March 18, 2015 (United States Department of Agriculture) – Economic recovery since the Great Recession—which officially ran from December 2007 to June 2009—was slow, particularly for the labor market; the 8.7 million jobs lost during the recession were not recovered until May 2014. Tough economic times caused consumers to adjust their spending on discretionary items,  Continue Reading »

By Paul Peterson | March 4, 2015 (farmdoc daily) – CME Group’s recent announcement regarding the scheduled July 2 closing of most futures trading pits has triggered a range of reactions. News stories have covered related issues such as displaced floor traders and the effect on membership or “seat” prices, but there has been little  Continue Reading »

By Lydia Mulvany | Nov 20, 2014 (Bloomberg) – Eating ham has never been more expensive than this year, partly because U.S. pigs are too fat. Hogs in the U.S. weigh the most ever after farmers fed them longer to make up for losses caused by a virus that killed millions of piglets. While heavier hogs means more pork  Continue Reading »