World food prices rose for a fourth straight month in November to remain at 10-year highs, led by strong demand for wheat and dairy products, the UN food agency said Dec. 2. The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index, which tracks international prices of the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 134.4 points
FAO says world food prices continue to climb
Fourth straight month of price increases found for November
Indonesia to ramp up biodiesel efforts to meet green energy targets
Indonesia will need to increase the bio content of its palm oil-based biodiesel to 40 per cent by 2024 or risk missing its renewable energy targets, a senior official said Dec. 1. Indonesia has a mandatory biodiesel program with 30 per cent palm oil content known as B30. Long-standing plans to increase the palm content
African swine fever outbreak spreading widely in Vietnam
An African swine fever outbreak is spreading widely in Vietnam and is hurting the local farming industry, forcing the culling of three times the number of hogs culled last year, the government said Nov. 25. “The outbreak is evolving in a complicated manner,” the government said in a statement. “It is threatening to spread on
Australia declares La Niña for second straight year
Better rainfall could once again boost Australian wheat production
Australia’s weather bureau said Nov. 23 a La Niña weather phenomenon had developed in the Pacific Ocean for the second year in a row that could bring above-average rainfall across the country’s centre, north and east. La Niña is typically associated with greater rainfall, more tropical cyclones and cooler-than-average temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. The
China’s Oct. soy imports from U.S. slump due to weak demand
China’s October soybean imports from the United States fell sharply from the previous year, customs data showed in mid-November, hit by poor demand and limited exports. China brought in 775,331 tonnes of U.S. soybeans in October, down 77 per cent from 3.4 million tonnes a year earlier, according to data released from the General Administration
Spy agency sees ransomware attacks soaring
Aggressive hacking expected to increase
Ottawa | Reuters — Global ransomware attacks increased by 151 per cent in the first half of 2021 compared with 2020 and hackers are set to become increasingly aggressive, Canada’s signals intelligence agency said on Monday. The Communications Security Establishment (CSE), citing attacks on North American health facilities and a U.S. pipeline, said the scale
CNH buys software house NX9 to bolster ag business
Milan | Reuters — CNH Industrial has bought software engineering firm NX9, it said on Thursday, in a further step to boost digital innovation in its agricultural division as it prepares to spin off its truck, bus and engine operations. U.S.-based NX9 is a small software house specializing in so-called ‘ISOBUS’ technology for agricultural equipment,
CN rerouting trains, aims to re-open line to Vancouver on weekend
Reuters — Canadian National Railway (CN) said Wednesday it was aiming to reopen its track in the crucial Kamloops-to-Vancouver corridor in flood-hit British Columbia this weekend. The Pacific province, trying to rebuild after devastating floods in November, received more rain over the weekend and this week. CN operates one of the two critical rail lines
British Columbia braces for more heavy rain
Ottawa | Reuters — British Columbia is facing more heavy rains as the province tries to recover from massive floods and mudslides, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth told reporters on Tuesday. Farnworth said crews were working to shore up dikes and dams, adding some roads would be closed protectively. Flooding over Nov. 14-16 in Canada’s
B.C. extends fuel restrictions following flooding
Agricultural and farm-use vehicles exempted as 'essential'
Reuters — Government officials in British Columbia on Monday extended restrictions on the use of fuel by residents, saying it was needed for emergency vehicles as the region recovers from devastating floods. The order, first issued on Nov. 19, limits vehicles deemed “non-essential” by the government to 30 litres of gasoline or diesel fuel per