Wheat crop still struggling

Recent moisture has not been enough to improve the drought-stressed Kansas wheat crop, Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service said Monday.

The agency rated wheat condition as 12 percent very poor, 24 percent poor and 38 percent fair. Only 24 percent was rated good and just 2 percent excellent.

Statewide, wheat has a poorly developed root system particularly in the western parts of the state, KASS reported. As wheat begins to come out of dormancy, significant amounts of moisture will be needed.

Agriculture: Farmland to close Tradigrain

Farmland Industries announced Tuesday it will sell or close Tradigrain, the company’s international grain trading subsidiary.

The move comes less than a year after Farmland, based in Kansas City, Mo., entered a domestic grain joint venture with Archer Daniels Midland Co.

Tradigrain employs fewer than 100 people in 11 countries, with major offices in Memphis, Tenn., Paris, Geneva and Buenos Aires.

Whether Tradigrain workers will lose their jobs depends on if that part of the business is sold or closed. John Berardi, chief financial officer, said the company’s preference would have been to sell all of Tradigrain rather than selling off what it could of its assets, but he noted that does not seem likely in today’s environment.

Manufacturing: Topeka Goodyear’s new work should provide job security

A new line of Goodyear tires won’t produce new jobs for its Topeka plant but should help add job security for existing workers at the plant.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. announced Monday that its Topeka plant will produce a new tire to accommodate rock-crawling, which involves off-road vehicles climbing rocky hills and mountains.

Demand for the larger Wrangler MT/R tires has increased along with interest in the rock-crawling sport, the company said. Goodyear produces a similar tire with a larger 17-inch wheel diameter in Topeka for Hummer military and civilian vehicles.

Textile industry: Guilford Mills plans to file for bankruptcy protection

Guilford Mills Inc., once one of the nation’s leading makers of fabrics for clothing and home furnishings, said Tuesday that it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Last year, more than 100 U.S. textile mills closed, and Burlington Industries Inc. and Malden Mills Industries Inc. both sought bankruptcy protection.

The Greensboro, N.C.-based company said it expects to file for Chapter 11 protection within the next few weeks and to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings by early summer.

Internet: Amazon CFO resigns post

Having achieved his goal of making Amazon.com profitable for a quarter, at least the chief financial officer of the Internet retailer announced his resignation Tuesday.

Warren Jenson said that he had privately told Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as much as a year ago that he intended to make Amazon profitable and then “evaluate my next step for my own development.”

The company still has a lot of work to do, however although it was able to make money on strong holiday gift-buying, it has not said when it expects to make money again.