Australia May Abolish Remaining Wheat Export Rules

Australia’s wheat-marketi ng regulations should be abolished by September next year, the country’s Productivity Commission said in a draft report released March 22. It said the A$13.9-billion ($12.7-billion) industry, the world’s fourth-largest exporter of the grain, had proved adaptable following the end of a single-desk marketing system for bulk wheat since mid-2008. “The commission considers

Doha Trade Talks Not At Their Expected Stage

India’s minister of commerce and industry said March 19 that progress in concluding global trade talks was behind schedule but that it was up to political leaders to decide if they can meet their own yearend deadline for a deal. Anand Sharma said the Doha round of global trade talks was ongoing but “painstakingly slow.”


U. S. Wheat Exports To Fade As Russia Flexes Muscle

“(Russia is) essentially taking bushel for bushel market share away from the U. S. while we are focused on burning our food (as biofuel).” – BILL LAPP, ADVANCED ECONOMIC SOLUTIONS U. S. wheat production and slumping exports will continue to fade in coming years due to increasing competition in the global marketplace from lower-cost producers

U. S. Farm Credit Conditions Under Pressure

“Business expansion for farms appears to be entering a downward cycle while the broader commercial economy is recovering.” – PAYNET Conditions in U. S. farming regions that had outper formed the economy during the recession are deteriorating amid rising credit problems and contracting business activity, according to commercial credit analysis firm PayNet Inc. In a


Texas Cattle Herd May Take Years To Rebuild

The Texas cattle herd, America’s largest, could take five to seven years to rebuild to the level it was before much of the state was scorched by nearly two years of drought, a top cattleman said March 19. Dave Scott, president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA), said while the drought was

U. S. Meat Trade Should Not Count On China, Russia

“(Vladimir) Putin himself made a comment about the U. S. having to meet Russian standards. Now, if the chicken industry gets the attention of Putin, that is a little different ball game than what we have had to deal with in the past.” – Joe Sanderson, Sanderson Farms U. S. meat companies have banked on


U. S. Ethanol Fortunes In Limbo As E15 Ruling Looms

The U. S. ethanol sector has been on the road to recovery since a calamitous 2008, but the once-soaring industry appears to have hit a plateau amid a glut of supply and a murky demand picture, analysts said at the Reuters Food and Agriculture Summit in Chicago. Producers are hoping that a government ruling expected

Canada Says BSE Cow Kept Out Of Food Supply

The Alberta beef cow that is Canada’s most recent case of mad cow disease was found dead on a farm and was destroyed without entering food or animal feed supplies, a spokesman with the Canadian government said March 11. Canada Beef Export Federation president Ted Haney, who first confirmed the case in an interview with


Russia Approves Pork From 11 U. S. Plants

Russia on March 11 approved 11 U. S. pork plants to resume pork shipments to that country and more plants may be approved, the U. S. Meat Export Federation told Reuters. “It is happening as we speak,” U. S. Meat Export Federation spokesman Jim Herlihy said of the approvals. The lifting of the ban on

Canada Could Gain From Southern Trade Dispute

“Until this gets resolved … I can’t see that we’re going to be able to sell to Brazil in the near future.” – REBECCA BRATTER Canadian wheat exports stand to gain from Brazil’s move to triple non-hard wheat tariffs against the United States, a Canadian Wheat Board official said March 10. The Brazilian government published