Agriculture

• Thursday, August 22nd 2019 - 09:56 UTC

  Bolsonaro suggests green groups started the blaze in the Amazon to blame him

  

  Wildfires in the Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil have ignited a firestorm on social media, with President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday suggesting green groups started the blazes. Images of fires purportedly devouring sections of the world's largest rainforest have gone viral on Twitter.

• Thursday, August 22nd 2019 - 09:13 UTC

  Farmers furious with USDA estimates and frustrated about unsold crops caused by Trump's trade war

  

  The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Wednesday it had pulled all staff from an annual crop tour after an employee was threatened, and sources said the threat of violence was made during a phone call from an angry farmer.

• Thursday, August 15th 2019 - 12:15 UTC

  Global food commodity prices saw a slight decline in July

  

  The FAO's Food Price Index, (FPI) - a trade-weighted index that measures prices of five major food commodities on international markets - averaged 170.9 points in July 2019, slipping 1.1 percent below its level in June but up 2.3 percent from a year earlier.

• Thursday, August 15th 2019 - 10:14 UTC

  Paraguayan president beset with 69% disapproval rating and economic downturn

  

  Paraguay’s president, Mario Abdo, has reached his first year in office with a 69% disapproval rating amid an enduring political crisis and a significant economic slowdown, according to a survey published on Wednesday.

• Thursday, August 15th 2019 - 05:16 UTC

  Massive women's protests in Brasilia against Bolsonaro's policies

  

  Tens of thousands of women took to the streets of Brazil's capital on Wednesday to denounce President Jair Bolsonaro, in the third anti-government protest in the city in two days.

• Wednesday, August 14th 2019 - 09:40 UTC

  French farmers protest trade deals with Canada and Mercosur

  

  French anti-government protesters put up a large poster of Jean-Baptiste Moreau, one of President Emmanuel Macron's farming experts, with the word “Wanted” on it outside a local government building on Tuesday, as anger over recent trade deals escalates.

• Tuesday, August 13th 2019 - 07:11 UTC

  China anticipates less corn imports because of outbreaks of African swine fever

  

  China's agriculture ministry said it was lowering its forecast for corn consumption in the 2019/20 crop year amid outbreaks of African swine fever across the country.

• Saturday, August 10th 2019 - 07:42 UTC

  UN climate change report: farming and eating habits must change to save on land and water

  

  The way the world manages land produces and eats food has to change to curb global warming or food security, health and biodiversity will be at risk, a UN report on the effects of climate change on land said.

• Friday, August 9th 2019 - 08:27 UTC

  Soybean sales in Brazil booming helped by a weaker currency and port premiums

  

  The price of Brazilian soybeans in local currency reached the highest level in almost two months, driven by a spike in port premiums for soybeans and a weaker currency, both caused by the trade dispute between China and the United States.

• Friday, August 9th 2019 - 08:13 UTC

  German lawmakers propose higher VAT rate on meat to combat global warming

  

  Green and Social Democrat (SPD) politicians in Germany say the 7% sales tax (VAT) rate on meat should be raised to 19% to help curb global warming and fund animal welfare improvements.