Bill Tomson

The halt in operations at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach was brief and union workers are now back on their jobs, but the stoppage at the largest port complex in the U.S. created a scare for U.S. meat exporters and their foreign customers, according to U.S. Meat Export Federation spokesman Joe Schuele.

The USDA slashed its forecast for Argentina’s corn and soybean production in response to widespread drought and raised its prediction for Chinese wheat imports in its April World Agricultural Supply and Demands Estimate.