Agriculture

• Monday, April 8th 2019 - 10:57 UTC

  Grain loaders say the collapse of a bridge in north Brazil will not impact harvest transport

  

  Hidrovias do Brasil SA, a Brazilian logistics company, said the collapse of a bridge on the Moju River in Pará state on Saturday will not have any impact on its operations in the region, according to a statement on Sunday.

• Monday, April 8th 2019 - 10:40 UTC

  Argentine soy harvest with “excellent” yields expected to reach 53 million tons

  

  Argentina's soy harvest has progressed at a brisk pace over recent days, showing “excellent” yields that could push the crop higher than the currently forecast 53 million tons, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said in a report last week.

• Monday, April 8th 2019 - 10:18 UTC

  Barking drones in New Zealand to help herd sheep: much cheaper than Border Collies

  

  Farmers in New Zealand have found a new way to herd their sheep. They are now herding sheep with a drone, the DJ1 Mavic 2 Enterprise, outfitted with a speaker that barks like a dog. The farmers say that a single drone can do the work of multiple dogs. Check out the video below for the drone in action and some of the other sounds effects the farmers use.

• Monday, April 8th 2019 - 09:57 UTC

  Dogs in UK have killed sheep and farm animals worth £3.5m; calls for updating legislation

  

  The insurance company NFU Mutual is calling on the UK government to update the Dangerous Dogs Act because of soaring attacks on farm animals. The company is part of the Livestock Worrying Police Working Group which wants higher fines and restrictions on dogs being let loose.

• Thursday, April 4th 2019 - 09:46 UTC

  Argentine soybean farmers sign delayed-price contracts hoping for a US/China trade deal and higher prices

  

  Soybean growers in Argentina are playing a waiting game, wagering on better prices ahead as the U.S. and China inch toward a trade deal and as nation’s currency keeps depreciating. Farmers on the Pampas arable belt have signed delayed-price contracts for almost three quarters of the 12.2 million metric tons they’ve sold to crushers and exporters so far, according to government data. That compares with 60% at the same stage last year.

• Thursday, April 4th 2019 - 09:37 UTC

  Outbreak of African swine fever in China, a great opportunity for pork producers

  

  Brazil is in a position to step up pork exports to China where an African swine fever outbreak has become a “transformational event” for the global meat industry, Pedro Parente, chief executive of Brazilian food processor BRF SA, said on Wednesday.

• Monday, April 1st 2019 - 06:39 UTC

  Falkland Islands Tree Planting At RAF Mount Pleasant Fails To Branch Out

  

  Personnel deployed in the Falkland Islands are met by the sight of trees, but they aren’t just any old trees, these trees grow …er, sideways. British Armed Forces personnel are pleasantly surprised upon arrival at their final destination when posted to RAF Mount Pleasant Complex on the windswept archipelago.

• Thursday, March 28th 2019 - 09:11 UTC

  Uruguay supports China's candidate as next FAO Director General

  

  Uruguay formally announced it will support China's Agriculture and Rural Affairs deputy minister as the next Director-General of FAO to be elected June 2019. The official statement was made by Uruguay's foreign minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa during a meeting with China's Deputy Prime Minister Hu Chunhua in Montevideo.

• Saturday, March 23rd 2019 - 08:58 UTC

  Brazil's Vale allegedly quashed efforts to audit the dam that killed 300 people

  

  Executives at Vale SA, the world's largest iron ore miner, quashed efforts by Brazilian authorities to audit one of the company's mining dams months before it collapsed and killed over 300 people, a state prosecutor was quoted as saying by news website G1 on Wednesday.

• Saturday, March 23rd 2019 - 08:54 UTC

  Brazilian agri-business group files for bankruptcy protection: US$ 127m debt

  

  Privately owned Brazilian agribusiness group Itaquere has filed for bankruptcy protection to restructure 482 million reais (US$ 127 million) of debt, according to a letter from management reported in the media.