Page 885 of articles about news

The House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management held a hearing April 1 to review the state of the farm economy. Because of the demand for alternative energy sources, corn continues to be sold at higher prices. It is projected that 4.1 billion bushels of corn will be used in ethanol production and will account for approximately 33 percent of expected corn use in 2009/2010. However the demand for ethanol has affected the prices of other commodities competing for farm land, initiating negative economic effects on almost all agricultural products.

A rise in soymeal demand in China has spurred soybean imports by the largest buyer and triggered concerns the government agency may release more reserves into the domestic market, traders said on Wednesday. Meat consumption has not declined as anticipated, as lower pork prices in urban areas has countered a drop in demand from rural regions hit by rising joblessness, feed officials said.

Brazilian pig meat exports increased by 17.9% up to 116,300 tonnes according to figures from the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade and the value of these exports increased by 34.8% up to 190 million euros. (Original in Spanish. Read Google translation here).

Ontario farmers will have more choices to safely dispose of their deadstock under new regulations that would come into force Friday, March 27, 2009, pending approval from the Lieutenant-Governor. The new rules, developed in consultation with industry partners, also provide greater flexibility for the deadstock service sector and include measures that will protect the environment.

Faced with the difficulties suffered by the swine sector due to an important decline in finances, the Minister for Agriculture, Michel Barnier, has proposed a support plan for the sector which with help from the banks will be worth 33 million euros. (Original in French. Read Google translation here).

Member States have made significant progress in developing coexistence legislation during the last years. This development of the legislative framework has gone hand in hand with a moderate expansion of the cultivation of GM crops. At the present time there is no indication of the need to deviate from the subsidiarity-based approach on coexistence. The Commission will continue to develop recommendations for crop-specific technical segregation measures together with Member States and stakeholders. These are the main conclusion of the second report from the European Commission on the coexistence of GM crops with conventional and organic farming

Construction of a new biosafety facility on the Wooster campus of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (O.A.R.D.C.) was approved by The Ohio State University Board of Trustees during its April 3 meeting. In addition to three biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) labs, the Plant and Animal Agrosecurity Research (P.A.A.R.) Facility will include two BSL-3 Ag isolation rooms, which are needed to work with large animals, such as cows and pigs. P.A.A.R. will be the only facility in Ohio and one of only five nationally with the capacity for both plant and animal research at these high safety levels, according to the university.

The Royal Show 2009 will be the last in its present form to be held by the Royal Agricultural Society of England at Stoneleigh Park.

A bid by farmers to claim damages following the 2007 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak has been dismissed. The seven remaining farmers’ claims, in the National Farmers’ Union-backed legal case, were dismissed on 31 March, when judgment was handed down following a hearing in the High Court in February. A further seven claims had already been settled without an admission of liability.

The increase in import taxes have helped significantly reduce the quantity of imported meat and poultry entering Vietnam said the Agricultural Information Centre under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Total imports of meat and poultry declined by roughly 21-24%.

Overall growth in the sale of organic produce slipped to a modest 1.7 per cent in 2008 and the market is now worth £2.1 billion. The livestock sector did not fare much better as they suffered from high feed prices and faltering demand. UK organic pork production is expected to dip by around 40 per cent in 2009.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture today issued the 2008 Annual Report of the Packers and Stockyards Program. The report assesses the general economic state of the livestock and poultry industries; describes changing business practices in those industries; and identifies market operations or activities that appear to raise concerns under the Packers and Stockyards Act.

MAF Biosecurity New Zealand (MAFBNZ) issued provisional Import Heath Standards (IHSs) for pig meat, pig meat products and by-products from Canada, the EU, Mexico and the USA. The four provisional IHSs include risk management measures based on a risk analysis on porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus in pig meat. PRRS is a viral disease of pigs found in many pig-producing countries, but which is not found in New Zealand or Australia.

On March 25th, 2009 the Ukrainian Customs Service stopped charging an additional 13% import duty for beef, pork, offal, poultry products, processed beef and pork; raw sugar, grape wine and fermented beverages in excess of WTO negotiated levels. Some legal aspects of this duty decrease are still not clear, but previously negotiated customs duties are now restored.

The world economic crisis that began in 2008 has major consequences for U.S. agriculture. The weakening of global demand because of emerging recessions and declining economic growth result in reduced export demand and lower agricultural commodity prices, compared with those in 2008. These, in turn, reduce U.S. farm income and place downward pressures on farm real estate values. So far, the overall impact on U.S. agriculture is not as severe as on the broader U.S. economy because the record-high agricultural exports, prices, and farm income in 2007 and 2008 put U.S. farmers on solid financial ground. Moreover, the debt equity ratios in agriculture tend to be more conservative than those in most other sectors of the economy. There is much uncertainty concerning the depth and extent of the crisis. The outcomes for U.S. agriculture are dependent on whether or not there is a global realignment of exchange rates to correct current macroeconomic imbalances.