Satara/Singapore/London | Reuters — In the fertile Satara district in western India, farmers are putting their cattle on an unorthodox diet: Some feed iceberg lettuce to buffalo. Others feed strawberries to cows. It’s not a treat. They can either feed their crops to animals or let them spoil. And other farmers are doing just that
How COVID-19 is upending global food supply chains
Cows fed strawberries in India, watermelons rot in U.S., okra not reaching Canada
Panic buying, lockdowns may drive world food inflation
World has ample grain and oilseed supplies, FAO and analysts say
Singapore | Reuters — Lockdowns and panic food buying due to the coronavirus pandemic could ignite world food inflation even though there are ample supplies of staple grains and oilseeds in key exporting nations, a senior economist at FAO and agricultural analysts said. The world’s richest nations poured unprecedented aid into the global economy as
U.S.-China trade fears halt soybean imports
Singapore/Beijing | Reuters — China’s purchases of U.S. soybeans have come to a grinding halt, trade and industry sources say, as fears of further action by Beijing to curb imports of U.S. crops following last week’s anti-dumping move on sorghum rattles the agriculture industry. Buyers from China, which takes 60 per cent of soybeans traded
Brazil cuts into U.S. soybean market share in China
Reuters – Brazil is expected to win a larger share of China’s soybean imports in coming months, hitting U.S. exporters during the peak marketing season for their most valuable farm product as the world grapples with a fifth consecutive bumper crop. China is expected to buy about five million tonnes of soybeans from Brazil for
U.S. grains: Soybeans fall on Argentina weather
Reuters — U.S. soybean futures fell to a 1-1/2-week low on Wednesday on an improved South American crop weather outlook while corn edged higher on export demand, traders said. Wheat sagged on ample old-crop supplies and a lack of supportive news. Chicago Board of Trade March soybean futures settled down 3-1/4 cents at $10.55-1/4 per
Brazil cuts into U.S. soybean market share with China sales
Near-perfect weather in Latin America seen to supply soybean glut and fuel competition for sales
Brazil is muscling in on the peak season for U.S. soybean sales to China, the world’s biggest buyer, as major producers vie to slim down bulging stockpiles after four years of record global output. In deals signed recently, exporters from the Latin American country have sold four shipments to China for delivery in November and
Australian wheat output seen near record
Rainy forecasts could lead to quality issues and fewer markets, especially if the rain continues
Australia is expected to harvest a near-record wheat crop in 2016-17, slightly ahead of official estimates, a Reuters poll shows, but recent heavy rains may lead to quality downgrades and curb exports. The world’s fourth-largest wheat exporter is set to produce 28.35 million tonnes, a poll of 10 analysts and traders found, just ahead of
U.S. grains: Wheat rises on dry weather worries
Paris/Singapore | Reuters –– Chicago wheat futures rose on Monday, snapping a two-session fall, as dry weather in some U.S. and European wheat belts stirred concern in a market that has been weighed down by the prospect of record global supplies this season. Soybeans lost more ground as U.S. farmers are expected to boost the
U.S. grains: Wheat rises for a second day on short-covering
Singapore/Paris | Reuters, 7:01 a.m. CT –– Chicago wheat futures prices rose for a second session on Friday with short-covering ahead of the Labour Day holiday weekend supporting prices, although the trend was set for a second week of declines amid plentiful world supplies. Corn was up for a second day, recovering from a multi-year
China’s farmers switch to soy amid corn market reform
Reuters — Wang Zhonghai, a 49-year-old farmer in China’s top corn producing province of Heilongjiang, plans to switch 80 per cent of his land to cultivate soybeans this year as the government ends a near-decade-old corn price support scheme. China announced last week it will stop its corn stockpiling program and allow markets to set