Agriculture

• Thursday, June 4th 2009 - 15:07 UTC

  Buffaloes introduced in Cuba have become a threat for crops

  

  A herd of wild buffalo has become a nightmare for peasants in the western Cuban province of Pinar del Rio because the beasts are invading and devouring their crops of tobacco and vegetables, reports the Communist Party daily Granma.

• Wednesday, June 3rd 2009 - 10:56 UTC

  Argentine meat packers move to ensure supply with feedlots

  

  Quickfood one of Argentina’s main abattoirs is considering setting up two huge feedlots to fatten cattle, each with 22.000 steers, making it one of the leading companies in the industry

• Thursday, May 28th 2009 - 07:20 UTC

  Britain’s smelliest cheese named “Stinking Bishop”

  

  Stinking Bishop has been officially voted Britain's most pungent cheese in the nation's first ever contest. Britain's Smelliest Cheese Championships were held at The Royal Bath and West Show in Shepton Mallet, Somerset.

• Wednesday, May 20th 2009 - 14:55 UTC

  Soy prices set to increase because of poor crops in South America

  

  World stocks of soybeans are set to decline steeply to a five year low of around 50 million tons at the end of the season (10 million tons less than a year ago), mainly because of smaller crops in the leading exporting countries of South America, according to Oil World.

• Wednesday, May 20th 2009 - 12:11 UTC

  Argentine farmers look for profitable alternative crops

  

  Argentine farmers are finding other crops which enable them to avoid the hyper sensitive wheat which has been one of the main clash areas with the administration of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

• Sunday, May 17th 2009 - 12:52 UTC

  Uruguayan rice crop with record yield of 8.012 kilos per hectare

  

  Uruguay’s rice 2009 crop is estimated in 1.3 million tons and although the area planted was 4.5% less that in 2008, yield is a record 8.012 kilos per hectare, according to the latest release from the Agriculture Statistics Department, DIEA.

• Saturday, May 16th 2009 - 13:38 UTC

  USDA estimates Argentine 2010 soy crop in 51 million tons, but…

  

  United States Agriculture Department estimates Argentina’s soy bean production will reach a record 51 million tons in the 2010 crop. Such a volume would mark a complete turn around from this year’s crop which has been estimated anywhere between 34 and 31.7 million tons, or even less.

• Saturday, May 16th 2009 - 13:27 UTC

  Sustainability of soy supply chain conference in Brazil

  

  The Round Table on Responsible Soy Association (RTRS) will present advances related to the global standard for responsible soy production, processing and marketing at its IV International Conference in the city of Campinas, Brazil, May 26 and 27.

• Friday, May 15th 2009 - 02:55 UTC

  Per capita meat consumption in Chile increases 26% in ten years

  

  Chileans consumed 81.3 kilos of meat per capita in 2008, 26% more meat than they did 10 years ago, according to a study recently published by the country’s Office of Studies and Agrarian Policy (ODEPA) of the Ministry of Agriculture.

• Thursday, May 14th 2009 - 12:17 UTC

  Leading beef corporation upbeat about rebound of market

  

  JBS SA, from Brazil the world’s largest beef producer, said it aims to also become the largest distributor of the meat by the end of next year and has been approached by companies seeking to be acquired.