Agriculture

• Monday, December 11th 2017 - 04:57 UTC

  Mercosur/EU closer to an agreement but differences on new farm proposal remain undecided

  

  The European Union’s farm chief pressed Mercosur countries to offer market access for EU wines, spirits, olive oil and dairy goods to help seal a free-trade agreement that has been in the works for two decades.

• Friday, December 8th 2017 - 07:49 UTC

  Monsanto confident a soy seed patent dispute in Brazil will uphold

  

  U.S. seeds company Monsanto Co is confident Brazilian courts will uphold its Intacta RR2 PRO soy seed patent despite a challenge from grain growers in the state of Mato Grosso, the company’s chief of South American operations said this week.

• Thursday, December 7th 2017 - 09:01 UTC

  Mercosur and EU confident a framework agreement will be announced this month

  

  Mercosur is confident a framework agreement with the European Union will be announced next week despite resistance from farmers in Europe to permit tariff-free beef imports, a Mercosur official said. “There is more than a 70% chance of reaching a deal,” said the official close to the negotiations that have dragged on for almost two decades.

• Wednesday, December 6th 2017 - 13:47 UTC

  Brazil and US scientists discover molecule that has destroyed millions of citrus groves

  

  Researchers have identified the molecule that attracts the insect that transmits citrus greening disease, a development expected to help farmers control a plague that has destroyed trees in growing regions of Brazil and the United States. The scientific breakthrough is the result of six years of research on Diaphorina citri, the vector of citrus greening disease.

• Friday, December 1st 2017 - 18:40 UTC

  Europe in a divided vote renews the glyphosate license for another five years

  

  European countries have voted to renew the license of glyphosate, a widely used weed killer at the centre of environmental concerns. The proposal at the EU Commission's Appeal Committee got 18 votes in favor and nine against, with one abstention, ending months of deadlock.

• Friday, December 1st 2017 - 06:42 UTC

  Argentina as G20 chair will combat protectionism, pledges president Macri

  

  President Mauricio Macri hosted the official launching of the Argentine chair of G20, the world’s major forum for global economic, political, and financial cooperation. In his inaugural speech Macri said Argentina is committed ”to build consensus for fair and sustainable development” and will use its role as the first South American country to chair the G20 group of major economies to combat protectionism.

• Tuesday, November 28th 2017 - 06:43 UTC

  Falklands launches consultation round to update rural development strategy

  

  Falkland Islands lawmakers will be meeting starting in December to scope the community’s priorities under the Rural Development Strategy (RDS), as the current Action Plan ends and a new 3-year phase begins.

• Monday, November 27th 2017 - 18:02 UTC

  Bayer takeover of Monsanto delayed 90 days by Brazil's antitrust agency Cade

  

  Brazilian antitrust agency Cade extended its deadline to review the takeover of Monsanto Co by Bayer AG by 90 days to late March, potentially spoiling plans to wrap up the US$66 billion tie-up by the end of the year.

• Monday, November 27th 2017 - 12:16 UTC

  Brazil expects to harvest 111 million tons of soybeans in 2017/18 season

  

  Brazilian farmers are expected to collect 111 million tons of soybeans in the 2017/18 season, said consultancy firm Agroconsult, maintaining the same forecast it released in September.

• Monday, November 27th 2017 - 11:39 UTC

  Argentina moves to ban glyphosate and allows other herbicides

  

  Argentina authorized the use of genetically modified soybean seeds resistant to herbicides other than glyphosate, as the European Union (EU) debates whether to extend the license of weed-killers containing the ingredient.