularly from China -- a top U.S. grains and oilse

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Bunge North America, the North American operating arm of Bunge Limited /quotes/zigman/288539/quotes/nls/bg BG -0.23% , announced that it is purchasing the Riceland Foods elevator strategically located at the Crittenden County Port in West Memphis, Ark. The sale is expected to close by the end of the year, subject to customary closing conditions. In the interim, Bunge will begin operating the facility immediately under an agreement with Riceland

Cargill Inc. .. is buying up the inland barge operations of Iowa-based Alter Barge Line Inc .. ., in a deal that will significantly expand its fleet. Wayzata-based Cargill already owns nearly a thousand barges, which it uses to ship grain and other cargo up and down rivers, the trade journal WorkBoat reported. A spokesman called the deal "a good fit". It isn't likely to change the competitive picture in shipping; there are still some other big rivals in the market. Mark Reilly manag

Quebec's federation of ag co-operatives, La Coop federee, has sealed a deal to further expand its market reach by buying a southwestern Ontario grain marketing company. Coop federee on Monday announced it's completed a deal it signed in June to buy the shares of Grower Direct Exports, based at Mitchell, about 55 km north of London. Montreal-based Coop federee, which represents 85 agricultural and agrifood co-operatives in its home province, didn't disclose the deal's financial terms, oth

WASHINGTON – The American Trucking Associations wrote to U.S. regulators to point out a myriad of trucking rules that merit revision. "ATA believes that DOT's regulations improve public safety on our nation's roadways; however, several regulations have become outdated or obsolete, are no longer cost effective, or have proven to be ineffective in achieving their stated purpose," the ATA stated in comments filed with the US DOT. The trucking group drafted a list of regulations that no longer

DECATUR, Ill., Aug 31, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Archer Daniels Midland Company /quotes/zigman/218265/quotes/nls/adm ADM -0.87% today announced it has acquired five grain storage elevators from Olsen Brothers Enterprises and, in a separate transaction, has contracted to acquire four grain storage elevators from Olsen's Mill Acquisition Company/Ag Services of Wisconsin. ADM has also assumed a lease for an elevator from Olsen's Mill Acquisition Company. All 10 elevators are located in Wisconsin, and

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has sued Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act for its treatment of a truck driver who self-reported a problem with alcohol. The EEOC claims that ODFL violated the law when it removed the five-year employee from a permanent driving position. The suit, filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, seeks reinstatement to the driving position for the empl

OMAHA, Neb., Aug 31, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Gavilon, LLC, a leading commodity management firm serving the agriculture and energy industries, and the third largest grain operation in the United States, today announced it has entered into a multiservice commercial agreement with Heron Lake BioEnergy, LLC, a dry mill ethanol facility located in Heron Lake, Minnesota. Under the terms of the agreement, Gavilon will be the ethanol plant's exclusive corn supplier, and ethanol and distillers dried grai

NEW YORK, Aug. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ProConcept Marketing Group, Inc. (Pink Sheets: PRMK), through its operating subsidiary Integrity Sales & Services, Inc., a manufacturer and international distributor of refurbished farm and heavy construction equipment, announce backlog purchase orders for their products have increased in the third quarter of 2011. On the manufacturing side, the Company is currently working with a purchase backlog order running out 3 to 4 weeks for their hopper bottom g

For the past few years, Omaha agricultural equipment manufacturer Intersystems hasn't exactly been following trends. Sure, when the recession hit there were layoffs and cutbacks and worries about the future. But in 2009, when most businesses still were watching the bottom fall out, Intersystems was investing $20 million in a new northwest Omaha facility, hiring workers and adding product lines. Two years later, its workforce has jumped from 130 to more than 200 and sales are surging -- up

NEW YORK -- Trucking companies may face a 30 percent surge in wages by 2014 as rising demand for freight shipments threatens to push the industry's driver shortage to the longest on record. The current shortfall will double in a year to about 300,000 full-time positions, or 10 percent of the workforce, said Noel Perry, managing director at consultant FTR Associates in Nashville, Ind. A three-year deficiency would top the 300,000 vacancies lasting for about a year in 2004, he said. A gap be

It was a typical night for Julio Rentas Jr. as he steered his tractor-trailer along an open stretch of Interstate 95 in Flagler County. Then, out of nowhere, trucker Betty Tucker pulled onto the interstate from the shoulder, where she had pulled over to check a light that had come on in her cab. Rentas' rig smashed into Tucker's, killing the 33-year-old Groveland father of two. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Health Report: Sign up

CHICAGO - Archer Daniels Midland Co., the largest US grain processor, said it may be fined by regulators as a result of an internal probe into some of the company's transactions. Archer Daniels, which trades agricultural commodities, has been conducting a review of its anticorruption policies since 2008 related to certain transactions by the company, its affiliates, and joint ventures, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. "In connection with this review, g

Is it possible to create a fuel surcharge program that is consistently fair to shippers and carriers? As we have seen over recent months, the cost of motor vehicle fuel is a national preoccupation. Perhaps this is one reason why rising prices at the pump, and mechanisms such as fuel surcharges that are designed to spread the pain between shippers and service providers equably, attract so much attention. Another possible reason is that freight practitioners come under pressure to control

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's electronic onboard recorder 2010 final rule for motor carriers with significant hours-of-service violations does not protect truck drivers from potential harassment by their employers, a federal appeals court has ruled. Siding with three truck drivers and the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association, a panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Aug. 26 vacated and remanded the rule back to the agency for further proceedings. Am

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Aug. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Farmers in North Carolina will be growing another profitable crop this fall, thanks to a partnership by Perdue AgriBusiness and Winston-Salem-based Technology Crops International (TCI). Known as HEAR (high erucic acid rapeseed), the crop looks identical to canola, but the oil it produces has a different composition and multiple end-use applications, especially industrial uses. Grown in trials in North Carolina for more than three years, HEAR i

Pilot Flying J will offers travelers, especially truckers, access to workout centers in its locations. The 960-sq.-ft. centers will be operated by Snap Fitness and Rolling Strong and be located in many Pilot Flying J Travel Centers nationwide under the agreement. "The new gyms are designed to accommodate the trucking community and those who travel frequently for business or vacation, so they can get the workouts they need quickly and conveniently," said Peter Taunton, CEO & founder of Snap Fi

Bridgestone is rolling out a drive tire for high traction and high scrub applications in long haul, regional and delivery service fitments. The M770, along with the new M799 mixed service radial and the debut GREATEC R125A wide base radial, are currently on display at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas. The M770 open-shoulder drive axel radial combines greater tread volume for longer mileage with superb traction in all weather conditions, according to product manager Bert Jones. I

Michelin is reporting steady growth for its Advantage Program as more small trucking fleets and owner- operators are signing up for the free service. Memberships were up nearly 60 percent during the first half of this year after the tire maker opened the program to owner-operators in March. A promotional effort is currently underway at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas. "Trucking professionals across the industry are realizing the benefits of having a direct relationship with Mich

These days, most farmers have sizeable grain bin systems that jut out of the landscape like the Grand Tetons. In fact, some bin setups rival – often surpass – what you'd find at a local country elevator. Many of these Cadillac systems have been built with every intention of expanding further. Take Mike Sullivan's farm at Franklin, MN, which epitomizes today's growing operations as it stretches to accommodate three sons: Tim, Pat and Joe. A big part of their growth means keeping current on th

When it comes to following supply chain processes and technologies, the supply chain that extends from a food manufacturer's factory to retail stores has always gotten a disproportionate share of attention. This is natural because large food & beverage and consumer goods companies were the first to use warehouse and transportation management systems, are heavy users of advanced supply chain planning applications, and are leading the way toward demand-driven supply chains based on the use of dema

With leased equipment booked, container availability depends on eastbound moves Grain shippers in the upper Midwest could once again struggle to get containers later this year, says an equipment lessor, if the peak shipping season in the eastbound Pacific is disappointing and the cost of containers remains high. The difference between this year's market and the equipment shortages of 2010 is that grain shippers will be able to secure the containers they need if they are willing to pay th

Trucking companies may face a 30 percent surge in wages by 2014 as rising demand for freight shipments threatens to push the industry's driver shortage to the longest on record. The current shortfall will double in a year to about 300,000 full-time positions, or 10 percent of the workforce, said Noel Perry, managing director at consultant FTR Associates in Nashville, Ind. A three-year deficiency would top the 300,000 vacancies lasting for about a year in 2004, he said. A gap between carg

Brian Chutka remains parked in the path of Hurricane Irene. Chutka, 59, who owns the Clearfield-based trucking firm Chutka Trucking and is transporting welding rods from Harrisburg, Pa. to Salt Lake City, is being forced to lay-over in Greenwich, Conn., at least until Monday in yielding the right-of-way to the massive storm. "The eye of the storm is supposed to come right through here," Chutka said in a telephone interview Saturday of the hurricane that has a projected path taking it throu

For reasons I have not figured out, I no longer look at every situation as an emergency, catastrophe or new beginning that I must be a part of. Being born in 1932 could be a cause; however, action and reaction to just about everything has not produced the best results. Recently, I have tried to sit back, evaluate, even question, then along with others arrive at what is best for all. I still believe that when all prosper, a good living can be made by those who work and strive to accomplish

Two men accused of stealing drill pipe from a trucking business were jailed early Thursday by Terrebonne Sheriff's deputies. Deputies patrolling Robert Street about 11 p.m. were contacted by neighbors who reported seeing two men take pipe from Jeffery Trucking, 250 Robert St. Police located four pieces of pipe nearby in the yard of 1700 Lebouef Street, and arrested the 35-year-old Scott Painter and 45-year-old Kenneth Fitch Jr., who were both at the home. Painter, 171 Lebouef St., Hou

Forecasts for the 2011 corn harvest in East Central Illinois are coming in -- and they are underwhelming. But at least the numbers are not as dismal as they were in 1988, farmers pointed out. A hot and dry July, when many plants were undergoing the critical pollination stage, stressed the corn throughout much of the middle part of Illinois. As a result, yields are expected to be lower than in recent years. "Our crops look very stressed," said Monticello-area farmer Jim Reed, who is a

On August 14, the first four truck-tractors in a 42-truck order were delivered to Fair Oaks Farms near Fair Oaks IN. Fueled with methane from the dairy farm, this milk-hauling fleet operation is being described as the largest transport-related renewable compressed natural gas (CNG) project in the United States. Fair Oaks Farms and their partners expect to have the CNG fleet fully operational by the end of September, at the latest. Partners include Ruan Transportation Management Systems, PacL

In a carefully worded joint statement issued today, the Washington, D.C.-based National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) and North American Export Grain Association (NAEGA) come down on the side of Bunge in a dispute involving the shipping company's refusal to accept consignments of corn containing Syngenta's new insect-resistant Agrisure Viptera trait. Syngenta North America on Monday filed a complaint against Bunge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, alleging tha

REBECCA ROBERTS, host: This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Rebecca Roberts, in Washington. Neal Conan is away. Maybe this has happened to you: You're driving down the highway. You have to pass a big rig, but you can't because another truck is in front of you and won't accelerate. Or maybe a truck surges past you, cutting you off just before a merge. Cue the road rage, some colorful language, maybe you even reach out of a window, hand equipped with an indecent gesture. When the whale of a sem

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- Think of farms and images of tractors and combines come to mind. But what about laptops, smart phones and tablets? The number of farmers with Internet access on a variety of digital gadgets has dramatically increased, changing the way farms do business. Farmers say they're increasingly using the Net to speed up their work flow, improve their farming techniques, market their crops, connect with customers and retailers, and fulfill a variety of regulatory requirements.

GROWMARK is celebrating another successful year at the member cooperative level and at the GROWMARK level during its annual meeting in Chicago this week. "Overall, it's been a good time to be in agriculture, and the GROWMARK system is benefiting by that," said Dan Kelley, chairman of the board and president of GROWMARK. The GROWMARK system has positioned itself to be a major player in the agricultural industry as the global population explodes and the demand for food continues to grow. "De

BAY CITY -- Come harvest time this autumn, residents of a South End neighborhood may see a few more trucks rumbling through, but they'll see far less dust thanks to upgrades being made at a grain elevator. Peavey Grain, a division of Omaha, Neb.-based Gavilon Grain, is updating its facility at 1205 Farragut St. between 24th and 25th streets. The elevator is surrounded by homes on three sides and the headquarters for Do-All Inc. on the other. "We haven't done anything like this in a long

Farmers may have to lead the way to achieving President Barack Obama's goal of doubling exports by 2015, farmers may have to lead the way. The factors needed to support rapid growth in agricultural exports are already in place: an increasingly affluent market in Asia with an affinity for U.S. grain products, a highly-productive agricultural sector in the U.S. and an efficient transportation system to ship commodities to the Far East. The northern tier states from Illinois to the Pacific

I know as you all read this the first thing that pops in your mind is the trucker arguing with the shipper or broker about what a load pays. I beg to differ. Many think they have no impact on the rates, that they are determined by someone else and set in stone. And I also know negotiating rates is a dreadful thing because it can be difficult and emotions can also interfere in a negative way. As I write this post I want to suggest some ways to handle when you're confronted with negotiating a

Transportation researcher Richard Mudge is looking for ways to make sure states can afford to fix and build roads and bridges, even as gas taxes become less effective. Like other experts, he wants to start taxing vehicles for how far they drive, instead of the current system based on how much gas they use. The difference is that Mudge wants to start using the system on trucks, not cars. Fuel taxes, levied by states and the federal government, provide most of the revenue for fixing and building

A loaded Wayne Farms chicken transport truck was involved in an accident about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday on Poole Creek Road in Jones County. There were no injuries, but units from Rustin and Powers volunteer fire departments responded to the scene where the truck lost its load of live chickens, reported Linda Cranford, Jones County Fire Council spokeswoman. The transport truck driver was traveling south on Poole Creek Road when he said a small maroon pickup rounded the curve at the intersection o

Shares of Swift Transportation Co. LLC jumped Wednesday after a regulatory filing showed that the trucking company's top executive had picked up more than a quarter of a million shares. THE SPARK: A Form 4 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed that CEO Jerry Moyes acquired 280,000 shares at an average price of $6.91. The shares were purchased in multiple transactions at prices ranging from $6.76 to $6.98, the filing said. That's just off the stock's low of $6.33 hit last we

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) -- The Central Montana Cooperative plans to build a 110-car grain train shuttle loader at the site of its current elevator just west of Fort Benton, making it the fifth loader announced in recent months. "There will be a lot of competition," Keith Schumacher, general manager of Central Montana Cooperative, told the Great Falls Tribune for a story published Wednesday. The co-op owns the current 52-car train loader near Kershaw and has leased it to United Harvest fo

U.S. trucking companies may face a 30 percent surge in wage bills by 2014 as rising demand for freight shipments threatens to push the industry's driver shortage to the longest on record. The current shortfall will double in a year to about 300,000 full-time positions, or 10 percent of the workforce, said Noel Perry, managing director at consultant FTR Associates in Nashville, Indiana. A three-year deficiency would top the 300,000 vacancies lasting for about a year in 2004, he said. A ga

ELDRED, Minn. – A state fire marshal has been called to investigate the cause of an early morning fire that destroyed a grain elevator in Eldred, about 60 miles north of Moorhead on U.S. Highway 75. Firefighters were dispatched at 2:10 a.m. to a fully involved elevator fire at the Farmers Elevator Co. in Eldred. More than 20 Crookston firefighters responded, along with a dozen or so from Beltrami, Climax, Fertile and Fisher who shuttled water with tankers, Crookston Fire Capt. Brian Halos

If you've noticed more farmers markets around in recent years, you aren't imagining things -- local farmers markets in the U.S. doubled from 2,863 in 2000 to 6,132 in 2010 and over 100,000 farmers are selling their products to customers directly. So says an eye-opening report released this month by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) entitled Market Forces: Creating Jobs through Public Investment in Local and Regional Food Systems. The report shows that moderate assistance from the federal g

Inspectors from the Texas Department of Public Safety have found a million violations in trucks coming from Mexico into El Paso, Texas between 2007 and 2011, according to a report by the El Paso Times. The report comes just weeks before Mexican trucks will be allowed to begin shipping long-haul freight into U.S. territory. The statistics, obtained by Fox News Latino, show that between the fiscal years of 2007 and the first six months of 2011 the state completed 1.2 million inspections at th

Trucking joined several other sectors in a July slowdown that was the third pullback in the past four months, according to the latest data from the American Trucking Associations . The trade group's truck tonnage index fell 1.3 percent last month after accelerating a revised 2.6 percent in June. Even the June figure was lower. ATA's advance seasonally adjusted index of for-hire truck tonnage initially showed a 2.8 percent increase in June. The index now stands at 114, with the year 2

Central Montana Cooperative is building a 110-car train loader grain elevator at Kershaw, just outside Fort Benton along Highway 87. Construction will begin in September and is scheduled to be completed by fall of 2012. The elevator is within 15 miles of Columbia Grain's 110 car shuttle loader at Carter. EGT announced it will build a new 110-car grain elevator just east of Carter last week. "There will be a lot of competition," said Keith Schumacher, general manager of Central Montana C

KIRKLAND, Wash. - The aerodynamic Kenworth T700 equipped with the PACCAR MX engine will be featured in Kenworth's booth (No. 12137) at the Great American Trucking Show Aug. 25 -27 at the Dallas Convention Center. The fuel-efficient T700 equipped with the low-emission PACCAR MX engine was named the 2011 Commercial Heavy Duty Truck of the Year by the American Truck Dealers this past spring. The winning combination also was featured this year on the popular "Speedmakers" television show on Spee

Forecasters are calling for scorching weather in the Big D this weekend, but cool trucks will keep your mind off the heat. The Great American Trucking Show will be held at the Dallas Convention Center in Dallas, TX, Aug 25-27. It's the nation's second-largest trucking trade show. You can visit OOIDA at booth 14085. First Observer will also be on hand at booth 21124. Ride and Roll is partnering with Crete Carrier Corp. to give away a bicycle. Register for the drawing at the Ride and Roll

Only One Group of New Ag Funds Offers Individual Investors, Residing in the US, an Opportunity to Participate in the Income and Appreciation Generated by Domestic Grain Farms MILWAUKEE, WI--(Marketwire - Aug 23, 2011) - There are plenty of Funds that accommodate institutional investors, and opportunities abound for investing in farmland outside the U.S. and for investors who reside outside the U.S., but until now, no Fund existed for the small individual investor living in the U.S.

As truck drivers we are known by many names – some are good like " Long Hauler", "Parking Lot", or just plain "Driver". There are others that are bad like "Road Hog", "Truck Driver" (with a demeaning sneer in the voice), and other names that are not appropriate to include on this blog. One title which is not mentioned enough is "Professional Driver". Being a truck driver is not just a job - it is a profession, even if the media and the general public do not recognize it as such. This nega

This is the second in a series of quick profiles of start-up companies. Since 2008, ATDynamics has been selling the TrailerTail, an aerodynamic device that retails for $2,000 and mounts on the back of a semi-trailer to reduce drag and boost fuel efficiency. Employees: 30 full time. Location: South San Francisco, Calif. Founder: Andrew Smith, 35, started ATDynamics in 2006 as an M.B.A. student at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, where he met his first employee, the engineer J

NEW YORK, NY, Aug 23, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- The trucking industry represents a very important component of the US economy. According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, the trucking industry adds about 5 percent to the Gross Domestic product each year. With the sudden slowdown in the US economy and high fuel prices, trucking stocks have been on the downswing of late. The Bedford Report examines the outlook for companies in the trucking industry and provides equity research on YRC Wo

GALESBURG -- Archer Daniels Midland, 1021 S. Henderson St., notified its 31 employees Monday that the soybean processing facility is closing, effective immediately. Processing operations at the facility will be transferred to other ADM oilseeds facilities, according to an ADM news release. Roman Blahoski, media relations manager for ADM's corporate headquarters in Decatur, said Monday evening the facility has not been doing any processing since April. "During the down time, all

Due to recent growth, J.D. Heiskell & Co. is moving its management headquarters to a new location, according to a news release from the one of Tulare's largest employers. The new office, at 1939 Hillman St. in the Blackstone Professional Plaza, will also house the 125-year-old Tulare business' information technology and human resources departments. The move was made after the company joined with Land O'Lakes in the Golden State Feed and Grain venture. Additional space for new employees result

Local corn growers whose crops weathered the hot and dry conditions that struck unseasonably early this summer may benefit from higher commodity prices. Corn futures climbed in recent weeks as traders digested weekly field progress reports. The past month's roller coaster trading in global markets, though, hasn't helped, said Chris Stansbury, field merchandiser for the Alabama Farmers Cooperative in Decatur. On Monday, the price of corn for September delivery hit $7.21 per bushel, up about

After news of China's refusal to accept U.S. corn containing Syngenta's Agrisure Viptera trait, some grain terminals that send grain to the export market said they wouldn't take it. Now, that decision's coming under fire. •Read more: China spurns corn trait •Talk: China reportedly refuses some corn Officials with Syngenta announced Monday their decision to take legal action against Bunge North America, who they say is "attempting to block the legal merchandising of the Agrisure Viptera tr

Trucks are miserable when it comes to gas mileage. America's 2.2 million freight trucks get about six miles per gallon on average, usually with cargo. And they aren't getting much better. While the gas mileage of cars is exploding, between 1990 and 2006, the average fuel economy of the U.S. truck fleet went from just under six mpg to... a bit more under six mpg in 2009, the Department of Transportation reported in 2009. Since trucks burn more than 10% of total gasoline used in the U.S. each y

A recent Purdue University survey finds that Indiana farmland values are at an all-time high. According to the 2011 Purdue Farmland Value Survey, statewide increases ranged from 22.8 percent to 25.3 percent because of strong grain prices, low interest rates, strong farmland demand and a limited supply of farmland being brought to the market. Experts report that this is the highest rate increase since 1977. THE BACKGROUND The survey found that the value of poor-quality farmland avera

It scrapes the sky, but it's no towering office building. Nonetheless, the new grain silo rising at the Port of Vancouver is likely the tallest structure in Clark County. The silo, made of concrete and reinforced steel, climbs more than 300 feet -- the equivalent of roughly 20 stories. "I don't think any of the (Vancouver) downtown structures comes even close," said Curtis Shuck, the port's director of economic development and facilities. The looming silo was built using the "slipform"

WASHINGTON -- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Aug. 18 he agreed with President Obama's statements Aug. 17 that farmers worried about impending regulation should check to make sure the regulations really are moving forward or are just fears being fed by lobbyists in Washington. Asked on a call to reporters whether the administration might address concerns farmers had expressed about regulation during Obama's Midwestern tour, Vilsack said when a farmer asked a related question Aug. 17 in

Farm income is up nationally, and grain prices are high. The economy is down, and Congress is in a cutting mood. So expect the folks in Washington to try to take a sharp knife to federal farm subsidies, which totaled more than $15 billion nationally and nearly $1 billion in Kansas in 2010. Farmers and agriculture groups are grimacing. Farm subsidy opponents are grinning. The direct-payment program is expected to be the main target. Most farmers are resigned to losing at least some of tha

No New Truck Regulations. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. The Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has announced it has no intention of proposing new regulations for agricultural vehicles. American Farm Bureau Federation Public Policy Director Mark Maslyn says that's a big relief for the nation's farmers and ranchers. MASLYN: This was a very important victory for agriculture. We commend the Department of Transportation for that quic

COLUMBIA -- High corn prices are forcing Missouri livestock producers to change their feeding practices. In addition to looking for substitutes to replace the corn used in feed rations, some are trying to fatten cattle faster than ever on less feed. And as livestock producers face high prices, many are giving up, selling their cattle and turning pasture land into more lucrative corn fields. Corn prices have risen steadily during the past year, and for the first time in 15 years, the price

Decline in weekly Longbow index indicates 'seasonal' uptick in truck supply Shippers had an easier time finding trucks last week after a two-week contraction in supply, according to the latest Longbow Research Truckload Barometer. The weekly index, which rises when truckload capacity tightens, dropped 9.5 percent after rising 15.4 percent in late July and early August. Capacity remains tighter than a year ago, however, Longbow said. Year-to-date, the average index reading is up 31 pe

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Railroad companies could be in for a headache as some major industries are partnering to threaten their record-breaking years. In January, the Surface Transportation Board -- the governmental agency that resolves railroad rates and service disputes and reviews railroad mergers -- said it would review competition in the railroad industry based on numerous complaints from companies that felt physically limited by a single rail carrier, called captive shippers. The

Williamsburg, Ia. - Her father's patented inventions made Kinze Manufacturing synonymous with grain carts and plows. Now 33-year-old Susanne Kinzenbaw Veatch is taking Kinze Manufacturing Inc. deep into agriculture's future of drone equipment. Last month Kinze demonstrated to dealers its new "autonomy" system, developed with Jaybridge Robotics of Cambridge, Mass., which uses guidance communications systems to allow tractors to run without human operators. The drone tractors, commanded e

COSHOCTON -- Although a government agency is predicting average farm income will go up by about 20 percent, area farmers say they're having a difficult time realizing the increase.The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts a 19.8 percent jump in net farm income in 2011. That projection puts U.S. farms at making $94.7 billion for the year. The Lower family has farmed on County Road 93 in Adams Township for more than 75 years. Dave and Mike Lower are the third generation to raise dairy cattle

Mark Lehenbauer still has plenty of questions about this year's crops. He'll get answers in a couple of weeks with an early start to harvest. "Early corn will be average to above average, but yield is going to continually decline as we continue through harvest," Lehenbauer said. "Harvest will move along rapidly. There won't be the volume of grain to move." The summer's hot, dry weather pushed crops to mature faster than usual and robbed a still-to-be-determined percentage of total yield of

Farm income is up nationally, and grain prices are high. The economy is down, and Congress is in a cutting mood. So expect the folks in Washington to try to take a sharp knife to federal farm subsidies, which totaled more than $15 billion nationally and nearly $1 billion in Kansas in 2010. Farmers and agriculture groups are grimacing. Farm subsidy opponents are grinning. The direct-payment program is expected to be the main target. Most farmers are resigned to losing at least some of tha

ZANESVILLE -- After months of financial haggling in Congress and the loss of the United States' AAA credit rating, many Americans are settling in for what could be a shaky financial future. But U.S. farmers are prepping their fields for a profitable year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts a 19.8 percent jump in net farm income in 2011. That projection puts U.S. farms at making $94.7 billion for the year. For Matt Bell, a sixth-generation Zanesville farmer, life on the farm is

Corn use for ethanol is projected to exceed the crop's use for animal feed for the first time in history, reflecting both the growth of the biofuels industry as well as record-high corn prices that are forcing livestock farmers to limit production or turn to other crops for feed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's supply and demand estimates for corn released earlier this month project that 20 million more bushels of corn will go to ethanol plants than to animal feed during the 2010-11 sea

No one wants to see another tractor-trailer crash shut down a highway in Monroe County. Consider Wednesday's scenario, in which a tractor-trailer's brakes failed and caused a multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 80 East in Jackson Township. Or a crash Friday, in which a large amount of oil was spilled onto I-80 East near the Carbon/Monroe county line. The Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association, state police and the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrati

CHICAGO – The overall U.S. economy may be struggling against a double-dip recession but in farm country, the boom times have rarely been better. Farmland prices are setting records and farmer incomes have been buoyed by exports and biofuels, easing the pain of some rough summer weather from drought, floods and fires. Amid China's voracious appetite for grains and worries about climate hurting crops and food supplies in many countries, U.S. agriculture's attraction as the world's breadbas

Lost in the corn hubbub has been the rise of wheat, barley, and other grains. Grains as a whole (pun intended) have risen 54% in the last year, an increase that is devastating for food manufacturers and consumers alike, who both end up sharing the burden. However, some manufacturers may be better suited than others to handle this environment and could come out ahead of their competition. What they're facing US Corn Price Chart by YCharts Since 2007, the average price of corn and whe

The governors of New York and New Jersey vowed not to raise taxes, but that's precisely what has happened in a deal struck Friday with the local port authority to increase truck tolls by 125 percent and car tolls by 67 percent. The fast-tracked plan has left truckers with feelings of betrayal as only a fraction of the new revenue will be used to improve infrastructure. As part of the plan, the $40 truck toll on the George Washington Bridge will become $50 on Sept. 1 of this year. Then the tru

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- Crop insurance, research and export promotion should be among the top priorities in the next federal farm bill, say spokesmen for North Dakota agricultural groups, who are bracing for cuts in federal spending. "We'll have less resources to work with," said Shane Goettle, state director for U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D. "It's very important that we're communicating solidly what the priorities for the farm bill will be, because those ... will dictate what has to give, and

CLINTON, Iowa-- One person has been injured in an explosion at the Archer Daniels Midland corn processing plant in Clinton. The Clinton Herald is reporting (http://bit.ly/qBsdTT ) the explosion occurred just after 9 p.m. Thursday in an area where welders had been working on duct work that was the exhaust system for corn dryers earlier in the day. XArcher Daniels Midland Incorporated Fire officials say the welders left about a half hour before the explosion occurred and heavy damage was r

CHICAGO, Aug 20 (Reuters) - The overall U.S. economy may be struggling against a double-dip recession but in farm country the boom times have rarely been better. Farmland prices are setting records and farmer incomes have been buoyed by exports and biofuels, easing the pain of some rough summer weather from drought, floods and fires. Amid China's voracious appetite for grains and worries about climate hurting crops and food supplies in many countries, U.S. agriculture's attraction as the w

Oskaloosa, Iowa – What do you know of Cargill Corn Milling in Eddyville? You are about to learn more. The next Lunch & Learn sponsored by the Main Street Business Improvement Committee will be led by Erik Ingerslew, Mill Team Leader at Eddyville's facility. He and other colleagues from the facility will be giving an overview of what Cargill does in southern Mahaska County – the products and services provided, plus some history of the site and an overview of the company as a whole. They will shar

USDA's Smuggling Interdiction and Trade Compliance (SITC), a program with USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), is in its tenth year of protecting American agriculture from invasive pests and diseases. Some of SITC's efforts toward this goal include identifying and closing routes of illegal products originating in foreign countries and products from pest and disease quarantine areas of the U.S. So, what is a SITC Officer's average day like? Well, working in New York Cit

MAXWELL -- A man authorities said was a big-rig driver in training for Swift Transportation Corp. was killed late Wednesday night after he walked into traffic on Interstate 5 at the Maxwell rest stop and was struck by several vehicles. The man's name hasn't been released, pending notification of family members. California Highway Patrol spokesman John Waggoner said it's believed the man was from the Fresno area, and was with a driving instructor from the company when the two pulled into th

CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to report an increase in cattle sent to U.S. feedlots in July compared with a year ago, a sign that beef supplies will grow sharply later this year and then tighten in 2012. The USDA will release the new data in its monthly cattle-on-feed report, due out Friday at 3:00 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT). Brokers expect the data to show a surge in placements across the plains where cattle producers are shrinking their herds in the face

U.S. corn futures are expected to start higher Friday as an unusual purchase by Japan, the world's top buyer of the grain, fuels concerns that output will fall short of expectations. Traders predict corn for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, will open up 2 cents to 4 cents a bushel at the Chicago Board of Trade. In overnight electronic trading, the contract rose 3 1/4 cents, or 0.5%, to $7.16 1/4 a bushel. Japan's purchase is expected to drive prices higher as it stru

A federal law requiring fuel companies to mix two per cent renewable fuel into home heating oil and diesel is in effect in the west, and truckers are complaining that will raise costs. The federal law started July 1, but provinces from Quebec east are exempt until the end of 2012 because of problems with supply. Truckers already under the law are complaining fuel prices have increased anywhere from two to eight cents a litre. "This is really a tax on fuel that will be paid by truckers, b

Grain Growers of Canada and Canadian Foodgrains Bank want to encourage farmers to respond to the needs of people experiencing famine and hunger in east Africa by making a donation to the Foodgrains Bank. "Many of us know what's it's like to lose a crop to drought," said Stephen Vandervalk, President of the Grain Growers of Canada, "but we've never faced the extreme challenges facing farmers in east Africa, with the total crop failures and no reserves." According to John Longhurst, who dire

KIMBALL -- Chuck Jepson is excited to see the dirt fly. Work on a massive grainloading facility has begun this week between Kimball and White Lake. Jepson, whose Liberty Grain LLC group plans to build what he's previously referred to as an "elevator on steroids" about six miles east of Kimball, said topsoil is being stripped for building sites and roads. Starting next week, he estimates 40,000 cubic yards of dirt will be moved per week. By the end of September 2012, he expects th

Federal highway officials have decided that farmers who operate tractors, combines and semitrailers can keep driving on rural roads without the kind of rules that apply to long-haul truckers. The U.S. Department of Transportation announced last week it won't require farmers to get commercial driver's licenses after agriculture groups and lawmakers from rural states flooded Washington with letters opposing the idea. It's a victory for farmers who argued that requiring them to carry commerci

While the condition of Nebraska's corn crop continues to decline slightly, it's still doing relatively well compared to most of the nation's corn. For the week ending Sunday, Nebraska's corn crop was rated 75 percent good or excellent, compared to the previous week's 79 percent good or excellent, as the impact of the crop's late start and the July heat wave continues to take a toll, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service, Nebraska Field Offi

The U.S. Department of Agriculture quietly released estimates it usually keeps under wraps, shedding more light on how much this year's flooding disrupted wheat plantings and roiling grain markets. Traders caught on to the new data set, posted on the USDA's web site, earlier this week and latched on to figures indicating that the size of the nation's prized fall wheat crop could be smaller than expected. View Full Image Associated Press Wheat being harvested last June in a field n

HILLS PRAIRIE -- Sitting patiently in a hay-strewn pen he made himself, Charles Schroeder, wearing dusty denim and a red gimme cap, makes an unlikely nanny. But in a soft and high voice, he coaxes his 2-week-old calf to nurse with all the gentleness of a mother. After all, he said, "I'm the cow." The 61-year-old Bastrop County rancher bottle-feeds this and two other calves twice a day because drought has forced Schroeder to sell off his older cows. More than 99 percent of Texas is in some

Steven Spielberg once got on the wrong side of truckers with his debut as a director, in a mediocre 1971 movie called "Duel." This was before many terrific Spielberg films, from "Jaws" to "The Color Purple" to "Schindler's List" to "Saving Private Ryan." Florida "Duel" was about a businessman in a little Plymouth Valiant being chased across a California desert by a huge and homicidal Peterbilt, apparently because the unseen truck driver was annoyed over being passed as he was trying to h

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey says much of the state is dry and in need of rain as the quality of the corn crop dipped slightly. Northey released his weekly crop report Monday saying corn was in 67 percent good to excellent condition, down slightly from last week and 1 percentage point behind the average. Soybeans were in 70 percent good to excellent condition. Northey says the big issue for Iowa is the need for rain. Topsoil moisture was 46 percent short or very short w

GREAT FALLS, Mont. -- A joint venture between U.S., Japanese and Korean companies plans to build a third high-speed shuttle-loader grain elevator in Montana. The high-capacity grain elevators are capable of loading a 110-car train in less than 10 hours. The company, EGT, plans to complete the new elevator east of Carter by next summer. The Great Falls Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/qFhCfM ) that EGT is already completing two other grain elevators in Chester and near Nashua. The company

Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM), the largest processor of grain in the world, has signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Poland's Elstar Oils, a vegetable oils processing company. Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM)'s proposed acquisition's news has raised Elstar's shares 53 percent to z?.5.25 Brent Fenton, president of Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) Europe, said that, "Poland is an important origination and consumer market for Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM). Elstar's l

Federal highway officials have decided that farmers who operate tractors, combines and semitrailers can keep driving on rural roads without the same kind of regulations that apply to long-haul truckers. The U.S. Department of Transportation announced last week that it won't require farmers to get commercial driver's licenses after agriculture organizations and lawmakers from farm states flooded Washington with letters opposed to the idea. It's a victory for farmers who argued that requirin