
United States scientists say they are close to producing super varieties of wheat that will resist from variants of Ug99, a new and deadly form of wheat rust and at the same time boost yields by as much as 15%.

The Argentine government is expected to announce Monday an agriculture emergency in several Patagonian areas as a consequence of the Chilean Andes volcanic eruption that has covered most of the territory with a blanket of ash leaving thousands of sheep with no water or pasture.

A cloud of ash from an erupting volcano in Chile has drifted over the Atlantic and Indian oceans to lie over southern parts of New Zealand and Australia, prompting the cancellation of dozens of flights.

A week’s ago volcanic eruptions in Chile’s South have crippled the fresh-water fishing industry there and potentially threaten the cattle industry, too.

Brazil is poised to overtake the United States for the first time ever, as the world’s leading exporter of chicken, with a third of global trade, according to the latest statistics from FAO released this week.

The Uruguayan government is trying to decide how to implement a controversial new tax on land holdings involving approximately 60 million dollars per annum and which has exposed deep differences in the ruling coalition, is rejected by farmers and feared by investors.

Citing dwindling stocks and only small production increases for the majority of crops, a new United Nations report released Wednesday world food prices are likely to remain high for the rest of this year and into 2012.

Pressed hard by outraged farmers, the European Union farm chief on Wednesday increased his offer of compensation for the E. coli outbreak to Euro210 million.

Brazil's government unveiled new financing and other incentives for sugar cane ethanol production, vowing to work closely with the private sector to boost production in an industry that has struggled recently despite its immense promise.

World beef prices look set to stay high long term given the rocketing prices of raising cattle in Brazil, and the lack of an obvious successor as the world's low-cost producer.