Agriculture

• Thursday, January 20th 2011 - 03:42 UTC

  Argentina Farmers Threaten Second Strike of 2011

  

  Argentine farmers threatened to go on strike for a second time this year if the government does not change their policy towards them. At a meeting in Buenos Aires province city, Bahia Blanca, farm workers leaders met to discuss the week-long strike, which began last Monday. Farmers have stopped the sale of wheat, corn and soybean over export curbs.

• Monday, January 17th 2011 - 08:57 UTC

  Argentine farmers are back in a strike

  

  Argentine farmers have halted sales of wheat, corn and soy in a strike over export curbs, rekindling a dispute that helped drive global grains prices to record highs three years ago.

• Tuesday, January 11th 2011 - 22:12 UTC

  Lack of rainfall in Argentina is pushing up prices for corn and soybeans

  

  Corn and soybeans advanced for a second day as dry weather stressed crops in Argentina, raising concerns the global deficit may be larger than estimated.

• Tuesday, January 11th 2011 - 21:38 UTC

  FAO food prices index marks record; threat for global growth and social stability

  

  The United Nation's Food and Agricultural Organization, FAO, global food prices index reached a record high in December, 2010 reported the organization this week. The FAO food index tracks a basket of 55 key food commodities including items such as wheat, cooking oil and fats and sugar.

• Friday, December 24th 2010 - 08:06 UTC

  Uruguay under agriculture “state of emergency” because of lack of rains

  

  The Uruguayan government declared Thursday an “agriculture state of emergency” because of the drought situation to the north of the country. The declaration opens the way to grant small farmers government support.

• Thursday, December 23rd 2010 - 08:39 UTC

  Brazilian soy crop estimate up; coffee prices reach a 13-year high

  

  Soybean growers in Brazil, the world’s largest producer after the U.S., may harvest more of the oilseeds next year than the government estimated earlier this month, Agriculture Minister Wagner Rossi said on Wednesday.

• Saturday, December 18th 2010 - 21:08 UTC

  Chilean wine industry booming: sales up 10% and exports 11.7%

  

  Between Jan and Oct 2010, 83 of the top 100 Chilean wineries increased their sales of bottled wine. According to figures from Wines of Chile, 68 of these wineries increased sales by more than 10%. Exports have increased by 11.7% compared to figures during the same period in 2009.

• Saturday, December 18th 2010 - 18:47 UTC

  Satellite data provide new way to monitor groundwater in agricultural regions

  

  When you dive into that salad full of lettuce grown in the United States West, there’s a good chance you are enjoying the product of irrigation from an underground water source. These hidden groundwater systems are precious resources that need careful management, but regulatory groups have a hard time monitoring them, owing to a lack of accurate data.

• Saturday, December 18th 2010 - 00:22 UTC

  Chilean Senators warn about ‘social impact’ of cheap US dollar for farm areas

  

  Senators representing agricultural parts of Chile strongly criticized the Central Bank and President Sebastian Piñera this week for turning a deaf ear to the “social, cultural and economic problems” created by the falling value of the US dollar, now hovering at 470 pesos to the dollar.

• Thursday, December 16th 2010 - 17:24 UTC

  Chilean farmers predict agriculture upturn for 2011

  

  The National Agriculture Society (SNA) this week predicted 2 to 4% growth in 2011 for Chile’s agriculture-based industries, compared to this current year’s dismal 1.9% growth.