CHICAGO (Reuters) – An extended NFL lockout would be devastating to the chicken wing industry, which has already seen prices drop precipitously this year, the chief executive of Sanderson Farms Inc (SAFM.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said.

“It would kill wings, it would be terrible on wings,” Joe Sanderson said at the Reuters Global Food and Agriculture Summit on Monday.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – With more Americans tightening their belts, demand for cheaper cuts of U.S. beef has actually pushed the price of select-grade beef higher than the generally more expensive choice cuts.

For the first time in nearly two years, select-grade beef prices are above those for better-quality choice grade, according to U.S. government data.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Grain companies will have to pay up to get deep-pocketed U.S. farmers to part with soybeans, as about half of the crop remains unsold at a time when soymeal demand rises seasonally and the export program could be extended by planting delays in Brazil.

Soybean basis bids — the amount above or below Chicago Board of Trade benchmark futures prices that grain merchants pay to farmers — are poised to climb at least until year end after hitting a low for 2010 during harvest last month.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – The loud, colorful traders who jostle for deals in Chicago’s famed open-outcry pits now face an even greater threat than the advent of electronic dealing systems — the algorithmic trade, says the director of a new documentary charting the demise of floor trading.

More a living funeral than a eulogy, the film “Floored” that debuted on Friday recounts the transition from the bustling salad days of burly alpha males to a market dominated by faceless computer-based traders across the globe.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – The CME Group’s <CME.O> distillers’ grain futures contract that debuts in April can be a tool for corn-based ethanol makers to hedge their risk, but the true measure of its success would be its ability to attract deep-pocketed traders looking for investment opportunities.

“It has potential and could be utilized by ethanol makers. The trick will be to get spec (speculative) interest in it to add liquidity and do that without getting so erratic that you drive away commercial trade,” said Jerry Gidel, analyst for North America Risk Management Inc.

WASHINGTON, Feb 19 (Reuters) – U.S. wheat production will
fall 12 percent this year to 1.945 billion bushels as farmers
sow more corn and soybeans as large world wheat stocks weigh on
prices, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Friday.

In a sign of strong economies worldwide, U.S. cotton
production was forecast to rise to 16 million bales, compared
with 12.4 million bales last year, the USDA said at its annual
Outlook Forum.

CHICAGO, Feb 4 (Reuters) – U.S. lumber futures rose to
their highest level in 29 months on Thursday, spurred by
retailers and distributors restocking supplies ahead of the
spring building season, analysts and traders said.

It was the sixth straight session of higher prices, which
rose on Thursday by the $10 daily trading limit set by the
exchange to limit volatility. Contract highs were set in the
March, May, July and September.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – U.S. farmers grew record-large corn and soy crops in 2009 but production in 2010 could be even bigger, aided by an El Nino weather pattern that is typically a boon to the Midwest but less so for growers in Australia and southeast Asia, a forecaster said on Thursday.

Allen Motew, meteorologist at QT Weather, forecast a dry U.S. spring, which should minimize problems at planting time, followed by a favorably wet summer growing season.

CHICAGO/HAMBURG (Reuters) – Blasts of Arctic winds and drifting snow gripped much of the northern United States and Canada on Thursday, slowing business in the agricultural sector and threatening to disrupt natural gas production.

In Europe, heavy snowfall protected the wheat crop in the continent’s western region from being damaged by frosts.

CHICAGO/HAMBURG, Jan 7 (Reuters) – Blasts of Arctic winds
and drifting snow gripped much of the northern United States
and Canada on Thursday, slowing business in the agricultural
sector and threatening to disrupt natural gas production.

In Europe, heavy snowfall protected the wheat crop in the
continent’s western region from being damaged by frosts.