The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has officially declared Brazil as a country free from Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) with vaccination. The decision for this occurred late May, in Paris. The decision took place after approval last year from the OIE’s scientific committee, which is constituted by 181 member states.
Argentina is set to expand fresh beef exports to Asia, with Japan and China having already approved import deals, the country's agriculture minister said. Luis Miguel Etchevehere in Tokyo said that Argentina has signed a deal with the Japanese government under which Tokyo will authorize imports of fresh beef from Argentina by late July. His country has also inked a beef export agreement with Beijing.
Farm equipment manufacturers in Brazil are expecting g on strong sales this year, boosted by a second straight bumper soy crop and rising grain prices, which will more than offset weakness in the sugar cane sector, they said at a major trade show. Some machinery producers are forecasting sales growth as high as 8% in 2018 as farmers’ confidence rises and record-low interest rates encourage them to borrow and invest.
Due to the recent devastating drought, soybean production in Uruguay is forecast to drop to 1.7 million tons in 2017-18, according to an April 30 Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Brazil’s largest chicken processor BRF SA has been allowed to resume production at nine plants that export to the European Union, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Wednesday, a day before a potential EU ban related to a food safety scandal. The ministry clarified that one more plant had been cleared, referring to a firm appearing in the document as SHB Comércio e Indústria de Alimentos SA, which is also controlled by BRF.
Quitting the European Union means the UK will have to go back to the drawing board over devolution, constitutional experts have warned. Wrangles over sharing out cash for farmers will be one of the biggest challenges ministers face, according to the Institute for Government (IfG).
Brazil's Agriculture Ministry plans to increase funds available to finance the farm sector, an official announced, noting that a decline in inflation has allowed the government to boost funding in a country that is the world’s largest exporter of staples like soybeans and coffee.
European farm lobbies Copa and Cogeca sent a letter to EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker opposing the EU move to give further concessions on agriculture in return for gains in other economic sectors to Mercosur.
Brazil’s government has won a court decision allowing the export of live cattle, overturning an injunction obtained by an animal rights group, the Agriculture Ministry said on Monday.
Uruguayan animal health authorities are on the alert following the outbreak of a blue tongue focus among sheep in south Brazil. The outbreak has been located in Santa Maria, in central Rio Grande do Sul, and Uruguay's Agriculture and Livestock ministry has strengthened controls along the border which divides the rich farmland region.