OSAKA (Reuters) – Japan’s Kubota Corp. plans to sell powerful, large tractors in North America and Europe next year, its president said on Wednesday, challenging farm equipment industry leader Deere & Co. Yasuo Masumoto, president of Japan’s biggest farm equipment maker, said Kubota was seeking a joint venture with a European or U.S. company this […] Read more
Stories by Reuters News Service
Euronext rape meal, oil futures this year
PARIS (Reuters) – Euronext will this year launch futures and options for rapeseed meal and oil to offer a full suite of rapeseed derivatives to a growing market spanning food, livestock and biofuel sectors, the European exchange said on Wednesday. Euronext already offers rapeseed futures that have become its second-largest agricultural derivatives market in Paris, […] Read more
China cotton soy subsidies to reflect international prices
BEIJING (Reuters) – China will consider domestic and international prices when setting subsidies for cotton and soy farmers as it moves away from a controversial stockpiling scheme, a top official said on Wednesday. Beijing confirmed on Sunday that it would stop hoarding the two commodities from this year but has not yet given details on […] Read more
Harsh winter, Plains drought stress U.S. winter wheat crop
CHICAGO, Jan 21 (Reuters) – One of the harshest winters in years in the U.S. Plains and Midwest, coupled with severe dryness in parts of the region, has left the dormant winter wheat crop at a higher than normal risk of damage. Temperatures on Jan. 6 plummeted to minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 29 Celsius) […] Read more
Uralkali slashes potash price by 24 percent for China
MOSCOW/LONDON, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Russia’s Uralkali , the world’s top potash producer, slashed prices by 24 percent in a new semi-annual supply deal with China, hoping to set a new floor to global prices that collapsed after it quit a powerful sales alliance with Belarus. Global potash prices were thrown into a tailspin after […] Read more
Food security, rural environment top China’s policy agenda
BEIJING, Jan 19 (Reuters) – China’s top policy priorities for 2014 will be improving the rural environment and maintaining food security, according to a a key policy document published by the official Xinhua news agency on Sunday. The “number one document”, issued every January by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, sets the […] Read more
China says to scrap soy, cotton stockpiling in 2014
BEIJING, Jan 20 (Reuters) – China, the world’s top buyer of raw cotton and soy, will this year scrap its controversial scheme to stockpile the commodities and will trial direct subsidies for farmers instead, the government said in a policy document. Beijing also said it would maintain stockpiling for rapeseed, corn and sugar, as well […] Read more
Canada, South Korea In ‘tremendous’ free-trade talks: minister
(Reuters) — Canada and South Korea are having “tremendous discussions” toward a free-trade agreement, said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, a deal that could increase trade in meat and autos. Talks began in 2005, but were later hung up over disputes such as a delay in South Korea scrapping its ban on Canadian beef. South Korea […] Read more
Russia halts Australia beef by-product imports over drug
MOSCOW/SYDNEY Jan 17 (Reuters) – Russia is temporarily banning the import of beef by-products from Australia, citing the detection in shipments of a growth stimulant it prohibits and throwing into doubt exports that brought in around A$10 million ($8.81 million) last year for Australia. The ban will be imposed from Jan. 27 and was prompted […] Read more
Australia revives water trade, and political stand-off around it
SYDNEY, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Australia’s government said on Monday it would sell back water allocations to drought-hit farmers along the Murray-Darling river system for the first time, prompting accusations that it is abandoning the vital waterway’s environmental restoration. The Murray-Darling basin is a key agricultural region as well as the largest river system in […] Read more
