Egg producers under fire
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters) – An undercover investigation by the Humane Society of the United States of major American egg producers showed “rampant abuse” of hens, said the animal rights group.
Footage collected in February and March by the group showed birds stuck in cages unable to reach food or water; dead hens, some of them rotting, among live birds; and manure pits that in at least one case had not been cleaned for two years.
“I don’t think anyone can see this footage and feel good about this production system,” Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, told reporters.
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VIDEO: Bittersweet harvest for this family farmhand
Bruce Burnett helps his brother harvest wheat and canola for the last time on the family farm in Manitoba where they both grew up.
Brazil, U.S. work deal on WTO dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters) – The United States has headed off a move by Brazil to impose penalties on U.S. goods by offering concessions on an export loan guarantee program and said it would try to negotiate an end to a long-standing trade spat over cotton.
The last-minute proposal came as Brazil was set to impose tariffs and lift protections on $829 million US in American goods, which would have been its right after a 2009 World Trade Organization ruling against U.S. cotton subsidies.
The WTO ruling gave Brazil the right to lift patent protections on U.S. pharmaceuticals, chemicals and intellectual property rights on film and music.
Under the plan, the U.S. pledged to make short-term tweaks to its export credit guarantees and give Brazil about $147.3 million per year in damages.
The concessions give the U.S. Congress more time to find a longer-term solution.
More Ukraine sunflowers
KIEV, Ukraine (Reuters) – Ukraine, among the world’s leading sunflower seed producers, is likely to increase its 2010 sunseed crop to 6.85 million tonnes from 6.60 million in 2009, said analyst UkrAgroConsult.
The consultancy also said Ukraine could increase its rapeseed crop to 1.869 million tonnes in 2010 from 1.845 million in 2009.
Fertilizer factories close
DHAKA, Bangladesh (Reuters) – Bangladesh shut five fertilizer factories last week to save nearly 250 million cubic feet of natural gas a day in the face of acute electricity shortages. The country faces up to 300 million cubic feet of gas and up to 1,500 megawatts of electricity shortages a day.
The factory closures are likely to continue until June.
Bangladesh’s annual urea demand is around three million tonnes, of which the country produces 1.8 million tonnes.
Less barley acres in U.K.
LONDON, U.K. (Reuters) – Farmers
in Western Europe are turning their backs on spring barley, disenchanted
with low prices and abundant stocks, and are opting for alternatives
such as spring wheat, linseed and peas.
“We are looking at a
minimum of a 20 percent drop (in United Kingdom spring barley area). The
market is so poor that farmers are looking to switch their spring
crop,” said analyst Susan Twining of crop consultants ADAS.
Traders
said the decline was driven by a slide in prices below the guaranteed
minimum under the European Union’s intervention scheme, which prompted
farmers to send millions of tonnes to public storage.
Analyst
Strategie Grains has already forecast an 11 percent drop in the overall
barley area in France to 4.13 million acres, with the spring variety
expected to see a bigger fall than winter barley.
France’s farm
ministry and farm office have estimated a six percent fall in winter
barley sowings.
In contrast, spring protein crops like peas
should see a jump in area in reaction to an increase in European and
French subsidies this year.
China-Argentina trade war escalates
BEIJING,
China (Reuters) – Chinese buyers are cancelling almost all soybean oil
orders from Argentina, totalling about 200,000 tonnes per month booked
between May and July, as China retaliates against Argentina’s
anti-dumping measures over Chinese products, traders and analysts
estimated.
Buyers have booked about 250,000 tonnes of soybean oil
each month for shipment during the three months, of which most are from
Argentina, the world’s top seller.
Chinese companies were urged
not to import soybean oil from Argentina as a retaliatory measure.
Argentina had earlier launched anti-dumping duties and investigations
into many Chinese products, including shoes, steel pipes and igniters.
Officials
said authorities have been told to implement China’s standard
“strictly” in inspecting crude soybean oil cargoes from Argentina, which
cannot now meet the standard.
France calls for ag ministers
meeting
PARIS, France (Reuters) – France plans to organize next
year a meeting of farm ministers from Group of 20 countries to discuss
price volatility in agricultural commodities, French president Nicolas
Sarkozy said.
France will hold the presidency of the G20 in 2011
and Sarkozy said he would put regulation of agriculture on the group’s
agenda.
Agricultural markets have become a major subject of
international debate since 2007-08 when prices soared, fuelling food
inflation and causing unrest in poor countries.
The crisis
prompted a series of discussions, including a first-ever meeting of farm
ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized countries, and a
pledge from G8 leaders to provide $20 billion US in aid to help poor
nations feed themselves.
Net income drops
KANSAS CITY,
Missouri (Reuters) – Monsanto Co. has posted lower-than-expected
quarterly profit and warned that competitive pressures, primarily in its
herbicide business, would make it hard to meet previously announced
financial targets, sending its shares down more than three percent.
The
company said net income fell 19 percent and reported earnings per share
for the second quarter ended Feb. 28 of $1.60 on an as-reported basis,
down from $1.97 a year earlier. The company said it earned $1.70 on an
ongoing basis versus $2.16 a year earlier.
Algeria forecasts record harvest
ALGIERS (Reuters) – Algeria expects a good grain harvest this season and is likely to match the record crop of the previous period, the country’s grain agency’s general manager said.
Algeria’s cereal harvest was a record 6.12 million tonnes in 2009.
“Of the (8,193,449 acres) sowed this season, (4,832,263 acres) are for wheat including (3,315,993 acres) durum wheat and (1,516,639 acres) soft wheat,” said Nouredine Kahal, general manager of the OAIC,.
Algeria is usually one of the world’s largest grain importers but it announced last month it was planning to export barley for the first time in 40 years.
Kazakhstan develops new shipping routes
ASTANA, Kazakhstan (Reuters) – Kazakhstan, central Asia’s largest grain producer, plans to increase shipments through Iran by launching a terminal in an Iranian port and building a new railway link, a senior Kazakh official said.
The former Soviet republic shipped one million tonnes of grain to Iran last year over the Caspian Sea, Asylzhan Mamytbekov, the head of state agricultural company KazAgro said. “We will launch a new grain terminal in Iran’s Amirabad port shortly,” Mamytbekov said. “A storage facility at the Amirabad terminal will be launched in May.”
Land-locked Kazakhstan produces more than 15 million tonnes of grain a year and exports most of it to central Asian and Caspian neighbours.
New direction on Africa
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters) – The United States plans to put food security at the heart of its Africa policy as it seeks to enhance ongoing efforts on trade, investment and HIV/AIDS.
“We want to see the food security initiative take on greater momentum as more African countries are drawn into this program,” said assistant secretary of state Johnnie Carson, the government’s top official for Africa.
Ukraine winter crops struggle
KIEV, UKRAINE (Reuters) –Ukrainian winter crops have worsened with crops in poor condition rated at 14.6 percent as of April 1 from 13.5 percent on March 21.
Analyst UkrAgroConsult said 39.9 percent of winter grain was in good condition compared to 41.2 percent as of March 21 and 45.6 percent in late February.
The consultancy said farms had already lost crops on 3.1 percent of the sown area against 2.2 percent as of March 22. It said 40.1 percent of winter wheat was in a good state, 45.8 percent in a satisfactory state and 14.1 percent was in poor condition.
Ukraine harvested 24.2 million tonnes of wheat in 2008 and 20.8 million in 2009.
UkrAgroConsult last month said the 2010 wheat crop could total 18.05 million tonnes.
