JAKARTA (Reuters) — Indonesia must adopt genetically modified crops if the world’s fourth-most-populous nation wants to achieve self-sufficiency in food staples like corn, a senior agriculture official said. Corn imports into Southeast Asia’s largest economy are rising rapidly as improved wealth levels drive poultry demand, and are forecast to nearly double this year to 2.8 […] Read more
Crop Management — page 607
Indonesia agriculture ministry argues case for GMO foods
Australia to revert to Asia to sell big wheat crop
GENEVA, Nov 13 (Reuters) – Lower expected protein in a large Australian wheat crop will encourage a shift in the country’s exports back towards nearby Asian buyers after unusually high sales to the Middle East last season, grain handler CBH Group said. CBH nudged up its estimate of the country’s 2013/14 wheat harvest to 26 […] Read more
EU wheat area up 4 percent in 2014, crop at 6-year high
GENEVA, Nov 13 (Reuters) – Farmers in the European Union could sow 4 percent more soft wheat for next year’s harvest, giving the 28-country bloc a chance of achieving its biggest crop for six years if harsh growing weather is avoided, analyst Strategie Grains said. The soft wheat area in the EU is expected to […] Read more
Past and future collide as Mexico fights over GMO corn
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) — After pioneering the cultivation of corn thousands of years ago, Mexico must overcome the weight of history to give the go-ahead to allow genetically modified strains into its fields. Religion, culture and science are competing for primacy in the debate on how acceptable corn produced by genetically modified organisms is in […] Read more
EU rapeseed area to fall slightly in 2014: analyst
PARIS (Reuters) — The area sown with rapeseed for the 2014 harvest in the European Union will fall one percent from this year to 16.3 million acres, analyst Strategie Grains said. Sunseed crops would also lose area, with Strategie Grains expecting a decrease to 10.9 million acres. The total oilseed area in the 28-country EU […] Read more
Wheat more attractive to U.S. farmers with corn price at three-year low
CHICAGO (Reuters) — A drop in corn prices to a three-year low this autumn has caused U.S. farmers to contemplate boosting their wheat plantings, a shift that would stem a decades-long trend toward corn. Wheat futures have surged this autumn, hitting a 4-1/2 month high as planting of the winter wheat crop kicked into high […] Read more
Large U.S. corn crop weighs on prices
The first World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report in two months did little to ease the bearish sentiment in grain markets. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is estimating a 13.99 billion bushel U.S. corn crop and 1.89 billion bu. of ending stocks. Both numbers were slightly below trade expectations. “Corn stocks did not meet […] Read more
Mosaic economist sees U.S. 2014 corn plantings at 90 to 92 million acres
CHICAGO (Reuters) — U.S. corn plantings are likely to drop to 90 million to 92 million acres in 2014, from 95.3 million in 2013, an economist with U.S. fertilizer producer Mosaic Co. said Friday. Mike Rahm, Mosaic’s vice president of market and strategic analysis, estimated U.S. 2014 soybean plantings at 76 million to 78 million […] Read more
Waste isn’t wasted on this dairy farm
Creating power not just a pipe dream | Bio-gas units turn waste products into an asset that lowers costs
GUELPH, Ont. — The bio-digester and generating station on the Clovermead dairy farm has been feeding power into the electrical grid for more than a year. It’s all going so much according to plan that it’s about as exciting as watching a clock on the wall, which is exactly what the Whale family wants. Korb […] Read moreMachinery manufacturers expect sales to slow
Demand declining | Farmers’ need for new machinery declining after several years of growth
Farm equipment manufacturers and sellers are planning to put fewer machines in farmers’ hands in 2014 but say that is OK. The Association of Equipment Manufacturers, which tracks its members’ sales of new equipment, said the trend for agriculture is flat or slightly lower this year. Combine sales in September fell almost 36 percent compared […] Read more
