Wheat jumps again on worries about dry weather NEW YORK (AP) — Wheat futures soared again Friday as more concerns about dry weather hit the market. Wheat for July delivery rose 37.5 cents, a gain of 5.7 percent, to settle at $6.9525. Corn also rose, but not as much.
The price of wheat jumped 16 percent last week on worries that dry, hot weather in growing regions in the United States could hurt crop yields. A drought in Russia has also affected the crop there. “It’s not only a weather concern for the Southern Plains, it’s also the Ohio River Valley,” said Brandon Marshall, a commodity analyst at Northstar Commodity in Minneapolis. “It’s a weather-driven rally.” July corn rose 10.5 cents, a gain of 1.7 percent, to settle at $6.355. Corn was up 9 percent last week. Soybeans fell 33 cents to settle at $14.05 Friday.
U.P. teen gets 18 months in prison in cattle torture
MENOMINEE, Mich. (AP) — A judge has sentenced a 17-year-old Escanaba boy to 18 months to four years in prison for torturing cattle last summer. Chad A. Meier Jr. is the last of three Escanaba teens sentenced in Menominee County in the July 2011 attack on three Angus cattle.
Two pregnant heifers were beaten so badly they had to be euthanized. A 1,400-pound bull recovered but no longer can be used for breeding. It sustained broken bones, welts and about 20 knife wounds.
Eighteen-year-olds Nicholas Leisner and Peter Sauve are serving two- to four-year prison sentences. The Daily Press of Escanaba reported that defense lawyer Steve Benson said Meier and his friends were “highly intoxicated” during the attack.
TDA announces dairy product recall for West Tennessee
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA), in cooperation with Rock Springs Dairy of Bradford, Tenn., is announcing a recall of quart and half-gallon Whole Creamline Milk. As a precaution, the company is voluntarily recalling the product because of incomplete pasteurization. The problem was discovered through TDA’s routine sampling and testing program for food and dairy products. The product is believed to have been distributed to approximately 17 stores in West Tennessee.
This includes Whole Creamline Milk in glass quart or half-gallon bottles with expiration dates 5/25/12 – 6/1/12, and quart UPC Code 5342500302 or half-gallon UPC Code 5342500301, from Plant #47-170, with a red cap on top.
Company officials are in the process of contacting all stores that carry this product. Consumers who have bought it should return it to the store for a full refund. No illnesses have been associated with the use of the recalled product at this time.
For more information, consumers may call Rock Springs Dairy at 731-225-7459 or 731-514-8432.
Humane Society releases video of horse abuse in Tennessee
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has released video of the abuse of Tennessee walking horses that led to a federal indictment charging four people with violation of the federal Horse Protection Act.
The video, made public Thursday, was taken in 2011 at the farm of Jackie McConnell of Collierville, and shows individuals soring horses at his stables. McConnell has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Horse Protection Act, according to court records. Tom Greenholtz, McConnell’s attorney, said because his client has an upcoming plea hearing, he did not want to comment on the video.
Keith Dane, the director of equine protection for HSUS, said for seven weeks the agency had an undercover investigator in a training barn in McConnell’s Whitter Stables who took the video. The Walking Horse Trainers’ Assoc. board of directors voted unanimously to take steps to suspend McConnell’s trainers’ license indefinitely.
Enrollment reminder for Farm Service Agency programs WASHINGTON, D.C. — The USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds producers the 2012 deadline to enroll in the Direct and Counter-Cyclical Payment (DCP) program is June 1.
In addition, other FSA programs also have enrollment deadlines approaching, as follows:
•Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP); check with your local FSA office for dates
•Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) – June 1
•Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payment Program (SURE) –
June 1, for crop year 2010
•2011 ACRE Production Evidence – July 15
•Certification of Planted Acres – Various deadlines, but no later than July 15
•Farm Reconstitutions (changes) – August 1, for the 2012 crop year
•Milk Income Loss Contract Program (MILC) – Sept. 30
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