Government financial support spurs farmers to plant certain crops, creating an abundant, cheap supply of fat-producing soybean oil and high-fructose corn syrup. When lawmakers wrote a new bill this year, health advocates hoped to see subsidies for fruits and vegetables to offset subsidies for corn, soy beans and other crops. Ninety-nine of the 100 fattest counties in the United States -- those with the largest percentage of obese or morbidly obese adults -- are in the Southeast, according...

He leases a majority of the acreage and is looking to expand so he can spread his costs around and become more profitable. The increasing value of cropland is being fueled by higher prices for commodities such as soybeans, wheat and corn, which is getting an extra bump by the popularity of the corn-based fuel additive ethanol. Hugh Vance, 51, who farms 2,500 acres of corn and soybeans near Wilmington and Blanchester, was able to buy a combine a few years ago because the increasing value of...

China Dalian Exchange non GMO soybeans and soybean meal close lower, with corn, soybeans, soybean oil and palm oil closing higher. One strong stoppers which typically is a sign of support for futures. Malaysian Palm oil futures close up 13 ringgit. Allendale Early Calls: Feeder Cattle Steady Weak, Corn & Wheat Down. Pork carcass cutout finished down $ Allendale Early Calls: Feeder Cattle Steady Weak, Corn & Wheat Down. Cash hogs are called steady to 50 cents lower. Shanghai Stock Exchange...

Gins could go out of business, and if the shift became more permanent, there could be a restructuring of agriculture in the state, with grain and row crops -- wheat, corn, soybeans -- gaining greater ground, he said. Louisiana, among the nation's top 10 cotton producing states, is expected to yield its biggest corn crop on record this year, after higher prices prompted many farmers to plant much, if not all, of their cotton acres to corn. As a result, both local gins are dormant, and a...

Authorities say no one was injured when five cars carrying soybeans ran off the tracks in Montesano around 1 a. Washington State Patrol closed some roads near the scene of the derailment for about an hour and a half. Officials say it could take a week or more to clear the scene. A freight train has derailed in Grays Harbor County. The cars belong to Puget Sound and Pacific Railroad. The cause of the derailment is under investigation.