World Vulnerable To More Food Price Spikes

Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman is calling for better co-ordinated aid to cope with runaway food prices, warning the world was vulnerable to a repeat of the 2008 agricultural market spike. Speaking at a seminar, Krugman said the reasons for last year’s food price rise had now been masked by the economic and financial downturn,

Big Oil Invests In Ethanol

If it’s even partly true that you’re known by the company you keep, then the farmer-loved ethanol business got a lot less lovable Feb. 8 when Valero Energy Corp., the largest crude oil refiner in North America, announced its intent to purchase five of the choicest plants owned by mega-biofuel maker, mega-bankrupt VeraSun Energy. Should


U. S. Oil Refiner Buys Into Ethanol

Oil refiner Valero Energy beat out Archer Daniels Midland in buying bankrupt VeraSun Energy Corp.’s ethanol plants because ADM was only interested in buying the entire company, a lawyer for VeraSun said March 18. VeraSun announced March 17 that Valero, the largest U. S. oil refiner, had won an auction to buy seven of its

Consumers Still Fret About Grain Prices

Uncertainty over U. S. spring plantings of corn and soybeans and recent weakness in the dollar have brought a resurgence in grain prices that spells fresh headaches for consumers and food makers this year. The commodities, at the base of a food chain that feeds into hundreds of supermarket products, from oils to starches to


Groups Discuss World Grain Reserve

Setting up a world grain reserve is a realistic option that would reduce the risk of food shortages and shield farmers from big price shocks, a senior official with the U. S. National Farmers Union said March 19. The proposal to create global cereal stocks topped the agenda of a meeting of farmers’ unions from



FAO Says Grain Prices Could Rebound

Stocks of agricultural commodities remain low and prices could start to rise again if there is an earlier-than-expected economic rebound, Alexander Sarris of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said March 12. “Stocks are not very big now. They still have to be built up… If all of a sudden demand turns out to

Finding The Right Crop For Cellulosic Ethanol

“We need to create a plantation crop to meet our needs.” -MAURICE HLADIK The eventual raw material requirements of cellulosic ethanol production could exceed the available supplies of straw and stover, an industry expert told the Canadian Federation of Agriculture recently. “Straw and stover can’t do it all,” Maurice Hladik, former director of marketing for


New Trade Association Formed For North America Camelina Industry

Thirteen seed companies, processors and researchers of camelina have formed the first trade association focused on camelina production and processing in North America. The North American Camelina Trade Association (NACTA) will work to promote research, production and the development of new markets for camelina. Camelina sativa, also known as gold of pleasure or false flax,

Jatropha Eyed For Biofuels

Mozambique has drafted a strategy for the production of biofuels from the drought-resistant jatropha crop, which contains up to 40 per cent oil, its energy minister said. “We hope the biofuels project will be approved despite the fluctuation of oil prices on the international market,” Salvador Namburete told a briefing. “We have conditions to proceed