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☆ Tyson Foods to eliminate 10% of corporate jobs -memo
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CHICAGO, April 26 (Reuters) - Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N) will eliminate about 10% of corporate jobs and 15% of senior leadership roles, Chief Executive Donnie King told employees on Wednesday. Discussions with most affected employees are slated to take place this week, King said in a memo to employees seen by Reuters. The eliminated roles in senior leadership are mostly vice presidents and senior vice presidents, a company spokesperson said. Some corporate employees already left the company after Tyson said in October it was relocating all corporate jobs to its headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas. However, the 10% reduction in corporate roles is not related to the relocation, a Tyson spokesperson said.

The timeline shows the challenges of quickly finding and implementing replacements for Packers Sanitation Services Inc (PSSI), which provides cleaning services at slaughterhouses. "We made the decision to terminate the agreements with PSSI," Hans Kabat, who leads Cargill's protein business in North America, told Reuters. Cargill said it notified PSSI in March that it was terminating services at a beef plant in Dodge City, Kansas, and then followed with all PSSI's sanitation contracts. One of the largest penalties stemmed from PSSI's contracts at Cargill's plant in Dodge City. Cargill, the world's largest ground beef producer, is reviewing options for cleaning plants, Kabat said.

☆ U.S. Tyson Foods workers strike at Arkansas chicken plant set to close
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CHICAGO, April 10 (Reuters) - About 150 employees of a Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N) chicken plant in Arkansas went on strike on Monday for better treatment before the company shuts the facility, an organizer said. Tyson plans to close the plant in Van Buren, Arkansas, on May 12, eliminating jobs for 969 non-union employees, as it seeks to improve performance in its chicken business. Some employees quit after Tyson announced the plant would close, leaving more work for fewer employees, Licolli said. Tyson has offered to transfer plant workers to another facility in Texas, with compensation for relocating, but many do not want to uproot their lives or their families, Licolli said. Tyson said in an email that it is offering employees relocation support to work at other facilities in Arkansas as well.

☆ Tyson Foods workers strike at US chicken plant set to close
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

CHICAGO, April 10 (Reuters) - About 150 employees of a Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N) chicken plant in Arkansas went on strike on Monday for better treatment before the company shuts the facility, an organizer said. Tyson plans to close the plant in Van Buren, Arkansas, on May 12, eliminating jobs for 969 employees, as it seeks to improve performance in its chicken business. Some employees quit after Tyson announced the plant would close, leaving more work for fewer employees, Licolli said. Tyson has offered to transfer plant workers to another facility in Texas, with compensation for relocating, but many do not want to uproot their lives or their families, Licolli said. Tyson also received pushback over a plan to shut a chicken plant in Glen Allen, Virginia, with 692 employees.

☆ After growing GM corn for decades, some US farmers open to Mexican restrictions
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"I'm all for free and fair trade," said Fred Huddlestun, who grows GM corn and soybeans in Yale, Illinois. Supporters of the policy say GM corn can contaminate Mexico's age-old native varieties and have questioned its impact on human health. NCGA said GM corn is safe and it will fight all illegal trade barriers for farmers. But many would consider growing more non-GM corn, if the price were right. "You need to make it worth my while," said Illinois farmer Dave Kestel, who grows GM corn and sells seed for Corteva.

The planned closure of the plant has left dozens of Virginia chicken growers scrambling to find new buyers in a region with few other options. Tyson alerted Virginia farmers by phone on March 13 and later by mail that it will shut its Glen Allen plant on May 12, according to three poultry farmers who supply the plant. The USDA, which enforces the PSA, told Reuters it is "closely monitoring" Tyson's planned plant closure. 'WE'RE DONE'Under normal circumstances, Tyson supplies farmers with chicks, while farmers assume the costs of land and chicken houses. On Monday, about 20 Tyson farmers and local government officials gathered in a fire station in Burkeville, Virginia, and raised concerns about Tyson's short timeline for closure of the plant, attendees said.

☆ Tyson Foods to shut two US chicken plants with nearly 1,700 workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

CHICAGO, March 14 (Reuters) - Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N) will close two U.S. chicken plants with almost 1,700 employees on May 12, the company said on Tuesday. Tyson will shut a plant in Glen Allen, Virginia, with 692 employees and a plant in Van Buren, Arkansas, with 969 employees, according to a statement. "The current scale and inability to economically improve operations has led to the difficult decision to close the facilities," Tyson said. Shuttering plants is difficult but justified as Tyson seeks to improve performance, said Arun Sundaram, senior equity analyst at CFRA Research. Tyson had about 124,000 U.S. employees as of Oct. 1, including 118,000 workers at non-corporate sites like meat plants, regulatory filings show.

☆ Tyson Foods to shut two U.S. chicken plants with nearly 1,700 workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CHICAGO, March 14 (Reuters) - Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N) will close two U.S. chicken plants with almost 1,700 employees on May 12, the company said on Tuesday. The closures show that the biggest U.S. meat company by sales is still trying to figure out how to improve its chicken segment that has struggled for years. Tyson Foods will shut a plant in Glen Allen, Virginia, with 692 employees and a plant in Van Buren, Arkansas, with 969 employees, according to a statement. "The current scale and inability to economically improve operations has led to the difficult decision to close the facilities," the company said. The United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents employees at Tyson's plant in Virginia, slammed the decision to close the facility.

Mexico published a presidential decree on genetically modified (GM) corn in late 2020, saying it would ban GM corn in the diets of Mexicans and end the use the herbicide glyphosate by Jan. 31, 2024. The new decree eliminated the deadline to ban GM corn for animal feed and industrial use, by far the bulk of its U.S. corn imports. The new plan bans only GM corn used for dough or tortillas but leaves the door open to gradually substituting GM corn for animal feed and industrial use in the future. Some sector experts have said they worry that Mexico's restriction on GM corn, if successful, could set a precedent, prompting other countries to take a similar approach and disrupting the global corn trade. Corn for human food use comprises about 21% of Mexico's corn imports from the U.S., according to a representative from the National Corn Growers Association, citing U.S. Grains Council data.

CHICAGO/WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - The United States has requested formal trade consultations with Mexico over U.S. objections to its southern neighbor's plans to limit imports of genetically modified corn and other agricultural biotechnology products. "We hope these consultations will be productive as we continue to work with Mexico to address these issues." The United States has previously threatened to take the issue to a trade dispute panel under the trilateral agreement with Mexico and Canada over the plan, which would ban genetically modified corn for human consumption. A USTR official said the talks would cover Mexico's planned rejection of GMO corn and other agricultural biotechnology products that have been shown to be safe in the United States and other countries for decades. Corn for food use comprises about 21% of Mexican corn imports from the U.S., a representative from the National Corn Growers Association said, citing U.S. Grains Council data.

☆ U.S. to ask Mexico for formal talks over GMO corn dispute -industry sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON/CHICAGO, March 6 (Reuters) - The United States plans to request formal talks under its free trade agreement with Mexico over Mexican plans to limit imports of genetically modified corn, two U.S. industry sources said on Monday. The United States has previously threatened to take the issue to a trade dispute panel under the trilateral agreement with Mexico and Canada over the plan, which would ban genetically modified corn for human consumption. The U.S. agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, had said that a trade dispute panel under free trade agreement would be the next step if talks were not successful. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai held talks with Mexican Economy Minister Raquel Buenrostro over the issue late last month. Corn for food use comprises about 21% of Mexican corn imports from the U.S., according to a representative from the National Corn Growers Association, citing U.S. Grains Council data.

☆ Bird flu alarm drives world towards once-shunned vaccines
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Sybille De La Hamaide | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

"That's why every country in the world is worried about bird flu," French agriculture minister Marc Fesneau said. But the fear of trade restrictions remains centre stage for countries reluctant to vaccinate poultry against bird flu. Bird flu can also mutate rapidly and reduce the efficacy of vaccines while programmes are costly and time consuming, as shots often need to be administered individually. Ceva said it was using the mRNA technology used in some COVID shots for the first time in poultry vaccines. The global market for bird flu vaccines would be about 800 million to 1 billion doses per year, excluding China, said Sylvain Comte, corporate marketing director for poultry at Ceva.

☆ Bird flu spreads to new countries, threatens non-stop 'war' on poultry
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Argentina found the virus in wild birds, while dead swans in Uruguay tested positive. The United States, Britain, France and Japan are among countries that have suffered record losses of poultry over the past year, leaving some farmers feeling helpless. Poultry in the Northern Hemisphere were previously considered to be most at risk when wild birds are active during spring migration. Some experts suspect climate change may be contributing to the global spread by altering wild birds' habitats and migratory paths. Farmers are trying unusual tactics to protect poultry, with some using machines that make loud noises to scare off wild birds, experts said.

☆ Explainer: What are the bird flu risks to people and animals?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WHICH COUNTRIES HAVE BIRD FLU? Bird flu spreads to new countries, threatens non-stop "war" on poultryWHAT BIRDS CAN BE INFECTED? Mammals including bears, seals, foxes and skunks have been infected with H5N1 avian flu, authorities said. If one bird in a flock has avian flu, farmers usually cull all their birds to prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus. Additionally, avian flu is not transmissible by eating properly cooked poultry and eggs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

☆ Bird flu spreads to new countries, threatens non-stop "war" on poultry
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The United States, Britain, France and Japan are among countries that have suffered record losses of poultry over the past year, leaving some farmers feeling helpless. Poultry in the Northern Hemisphere were previously considered to be most at risk when wild birds are active during spring migration. Some experts suspect climate change may be contributing to the global spread by altering wild birds' habitats and migratory paths. Farmers are trying unusual tactics to protect poultry, with some using machines that make loud noises to scare off wild birds, experts said. Berkowitz said he is bracing for March and April when migration season will pose an even greater risk to poultry.

☆ Explainer: Bird flu: what are the risks to people and animals?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WHICH COUNTRIES HAVE BIRD FLU? Wild birds including waterfowl like ducks can carry bird flu viruses without appearing sick and easily spread them to domesticated poultry like chickens and turkeys, experts said. Mammals including bears, seals, foxes and skunks have been infected with H5N1 avian flu, authorities said. If one bird in a flock has avian flu, farmers usually cull all their birds to prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus. Additionally, avian flu is not transmissible by eating properly cooked poultry and eggs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

WASHINGTON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - U.S. farm and trade officials raised "grave concerns" over Mexico's agricultural biotechnology policies in meetings with their Mexican counterparts on Monday, as lingering disagreements threaten decades of booming corn trade between the neighbors. The United States accounts for most of Mexican corn imports. U.S. officials traveled to Mexico to discuss Mexico's approach to agricultural biotech products. Mexico's agriculture ministry declined to comment, while the country's economy ministry, which handles trade, did not immediately provide comment. Mexican officials have said they will keep importing GM corn for animal feed.

As the storm took shape over the Great Lakes on Thursday, a weather phenomenon known as a bomb cyclone was likely to develop from a "rapidly deepening low-pressure" system, the National Weather Service (NWS) said. The cyclone could spawn snowfalls of a half inch (1.25 cm) per hour and howling winds from the Upper Midwest to the interior Northeast, producing near-zero visibility, the weather service said. "It's dangerous and threatening," President Joe Biden said at the White House, urging Americans with travel plans to not delay and to set off on Thursday. Hundreds of Texans died in February 2021 after the state's power grid failed amid wintry storms, leaving millions without electricity. Greg Carbin, chief of forecast operations at the NWS Weather Prediction Center in Maryland, said freezing or below-freezing cold would bisect central Florida, with temperatures about 25 degrees below normal.

☆ Deep freeze grips U.S. as winter 'bomb cyclone' looms ahead of holiday weekend
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Numbing cold intensified by high winds was expected to extend as far south as the U.S.-Mexico border. The NWS map of existing or impending wintry hazards, stretching from border to border and coast to coast, "depicts one of the greatest extents of winter weather warnings and advisories ever," the agency said. The bomb cyclone could unleash snowfalls of a half inch (1.25 cm) per hour driven by gale-force winds, cutting visibility to near zero, the weather service said. Power outages were expected from high winds, heavy snow and ice, as well as the strain of higher-than-usual energy demands. The weather service said relief from the deep freeze was in sight for the northern Rockies and High Plains, where the arctic blast first materialized on Thursday.

Though a tiny fraction of the nation's plantings, the previously unreported total represents the company's biggest ever release of hybrid wheat. NEARLY 100 YEARSFarmers have used hybrid seeds since the 1930s to grow corn, followed by other crops ranging from peanuts to tomatoes. Producing hybrid wheat seeds is still more complicated and expensive than conventional wheat. Hybrid wheat can produce more uniform results across fields than conventional wheat, and may deliver better yields on poor soil, Hankey said. Syngenta projected in 2015 that its annual sales of hybrid wheat seeds could potentially reach $3 billion by 2032.

CHICAGO, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Seeds and pesticides company Corteva Inc (CTVA.N) will eliminate U.S. jobs next year, as its exit from Russia reduces demand for its commercial sunflower seeds produced in California, the company said on Monday. Relocating commercial sunflower seed production to Europe for European customers will reduce costs, Corteva added. Demand for crops grown with Corteva seeds and chemicals is strong after severe weather and the Ukraine war tightened global supplies. The biggest producers and consumers of sunflower seeds are Europe and Russia, the company said. The Woodland facility is Corteva's only one in the United States making "commercial" sunflower seeds for farmers to grow plants for oil or food.

☆ Avian flu outbreak wipes out 50.54 mln U.S. birds, a record
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The deaths of chickens, turkeys and other birds represent the worst U.S. animal-health disaster to date, topping the previous record of 50.5 million birds that died in an avian-flu outbreak in 2015. The U.S. outbreak, which began in February, infected flocks of poultry and non-poultry birds across 46 states, USDA data show. Farmers struggled to keep the disease and wild birds out of their barns after increasing security and cleaning measures following the 2015 outbreak. Government officials are studying infections at turkey farms, in particular, in hopes of developing new recommendations for preventing infections. Turkey farms account for more than 70% of the commercial poultry farms infected in the outbreak, the USDA said.

☆ Brazil's Lula won't have interventionist stance on Petrobras, aide says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Ricardo Brito | Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A logo of Brazil's state-run Petrobras oil company is seen at their headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes/File PhotoBRASILIA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Brazil's incoming leftist government will not have an interventionist stance on state-run oil giant Petrobras (PETR4.SA), a member of the transition team for President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday. Market participants have been showing concern over how the Lula administration might run Petrobras. He also noted that the incoming administration, and not Petrobras itself, would set a new fuel pricing policy for the country. Shares of Petrobras, which slipped by roughly a quarter since mid-October, were up more than 4% on Thursday, outperforming Brazil's Bovespa stock index (.BVSP), which rose 2.5%.

☆ Ghana plans to buy oil with gold instead of U.S. dollars
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ACCRA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Ghana's government is working on a new policy where gold rather than U.S. dollar reserves will be used to buy oil products, Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia said on Facebook on Thursday. The move is meant to tackle dwindling foreign currency reserves coupled with demand for dollars by oil importers, which is weakening the local cedi and increasing living costs. Ghana's Gross International Reserves stood at around $6.6 billion at the end of September 2022, equating to less than three months of imports cover. Using gold would prevent the exchange rate from directly impacting fuel or utility prices as domestic sellers would no longer need foreign exchange to import oil products, he explained. "The barter of gold for oil represents a major structural change," he added.

CHICAGO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Cooks may have to put away their oversized platters for serving turkey this Thanksgiving. If a farm has an outbreak, producers must disinfect their barns after culling turkeys and wait about six months before restocking. The National Turkey Federation acknowledged that cooks in some geographic areas could see limited supplies of big turkeys. On the U.S. East Coast, Baldor sees a shortage of the bigger sizes as large Thanksgiving celebrations make a comeback, Lindgren said. Shoppers are resuming traditional purchases of turkeys around 18 pounds, after downsizing their birds for smaller gatherings over the last two years, he said.

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