Get our news on your inbox! x

Remember me Forgot password

MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, November 21st 2024 - 11:20 UTC

Agriculture

  • Thursday, May 23rd 2024 - 10:26 UTC

    Agricultural emergency decreed in Uruguay

    Producers still need to measure their losses, Mattos explained

    Uruguayan authorities have declared a 120-day agricultural emergency to deal with the consequences of severe floods hitting parts of the country. The weather phenomenon is a geographical continuation of the one that hit the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul killing some 175 people with several dozens still unaccounted for.

  • Tuesday, May 21st 2024 - 10:59 UTC

    Rio Grande do Sul still far from recovering from floods

    Porto Alegre's Salgado Filho continues not to be operational but flights are serving an Air Force base nearby

    Brazilian authorities have released a new report updating the number of casualties in the storm-hit State of Rio Grande do Sul to 157 with 88 people still missing and some 650,000 others displaced.

  • Saturday, May 18th 2024 - 11:07 UTC

    China purchasing 95,000 tons of beef monthly from Brazil

    Fresh meat accounted for the lion’s share with 88% of total overseas sales, followed by offal at 7.09%, and processed meat at 3.7%.

    April 2024 was a historic milestone in beef exports for Brazil having shipped 236,842 tons, generating revenues totaling US$ 1.043 billion, points out Agrilink. Leading the list was China, trailed closely by the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, which experienced a substantial 38.9% surge in imports compared to March 2024, driven by increased demand for beef offal.

  • Saturday, May 18th 2024 - 10:35 UTC

    Two more Uruguayan meatpacking plants cleared for shipments to China

    According to Torre Ejecutiva, this achievement resulted from President Luis Lacalle Pou's trip to China in Nov. 2023

    Chinese authorities have authorized additional Uruguayan slaughterhouses to ship beef and horsemeat from plants in Florida and Canelones to that country, Agriculture and Livestock Minister Fernando Mattos confirmed Friday.

  • Tuesday, May 14th 2024 - 10:31 UTC

    Australia planning to end live animals exports; processed lamb and mutton sales overseas booming

    Live export is controversial because of often-difficult onboard conditions for the livestock, triggering the response from animal welfare groups.

    Under the influence of animal welfare groups and declining profits, Australia plans to implement legislation to end the export of live animals in some four years time. Under the plan farmers who depend on such a trade will be helped to make the switch to domestic processing, which has turned into a booming success.

  • Monday, May 13th 2024 - 20:09 UTC

    Paraguayan beef granted entry into Canadian market

    It took Paraguay's producers almost three years and a half of learning and negotiating to reach this goal

    Canada's Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) greenlighted the entry of Paraguayan meat into their market with nine packing plants already authorized to start shipments. Paraguayan President Santiago Peña celebrated the good news with postings on social media. “I congratulate all the institutions and sectors involved for this important achievement,” he wrote.

  • Monday, May 13th 2024 - 10:48 UTC

    Brazil to buy rice from Mercosur countries to feed storm-hit Rio Grande do Sul

    “We're going to have to import rice from Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina,” Lula said upon announcing the initiative

    Brazil's National Supply Company (Conab) has been entrusted with purchasing one million tons of rice to feed the people of Rio Grande do Sul and avoid the intervention of middle people seeking a black market profit from the victims of the unprecedented storms. Under normal circumstances, Rio Grande do Sul accounts for 70% of Brazil's rice production.

  • Thursday, May 9th 2024 - 21:43 UTC

    April FAO food prices index slightly higher, vegetable oils and cereals climbing

    Maize export prices increased, influenced by a robust import demand amidst mounting logistical disruptions as a result of infrastructure damages in Ukraine and concerns about Brazil's production

    The benchmark for world food commodity prices edged higher in April, as higher prices of meat and modest upticks for vegetable oils and cereals outweighed decreases in sugar and dairy product prices, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported.

  • Monday, May 6th 2024 - 20:24 UTC

    Rich Chinese beef consumers are becoming more aware of traceability and Amazon deforestation

    Respondents would pay 22.5% more for Brazilian meat if it came with assurances that it was sourced from cattle raised in zero-deforestation areas.

    A survey conducted in Beijing and Shanghai between two renowned academic groups in China and Brazil, revealed that some Chinese consumers are willing to pay more for beef, provided it is not linked to deforestation in the Amazon and have a budding interest in traceability.

  • Sunday, May 5th 2024 - 12:03 UTC

    Campaign in several US states to ban sale of lab-grown “cultivated” meat

    Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has banned lab-grown meat, saying he will “save our beef” from the “global elite” and its “authoritarian plans”.

    Several US states, spear headed by Florida are on a campaign to ban the sale and distribution of lab-grown or “cultivated” meat. The process of making cultivated meat involves extracting cells from an animal, which are then fed with nutrients such as proteins, sugars and fats, and they were first cleared for consumption in the US in 2022. The end product is genetically indistinguishable from traditionally produced meat.