Agriculture

• Thursday, August 18th 2011 - 22:51 UTC

  Rousseff names new Agriculture minister and respects balance in cabinet

  

  Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff named on Thursday lawmaker Mendes Ribeiro as new Minister of Agriculture. The member of Congress from the farming state of Rio Grande do Sul replaces Wagner Rossi who stepped down Wednesday following strong allegations of corruption and irregularities.

• Wednesday, August 17th 2011 - 23:42 UTC

  La Niña threatens Brazil and Argentina crops says Oil World

  

  South American grain and oilseed production may be in jeopardy from the formation of a La Niña weather pattern, which might curb rainfall in parts of Brazil and Argentina, Oil World said.

• Tuesday, August 16th 2011 - 06:23 UTC

  Mozambique offers Brazilian farmers 6 million hectares to develop agriculture

  

  The Mozambique government is providing large tracts of land at a symbolic price to Brazilian farmers to produce soy, maize and cotton, Mozambique’s agriculture minister, José Pacheco told Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo.

• Tuesday, August 16th 2011 - 06:19 UTC

  China wants to buy directly from Brazilian farmers, avoid intermediation

  

  China, the second-largest buyer of soy in the world wants an end to intermediation by US multinational companies working in the sector and plans to invest purchasing directly from farmers in Mato Grosso and another five states in Brazil, according to the Brazilian press.

• Monday, August 15th 2011 - 11:56 UTC

  USDA estimates Argentine 2011/12 wheat crop at 13.5 million

  

  The coming 2011/12 wheat crop of Argentina will reach 13.5 million tons instead of the 15 million forecasted last July, reported the US Agriculture Department, USDA.

• Thursday, August 4th 2011 - 06:28 UTC

  Uruguay soy crop reached 1.5 million tons with average yield of 1.788 kilos

  

  Soybean was king of corps in Uruguay last summer with 1.5 million tons planted in 862.000 hectares and with an average yield of 1.788 kilos per ha, according to the latest data from the country’s Agriculture Statistics Office, DIEA.

• Friday, July 29th 2011 - 10:35 UTC

  Brazil begins exporting rice to South Africa, competing with Thailand

  

  Brazil has begun shipping rice to South Africa, competing with Thailand, the largest source of the grain for Africa’s largest economy. A shipment of rice from Brazil’s Santa Catarina state left Santos bound for South Africa this week.

• Wednesday, July 27th 2011 - 03:48 UTC

  Argentine farmers furious with government’s wheat export policy

  

  Argentina liberated 450.000 tons of wheat for export, a decision which is believed to be closely linked to Sunday’s election in the farming province of Santa Fe where the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner suffered a major defeat.

• Wednesday, July 20th 2011 - 09:22 UTC

  Reduced Chinese import makes and cheaper palm oil, see G-3 exports fall

  

  Soybean processing and exports from the US, Argentina and Brazil, the largest shippers, were below expectations in the second quarter on reduced Chinese imports and competition from palm oil, Oil World said in a Tuesday released report.

• Tuesday, July 19th 2011 - 06:05 UTC

  Brazil to cut ethanol content in gasoline to ease pressure on sugar market

  

  Brazil will reduce the ethanol content in gasoline in another effort to contain inflation since sugar (and ethanol) prices because of a poor crop have been soaring, according to the Sao Paulo press.