Ukraine grain exports up sharply so far in 2021-22

Ukraine has exported 33.2 million tonnes of grain so far in the 2021-22 July-June season, up 25.7 per cent from the same stage a season earlier, Agriculture Ministry data showed on Thursday. The total included 16.1 million tonnes of wheat, 5.2 million tonnes of barley and 11.5 million tonnes of corn, the data showed. Agriculture

Seeding in southwestern Manitoba in the spring of 2021. (Manitoba Co-operator file photo by Alexis Stockford)

Last year was world’s sixth-warmest on record, U.S. scientists say

Heat content of oceans at record level, NOAA says

Reuters — Last year ranked as the sixth-warmest year on record, causing extreme weather events around the world and adding to evidence supporting the globe’s long-term warming, according to an analysis on Thursday by two U.S. government agencies. The data compiled by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA also revealed that


Sea surface temperature anomalies over the equatorial Pacific Ocean for the week centred on Jan. 5, 2022. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

La Niña likely to continue into spring, U.S. forecaster says

Reuters — La Nina conditions are likely to continue during the Northern Hemisphere spring, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday. The La Niña weather pattern, characterized by unusually cold temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, has a 67 per cent chance of persisting from March through May this year, the National Weather Service’s

File photo of wheat plants in Afghanistan. (PK Ahmad/iStock/Getty Images)

Taliban increase payment in wheat as economic crisis deepens

Kabul | Reuters — Afghanistan’s Taliban administration said on Tuesday it was expanding its ‘food for work’ program, in which it uses donated wheat to pay thousands of public sector employees instead of cash as a financial crisis intensifies. Wheat, largely donated by India to the previous U.S.-backed Kabul government, is being used to pay



Hogs outdoors on a farm in Italy. (Coscarella Gianfranco/iStock/Getty Images)

Swine fever found in wild boar in Italy

Reuters — African swine fever, a deadly hog disease, has been found in a wild boar in Italy’s Piedmont region, the regional government said in a statement on Friday. Tests confirmed the disease in a dead boar in Ovada, located about 120 km southwest of Milan in northern Italy, the statement said. African swine fever


General Mills misses quarterly profit estimates

General Mills Inc. missed Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit Dec. 21, as the Cheerios cereal maker grappled with soaring prices of raw materials and higher costs of freight and labour. Shares of the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company were down about four per cent in pre-market trade. Prolonged supply chain disruptions and a shortage of truck

Chinese workers in protective suits are seen at a checkpoint on a road leading to a village near a farm where African swine fever was detected, Nov. 23, 2018.

France, China agree regional approach to pig disease and trade

France has signed an agreement with main export customer China to ensure pork trade can continue even if an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) occurs, potentially providing a blueprint for European countries threatened by the pig disease. Blanket bans on meat trade by China and other importing countries due to outbreaks of ASF and


Louis Dreyfus’ oilseed processing plant at Yorkton, Sask. (LDC.com)

Dreyfus chair owes US$240 million after ADQ deal

Stake sale's proceeds going to repay loan

Paris | Reuters — Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, chairperson and main shareholder of Louis Dreyfus Co., borrowed about $240 million from Credit Suisse in a reduced loan arrangement following the sale of a stake in LDC, an annual company report showed. Louis-Dreyfus told Swiss business magazine Bilanz in late 2020 she planned to use the proceeds of

A lack of hardiness in some EU grain crops could leave them vulnerable to frost.

EU crops get favourable start, winter hardiness a risk in east

Most grain crops in the European Union have continued to benefit from favourable weather in the past month, although a lack of hardiness could leave some plants vulnerable to frost, the EU’s crop monitoring service MARS said Dec. 14. The buildup of frost tolerance has been generally weak in central, eastern and southeastern Europe, MARS