Heavy rains in Argentina failed to make it Buenos Aires, where dryness is threatening to dent soybean production. The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange forecasts Argentina's soy planting area at 48 million acres. The dry area of southeast Buenos Aires was originally slated for 4 million acres of soy, some of which may be lost. Nationwide, the exchange says about 76 percent of the 2016/17 soy crop has been planted so far.
China has culled more than 55,000 birds after an outbreak of bird flu last week. The H5N6 strain was confirmed in Yining and has killed 10,716 birds, according to China’s Ministry of Agriculture. This is the fourth flu outbreak among poultry since October and brings the total cull since then to more than 170,000 birds.
China has not set import taxes for 2017 yet and expects to do so by the end of January, a customs official said. This comes among speculation that China has ditched tariffs for U.S. and Brazilian importers. The 5% tariff was introduced at the start of this year and is set to expire December 31.
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