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 has jumped 16 percent this week on worries that dry, hot weather in growing regions in the U.S. could hurt crop yields. A drought in Russia has also affected the crop there.

“It’s not only a weather concerns 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 $6.3550. Corn is up 9 percent this week. Soybeans fell 33 cents to settle at $14.05.

In other commodities trading, gold for June delivery rose 1.1 percent, or $17, to $1,591.90 per ounce.

May silver rose 2.5 percent, or 69.8 cents, to $28.694 per ounce. July platinum rose $5.90 to $1,459.30 per ounce. June palladium fell $2.25 to $603.60

May copper edged down 1 penny to $3.4695 per pound.

Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.08 to finish at $91.48 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price many international varieties of oil, fell 35 cents to end at $107.14 in London.

Heating oil fell 1.9 cents to finish at $2.83 per gallon, gasoline futures rose 1.13 cents to end at $2.8895 per gallon and natural gas increased 14.8 cents to finish at $2.742 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/wheat-jumps-again-worries-dry-weather-204252586--finance.html

CME Group on Friday said it would start nearly around-the-clock grain trading on Sunday night, reasserting itself as the dominant player in markets it created.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved CME’s plan to increase electronic trading for grain futures and options at its historic Chicago Board of Trade to 21 hours per session from 17 hours.

The massive exchange operator had originally sought an increase to 22 hours but pared down the plan after grain groups complained the longer cycle would drive up costs.

CME, in an attempt to keep pace with nearly around-the-clock trading that began on Monday at rival IntercontinentalExchange, had asked regulators for expedited approval of the plan for 21-hour trading. Grain groups largely supported the revised plan.

CME confirmed in a statement that it won approval from regulators and declined further comment.

Under the modified plan, grain and soy markets will stay shut from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. CDT (1900-2200 GMT), Monday to Friday, instead of the originally proposed 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. CDT, giving grain dealers an extra hour in the evening to complete back-office operations before the next trading session begins.

While the longer hours appeal to many funds and big traders who are eager for greater market access and the opportunity to trade on key government reports, the plan caused an initial uproar among the CME’s core agricultural constituents, prompting calls for changes or a public-comment period.

CME’s adjustment “definitely gives merchandisers and elevators time to close out their books,” said Steve Wellman, a farmer and president of the American Soybean Association.

“I think it’s a good change, and I think it will be positive,” he said.

Futures brokerage R.J. O’Brien, which had objected to CME’s original proposal, agreed the revised plan would “better meet the risk management needs of the grain industry.”

However, grain firms said they were still worried that expanded trading hours will increase volatility by keeping markets open when the U.S. Department of Agriculture issues monthly crop reports that often cause sharp swings in prices.

R.J. O’Brien, the largest independent U.S. futures brokerage, said it wanted a pause in trading when monthly USDA crop reports are released “to allow the community time to absorb and analyze the wide array of data.”

CME has said it will continue to discuss concerns about trading during USDA reports with industry members.

The push for nearly around-the-clock trading met a demand from funds and large traders, while traditional members of the grain industry like merchandisers and farmers said they were worried about monitoring markets for more hours.

The objections from the grain industry raise questions about whether futures exchanges are “being true to their originally intended purposes of price discovery and risk management, or have they morphed in ways that might be a concern,” CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton said, who said he “reluctantly supported” CME’s revised proposal.

In the short term, traders and brokers were preparing for the start of expanded trading hours on Sunday. Trading will open one hour earlier than usual at 5 p.m. CDT.

Jack Scoville, a broker and vice president for Price Futures Group in Chicago, sent emails to his customers notifying them of the last-minute announcement on Friday.

“Hopefully they’ll read their emails between now and Sunday night,’ he said.

Article source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-cme-seeks-quick-approval-for-21hour-grain-cycle-20120518,0,5746907.story

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Next week, Long Trail will add its name to the list of Vermont breweries offering its beers in aluminum cans following a growing trend in craft brewing. For years, there have been very few canned options for craft beers. Most consumers had to “trade down” and select imports, such as Heineken, Bass, or go domestic if they needed cans to take to the beach or on the boat. During my five years working in retail, I saw many a dejected fan of craft beer slinking toward the registers with a six pack of Bud, muttering apologies, “I’m going camping.”

A few years ago, some brewers started to take note of innovations in canning technology. The aluminum cans require a special liner inside to prevent the metal from leeching into the beer, and this technology has advanced rapidly in the past decade. No longer are beers prone to that “metallic” taste.

Another contributing factor seems to be the economics of canning. Empty cans are shipped as sheets of aluminum and the volume-to-quantity ratio for transportation is vastly superior to that of shipping empty glass bottles to a brewery. Once they are filled, cans are lighter weight than full bottles, cutting down on shipping costs again.

Some breweries are claiming that cans are more eco-friendly as well. Recycling centers can process aluminum cans quite efficiently. Aluminum cans weigh less all around, reducing fossil fuel usage to transport them at every stage of their life cycle.

And the benefits to active consumers are numerous. If you like to go hiking, boating, fishing or to the beach, canned beer is where it’s at. They’re lightweight to carry and when they’re empty, you can crush them and bring them back in a compact form. (Although, you might lose your 5 cent deposit as some redemption centers don’t accept crushed cans.)

The number of micro-breweries jumping on board is encouraging. In Vermont, Long Trail is joining Harpoon, Magic Hat and The Alchemist, which already offer some of their beers in cans. At better beer stores you should also be able to find canned offerings from Sierra Nevada (Calif.), Brooklyn Brewery (N.Y.), Sixpoint Brewery (N.Y.), Butternuts Beer Ale (N.Y.), and Cisco Brewers (Mass.). And the list seems to be growing weekly.

Article source: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20120518/COLUMNISTS10/120517020/Hops-Barley-Quality-craft-can

Wheat prices rose again Thursday on concerns about poor weather conditions, while gold and silver shot higher as traders sought refuge from a steep decline in the stock market.

Wheat rose 3 percent, or 19 cents, to $6.5775 per bushel on Thursday. Prices have been climbing for most of the week as traders worry that dry weather in the U.S. and Russia will crimp supply.

Corn and soybeans also rose, but not as much. Corn climbed 5 cents to $6.25 per bushel. Soybeans climbed 16 cents to $14.38 per bushel.

Most metals rose as traders sought safety from the plunging stock market. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 156 points to close at 12,442, and is now down 5.8 percent since the end of April.

Gold for June delivery rose 2.5 percent, or $38.30, to $1,574.90 per ounce. May silver rose 3 percent, or 82.6 cents, to $27.996 per ounce. July platinum rose 1.5 percent, or $21.20, to $1,453.40 per ounce. June palladium rose 2 percent, or $11.75, to $605.85.

Copper was the outlier. The May contract for the industrial metal fell a tiny fraction — about 0.2 percent, or about half a cent — to $3.4795 per pound.

Oil prices followed copper lower. Investors have been unnerved because of a possible slowdown in China, where manufacturing fuels oil demand, and political stalemate in Greece, which could drag Europe into even more uncertainty.

A stronger dollar also tends to send down the price for oil and other commodities that are traded in dollars, because the commodity becomes more expensive for traders who use other currencies.

Benchmark oil fell 25 cents to finish at $92.56 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price many international oil products, fell $2.26 to $107.49 per barrel in London.

Heating oil dropped 4.86 cents to end at $2.849 per gallon and gasoline futures declined 4.27 cents to $2.8782 per gallon.

Natural gas fell 2.4 cents to end at $2.594 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Article source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wheat-gold-silver-rise-down-202352353.html

Thu May 17, 2012 11:49am EDT

Article source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/17/cme-grain-date-idUSL1E8GH68W20120517

Remember in the movie “Mary Poppins” when Jane and Michael sing about “The Perfect Nanny”?

“Have a cheery disposition .?.?. Never be cross or cruel .?.?. never smell of barley water,” the children chime.

Barley water is a British soft drink, often flavored with lemon. The barley that I recommend as “The Perfect Side Dish” is plain old barley, the kind in the 1-pound bag that hides next to the dried beans and split peas on your grocery store shelf.

If Mary Poppins were going to cook a grain, she’d probably pick barley, because it’s quite magical. When you add water and cook it, it grows to almost four times its size. In other words, 1 cup dry yields 3 1?2 to 4 cups cooked.

Miss Poppins certainly would approve of barley’s nutritional character, too. One cup of barley offers 3.5 grams of protein, zero fat, no cholesterol and a whopping 6 grams of fiber.
A generation or two ago, women didn’t think about calories, fat and fiber, but they knew what was good to eat and how to stretch their food dollars.

Whether she was an Eastern European immigrant or a farm wife during the Great Depression, barley was your grandmother’s grain because barley was a bargain.

That 1-pound bag that costs about $1.50 makes more than 14 cups of whole grain goodness.

If you are already eating brown rice as a side dish, you might like to change up the menu once in a while, and enjoy barley for its heartier texture and satisfying chew factor.

Cooking it is easy. Pour 1 cup of barley (I like Goya brand in the Hispanic food aisle) into a fine strainer or colander, pick through to remove any tiny stones or soil particles, then give it a quick rinse.

Put 3 cups of water in a pot, bring to a boil and dump in the barley. Cover, lower the heat and simmer for 40 minutes.

Rushing to make dinner, can’t wait 40 minutes? Cook a batch while you are watching “Mad Men” on Sunday night, then stow it in the fridge or freezer. On Monday or Tuesday, reheat the barley in the microwave or in a low, covered pan on the stove with a little water.

Leftover barley is also the perfect base for a quick cold salad that you can take to work. Just mix barley with chopped celery, carrots, garbanzo beans, a little onion, some walnuts, lemon juice or red wine vinegar and a dash of olive oil. (You can also use bottled dressing) Crumbled bleu or feta cheese makes it extra tasty.

My husband, Mr. Picky, won’t eat barley cold, but finds it quite appealing when it appears in a dish in his lunch bag under a piece of barbecue chicken or leftover Chinese stir-fry.

At my house, leftover barley stuffs peppers, thickens soup, turns into “Spanish rice,” is topped with homemade chili and mixed with beans, salsa and cheese.

Barley breakfast? Sure, you can eat it like oatmeal or stir it up with scrambled eggs and chopped veggies.

About the only thing I haven’t tried is barley water, and I might investigate that brew, as I’ve heard it’s a natural tonic for good health in Ayurvedic, Middle Eastern and Asian cultures.
Until then, if I’m going to drink the stuff, I prefer a nice, cold “barley sandwich.”

Even though Jane and Michael would certainly disapprove, I have an occasional serving of that sort of barley to keep my cheery disposition.

Article source: http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/food-forum/2012/may/17/barley-grandmothers-grain/

RABAT (Reuters) – Morocco will keep import duties on soft wheat suspended until the end of May before raising them to 17.5 percent in the June 1 to end-December period as it braces for higher imports, official and trade sources said on Wednesday.

A combination of dry weather and long cold spells reduced the north African country’s cereals crop to 4.8 million tonnes this year, down 43 percent from the previous season.

Bread and semolina are the staples for Morocco’s 34-million population.

A senior government official said import duties on barley and durum wheat will remain suspended until the end of 2012, confirming information obtained from Paris-based traders and two members of Morocco’s private National Cereals Traders Association (ANCL).

“For soft wheat, the import duty will remain suspended until the end of May. It will then raised to 17.5 percent for the rest of 2012,” the official said.

The customs authority declined to comment pending the publication of decrees on the official gazette.

The 17.5 percent import duty pales in comparison to 100-plus percent duty Moroccccan authorities usually impose on wheat imports in years of good harvests.

“This (17.5 percent) is a low import duty that factors in the rise in import needs after the bad harvest we will be having this year,” said a member of ANCL, which lobbies for the interests of private cereal importers.

Morocco’s cereals harvest is expected to include 3 million tonnes of wheat, including 2 million tonnes of soft wheat, and around 2 million tonnes of barley. Last year’s harvest comprised 4.17 million tonnes of soft wheat, and 1.85 million tonnes of durum wheat.

Around half of the country’s soft wheat harvest usually ends up in the formal distribution chain while the other half is consumed by growers due to the predominance of basic subsistence farming. For durum wheat, the while production is consumed by growers.

“About half the population lives in rural areas where there are no bakeries,” said an ANCL member.

Morocco will likely import at least 4 million tonnes of soft wheat in the 12 months to end-May, 2013, which would be the highest since 1981, according to ANCL’s data.

The figure can rise to 4.8 million tonnes if durum wheat prices reach “prohibitive levels”, they said.

Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/morocco-keep-low-import-duty-regime-wheat-121506840--finance.html

By Tom Polansek and Alexandra Alper

CHICAGO/WASHINGTON |
Wed May 16, 2012 2:58pm EDT

CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – CME Group is set to pare back its controversial plan for nearly around-the-clock grain trading in a compromise with grain firms that complained the shift would increase their costs, trade sources said on Wednesday.

As a result of the change, CME will not start trading 22 hours a day on May 21 as planned, sources said.

CME, which dominates agricultural commodities markets in the United States, will seek to expand trading of grain and soy futures and options to 21 hours a day, Monday to Friday, instead of the currently planned 22 hours, the sources told Reuters. The markets currently trade for 17 hours a day.

Under the modified plan, grain and soy markets will stay shut from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. CDT (1900-2200 GMT), Monday to Friday, instead of 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. CDT, they said.

CME declined to comment.

“We are very supportive of that change,” said Todd Kemp, vice president of marketing and treasurer of the National Grain and Feed Association, the largest U.S. grain group.

The grain association, which proposed the modification to CME, previously warned that the original schedule for 22-hour trading could significantly increase costs for grain firms that would have to add personnel or pay employees overtime to work into the evening hours.

Firms need to work after the markets close to reconcile their trading activities and perform required accounting and back-office operations before the next trading session begins.

“I don’t think two hours was enough,” said Karl Setzer, analyst for MaxYield Cooperative in Iowa.

TWEAKED PLAN

It was not immediately clear whether the modification would trigger a new 10-day review period required by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The commission’s 10-day review of CME’s original plan for 22-hour trading was set to end on Thursday, according to the agency.

CME is seeking to expand its trading cycle in response to a challenge from rival IntercontinentalExchange, which launched new 22-hour grain and soy contracts on Monday to satisfy hedge funds and bigger traders who want round-the-clock access to grain markets.

Yet, ICE’s contracts were off to a slow start, with about 1,000 corn futures contracts trading on Tuesday, compared to more than 200,000 contracts at CME’s Chicago Board of Trade.

Atlanta-based ICE has declined to comment on CME’s push for an extended trading cycle.

It said on Tuesday that traders would be attracted to its new grain markets for reasons other than trading hours, including the availability of privately negotiated transactions called “block trades” that are executed away from the broader market.

USDA CONCERNS PERSIST

CME’s tweak does not address concerns that the expanded hours will increase volatility by keeping grain markets open when monthly U.S. Department of Agriculture crop reports are released.

Futures brokerages and grain groups have predicted traders will step back from the markets when USDA reports are issued to digest the data. The reports often cause sharp swings in prices.

CFTC Commissioner Scott O’Malia said in an interview that he supported CME’s decision to seek a 21-hour trading day but added that he understood concerns about an extended trading cycle leading to liquidity problems.

O’Malia said he asked CFTC staff on Monday to conduct a robust economic analysis, starting with ICE, to determine how the extended day would impact the volume, pricing, and liquidity in the grain market.

“We want our markets to remain competitive but we also want to make sure we are getting good liquidity, good price formation,” he said. “We need to do this with our eyes wide open and make sure there aren’t problems.”

(Reporting by Tom Polansek and Alexandra Alper; editing by Jim Marshall and Alden Bentley)

Article source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/16/us-cme-grains-trading-idUSBRE84F15E20120516

The official summer kick off is coming up quickly, and you know what that means: Cookouts! This month I thought I’d share a new burger for you to throw on the grill. Like the All-American Incrediburgers (recipe here) from American Vegan Kitchen, this recipe has the extra step of steaming the burgers. Even though it’s a bit more work (and foil), it almost always creates burgers that hold up to grilling, whether it is on an outdoor grill or an indoor grill pan. When the burgers aren’t falling into the grill, they get more of that smoky, hearty, true grill taste. To me, it’s worth it. Give it a try and see if you agree.

Mushroom Barley Grillers

Yield: 7 burgers

Fermented foods, in this case wine and sauerkraut, bring extra flavor to dishes. These savory burgers are hearty and toothsome, and will turn omnivore heads at any cookout.

• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1/3 cup pearl barley
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 4 cups minced mixed mushrooms (portobello and cremini are a good mix)
• 3/4 cup minced red onion
• 1/2 cup minced green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup sauerkraut, minced
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 cup prepared barbecue sauce
• 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1 3/4 cups vital wheat gluten
• Fine sea salt
• Ground black pepper

Preparation:

1. Bring the broth, wine, and barley to a boil in a small saucepan. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and a pinch of black pepper. Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The barley should be tender but doesn’t need to be completely soft as it will cook more when it is steamed.
2. Heat the sesame oil in a large skillet. Add the mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, sauerkraut, garlic, cumin, paprika, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until the mushrooms are softened.
3. Combine 2/3 cup of the barley, vegetables, barbecue sauce, vinegar, hot sauce, mustard, and liquid smoke in a large bowl. Stir together well. Add the vital wheat gluten and knead  and squeeze with your hands until strands of gluten form, about 4 minutes.
4. Tear off six (10-inch) pieces of foil and prepare a steamer.
5. Spoon 1/2 cup of the burger mixture onto each piece of foil. The vegetables and barley will want to fall out, but pack them into a 3 1/2 inch burger that is 1-inch thick. Fold the foil over the burgers to form a packet, but don’t seal it tightly as the burgers will expand a bit during steaming. Steam the burgers for 1 hour. Unwrap and chill on a plate in the refrigerator. The burgers must be cold for the best texture. When cooled, the burgers may also be frozen by placing pieces of parchment between the burgers and wrapped airtight.
6. To cook the burgers, heat the grill to medium heat. Brush the burgers with canola oil and cook until grill marks appear, about 5 minutes. Turn over to cook the second side. Serve on buns with fixings of choice.  To cook indoors, heat a grill pan to medium-high heat. When ready to cook, spray the grill pan with nonstick cooking spray, and cook the burgers as above.

The Beer for the Burger

As burgers seem to beg for beer, I recruited Jim to do a pairing and here’s what he chose.

Having just spent a delightful few days down in Asheville, NC, our new Favorite Place, I would like to give a nod in the direction of Highland Brewing Co., whose beers are vegan-friendly.  On our way out of town I picked up a smattering of various ales to take home, and I only grabbed one Highland Gaelic Ale.  Usually my tastes are toward the dark side (of beer) but this beer had everything going on: a not too hoppy, malty flavor which accented the burger but didn’t hop-annihilate it or stout-bury it.  Handcrafted, small-batched, pure Asheville goodness in a bottle.  I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT MORE!  Now, I have to return to my new Favorite Town even sooner that I initially anticipated.  This beer was incredible.  Burgers were pretty damn good too.

Here’s hoping your summer grilling season gets off to a great-tasting start!

Article source: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/mushroom-barley-grillers-a-burger-and-beer-pairing/

Wheat prices rose Tuesday as crop condition in parts of Kansas deteriorated due to dry weather.

There has been a lack of significant rain recently in many of the wheat growing regions of Kansas, where the crop is about three weeks ahead of normal because of a mild spring.

The U.S. Agriculture Department said Monday that 52 percent of the Kansas crop was in good-to-excellent condition as of Sunday. That compared with 60 percent in that range on May 6.

In addition, farmers in the Ukraine and other wheat-growing regions of the former Soviet Union have been battling dry conditions this spring, said Mike Zuzolo, president of Global Commodity Analytics Consulting LLC.

Zuzolo said the price of corn benefited from speculation that it may become more in demand if wheat prices continue to climb.

Wheat for July delivery rose 10.25 cents to finish at $6.085 per bushel. July corn increased 14.25 cents to $5.9725 per bushel and soybeans ended up 26 cents at $14.13 per bushel.

Other commodities were mixed as worries about what may be next for Greece overshadowed some positive U.S. economic news.

Greek leaders failed to reach an agreement to build a coalition government, setting the stage for another election next month. The leaders are at odds over austerity measures required for the financially troubled country to receive bailout funding from others in the European Union.

In the U.S., a trade group said that confidence among home builders rose to the highest level in five years in May.

Kingsview Financial analyst Matt Zeman said that investors remained focused on Greece. “The risk appetite remains very, very iffy right now,” he said. “Until that’s kind of sorted out … you may see a lot of this real chop and slop.”

Gold for June delivery fell $3.90 to finish at $1,557.10 per ounce, May silver dropped 26.5 cents to $28.054 per ounce and May copper declined 3.5 cents to $3.522 per pound. July platinum rose $3.90 to $1,446.50 per ounce and June palladium ended up $6.25 at $601.10 per ounce.

Benchmark oil declined 80 cents to end at $93.98 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Heating oil rose 0.35 cent to $2.933 per gallon, gasoline futures fell 1.49 cents to $2.9441 per gallon and natural gas rose 6.9 cents to $2.50 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Article source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wheat-prices-climb-dry-spell-192357469.html