Agriculture

Tuesday, February 19th 2013 - 05:18 UTC
Brazil heading for record crop of 185 million tons of grains, anticipated Rousseff

Brazil this year will harvest the largest grain and oilseed crop in the country’s history, which could reach 185 million tons, according to an announcement from President Dilma Rousseff during her weekly radio message.
Monday, February 11th 2013 - 22:56 UTC
Following EU horse-meat guidelines, Falklands removes potentially affected products

The European horse-meat scare has reached the Falkland Islands but the government has stated that local retailers have voluntarily removed potentially affected products from their shelves and “there is nothing to suggest a safety risk to consumers who may have eaten affected products”.
Monday, February 11th 2013 - 22:08 UTC
FAO January food price index shows oil and fats up, cereals down, dairy and beef unchanged

FAO Food Price Index held steady at 210 points in January 2013 after three straight months of decline. Increases in oil and fats prices offset lower cereals and sugar quotations while dairy and meat values remained substantially unchanged. The pause in the Index's decline tallies with a significant upward revision in FAO latest forecast for 2012 world cereal production. This is now estimated at 2.302 million tonnes - 20 million tonnes up on December's forecast.
Wednesday, February 6th 2013 - 05:38 UTC
Very poor year for Argentine pears and apples exports last year; 2013 prospects improving

Brazil's high fruit demand didn't prevent the general collapse of Argentine export of pears and apples. The exchange rate lag was a determining factor in this trading debacle, but better prospects are expected for 2013.
Friday, January 25th 2013 - 07:43 UTC
Argentina’s industrial production down in 2012, first time in a decade

Industrial output dropped 1.2% in 2012 compared to the volume registered in 2011, Indec national statistics bureau reported on Thursday. The Industrial Monthly Estimator (EMI) stated that industrial production dropped 3.4% in December when compared to the same month of 2011
Friday, January 25th 2013 - 04:43 UTC
Monsanto reaches agreement on patent royalties with Brazilian soybean farmers

Monsanto the world’s biggest seed company agreed to waive two years of royalties on its Roundup Ready soybean seeds for Brazilian farmers who agree to forgo claims in a patent dispute.
Monday, January 21st 2013 - 11:28 UTC
Argentina’s wheat crop down to 10 million tons; 2011/12 planted area 25% less

Argentina will produce 10.1 million tons of wheat this season, the agricultural ministry said, citing extreme weather as the reason for cutting back its previous estimate of 10.5 million tons. With almost all of the harvest already collected, Argentina is looking at a thin wheat harvest, compared with the 14.1 million tons collected in the 2011/12 crop year.
Saturday, January 19th 2013 - 00:29 UTC
Anywhere from 30 to 50% of world food production lost to waste, says engineers’ group

The report “Global Food: Waste Not Want Not” by the UK’s Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) has found that 30-50%, or 1.2-2 billion tons, of produced food is wasted by poor storage, bad distribution and exacting quality standards in the developed world.
Tuesday, January 8th 2013 - 20:21 UTC
Corn-seed sales in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico help Monsanto with record earnings

US agricultural giant Monsanto Tuesday posted a large increase in quarterly earnings on strong results in corn seed sales in the US and Latin America and better sales of pesticides. The St Louis-based corporation said net income for the first quarter was 339 million dollars, up from 126 million a year earlier.
Monday, January 7th 2013 - 13:33 UTC
NZ farm workers wage increase above rising costs: 37.000 US dollars per annum

New Zealand farm workers are doing better than their counterparts in other industries when it comes to wage rises. A Rabobank-Federated Farmers survey has shown farm workers recorded an overall average salary rise of 4.9% in the year to October, 2010.