South Korea's CJ CheilJedang Corp has signed an agreement with U.S. grain giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) to establish a joint venture targeting the feed-grade amino acid market in the Americas. CJ BioAmerica will hold a 63% stake and ADM 37%, with both companies contributing production facilities and business assets. The deal aims to combine CJ CheilJedang's fermentation technology with ADM's grain supply chain and logistics, pending regulatory approval.
Heavy rainfall across the U.S. central and southern Plains is stalling winter wheat planting and interrupting corn and soybean harvest, while in Brazil, above-normal heat in key northern growing states is threatening early soybean planting. China's decision to cut tariffs on several U.S. agricultural commodities but leave soybeans under an additional 10% duty drove sharp losses in soybean futures on Monday.
Persistent port congestion, container imbalances and route disruptions are keeping ocean freight costs elevated for agricultural shippers even as some trade lanes through the Red Sea and Suez Canal show signs of partial normalization, according to CMB News.
Soybean futures and products on the Chicago Board of Trade are undergoing modest profit-taking after a strong late-summer rally, with US September 1 inventories running about 3% below last year and Chinese demand continuing to underpin prices across the complex.
Cal-Maine Foods reported a net loss of $58.6 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2027, reversing a $199.3 million profit a year earlier, as average conventional shell egg prices dropped 59.3% following an industry-wide flock repopulation. Net sales fell 41.5% to $539.6 million.
Wheat prices in the Rhine region are moving largely sideways heading into Q4 2026 and early 2027, with bread wheat quoted at 240 EUR/t for October–December and only a modest 4–5 EUR/t carry into Q1 2027. Corn and rapeseed are sending stronger price signals, with EU corn commanding a clear premium over feed wheat and rapeseed posting the steepest forward curve in the complex, drawing feed-sector attention away from wheat.
Pro-aquaculture lobby group Stronger America Through Seafood (SATS) has launched an October campaign urging Congress to pass the bipartisan Marine Aquaculture Research for America (MARA) Act before the current congressional term expires in January 2027, warning that the US is missing out on the benefits of open ocean aquaculture due to a complex federal permitting process that took eight years to approve a single demonstration project this year.
China's soybean import demand is expected to ease in the coming months as private crushers face negative crush margins and weak feed demand linked to shrinking hog herds. Soybeans were excluded from tariff relief announced after the Xi-Trump summit, keeping US cargoes uncompetitive with South American supplies. Domestic inventories at Chinese crushing plants have reached a 15-year high.
Cargill is investing more than USD 130 million over two years to expand and modernise poultry processing, feed production, grain storage, and farming infrastructure in Thailand and the Philippines, targeting rising global demand for high-quality protein.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's SOFIA 2026 report, launched at the 11th Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, Kenya, reveals that global aquaculture aquatic animal production reached 103 million tonnes in 2024, surpassing the 100 million tonne threshold for the first time. Asia accounts for around 89% of farmed output, and aquaculture now supplies 53% of total aquatic animal production. FAO projects production could reach 214 million tonnes by 2034, though climate change and sustainability pressures pose risks.
Spanish plant-based protein producer Elian has received a €40 million (US$45.66M) investment from Spain's state-owned COFIDES, giving the institution a 13.8% minority stake, as the company advances a broader €300 million expansion of its soy processing hub at the Port of Barcelona targeting completion in early 2028.
Belgian private-label pet food manufacturer United Petfood has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a dry pet food production facility in Decatur, Arkansas, from Wellness Pet Company, adding a third site to its North American manufacturing network alongside a long-term supply agreement between the two companies.
