SYDNEY, Australia – Further downgrades to Australia’s wheat crop are looming as drought deepens across the continent, with the national wheat exporter considering whether to cut its forecast. AWB’s forecast of 23-25 million tonnes looks optimistic after other groups slashed their forecasts. Australian Crop Forecasters now expects around 18 million tonnes and rural services group […] Read more
Stories by Michael rnes
Markets mixed over GM wheat
SYDNEY, Australia – The world’s first commercially produced biotech wheat, looming in North America, is likely to bypass some big Asian import markets but could create a battleground in others, producers and traders say. Genetically modified wheat could be just a year away with life sciences giant Monsanto Co. well advanced in seeking regulatory approval […] Read more
Australian grain harvest estimate slashed
SYDNEY, Australia – A drought-affected poor harvest of wheat and barley is in storage bins across Australia, but doubts are growing about quantities available for export. National wheat exporter AWB Ltd. said the exact size of the harvest was hard to pin down because a “fair bit” was in private warehouses or had been sold […] Read more
Australia, Iraq resume wheat trade talks
SYDNEY, Australia – Australia’s national wheat exporter, AWB Ltd., has re-opened negotiations with Iraq for a full resumption of wheat trade between the two countries, to the background beat of war drums. While Australian prime minister John Howard maintained his public stance of supporting United States-led pressure on Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, AWB resumed business […] Read more
Barley smuggling shakes Australian export monopoly
SYDNEY, Australia – Large tonnages of newly harvested barley are being smuggled across an Australian border into a recently deregulated state for export by private traders. As Australia’s annual barley harvest gets into swing, growers are driving the grain from South Australia into Victoria to cash in on a $15 Aus a tonne premium being […] Read more
Aussie canola harvest bigger than expected
SYDNEY, Australia – With its canola harvest two-thirds over, Australia is headed for a bigger than expected crop and expects buyers to return as prices ease. The Canola Association of Australia increased its forecast for the current crop to 1.49 million tonnes from its last forecast of 1.447 million. Based on a national survey of […] Read more
Will cattle cloning revolutionize food?
SYDNEY, Australia – The future has arrived. Milk and T-bone steaks from cloned cattle or from herds boosted by cloned animals are just a blink away. A herd of cloned cattle in the rolling dairyland of Wisconsin in the United States has been brought into milk production. China is expected to give birth to its […] Read more
Aussie canola prices may boom
SYDNEY, Australia – Tight world canola supplies and a rollercoaster weather ride are producing a nail-biting boom for Australian canola producers. Australian cash canola prices have leapt to a record high of almost $470 Aus a tonne in the past week, before settling back to around $450 Aug. 17. Talk is rife of $500 a […] Read more
