Farmers Worry Bee Crisis Has Been Ignored Too Long

“If cattle were producing 30 per cent less milk each year, it would not be acceptable. But that is what we have had to put up with.” Europe’s beekeeping industry could be wiped out in less than a decade as bees fall victim to disease, insecticides and intensive farming, international beekeeping body Apimondia has warned.

U. S. Wants New WTO Process

Big emerging countries like China, India, Brazil and South Africa must do more to open their markets to secure a new global trade deal, the U. S. trade chief said May 13. U. S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, who took up his job in March, was speaking after two days of intense talks with U.


Hog Industry Fights Against Swine Flu Backlash

“Importers from other countries are really nervous about buying right now.” – JURGEN PREUGSCHAS, CPC Canadians are being urged to eat more pork as the hog industry mounts a publicity drive against a backlash from the H1N1 Influenza A virus that has become known as swine flu. The Canadian Pork Council and its marketing arm

Syngenta Upbeat Outlook Boosts Shares

Syngenta AG, the world’s largest agrochemicals company, has reported a four per cent fall in first-quarter sales but stayed upbeat about the full year, sending its shares over seven per cent higher. Syngenta, which makes products to kill weeds and bugs as well as genetically modified seeds, said sales totalled $3.6 billion, a seven per


Birds Face Longer Migrations Due To Climate Change

Some European birds will have to fly further as global warming shifts their breeding grounds northwards in the biggest challenge to the tiny migrants since the Ice Age, scientists said April 15. Some types of warbler would have to add 400 kilo-metres (km) to twice-yearly trips up to 6,000 kms to and from Africa, according

In Brief… – for Apr. 16, 2009

Self-sufficiency in meat: Russia wants to achieve self-sufficiency in poultry meat and pork in two years, first Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said April 3. “In the year 2011 we will be quite capable of providing ourselves with poultry meat and pork. And we may start to actively work on increasing the production of beef,”


CBOT Says It Is Still The Global Benchmark

Chicago Board of Trade, the world’s largest grain exchange, has no fear of its wheat contract being challenged as the global benchmark for prices by an upstart from Australia, a senior official told Reuters. Australia’s stock exchange operator, ASX Ltd., plans for its Hard wheat export futures contract to begin trading in May, opening up

FDA Tries To Get Ahead Of Food Recalls

Not a single person was diagnosed with food poisoning, but the U. S. Food and Drug Administration made the move anyway – on March 31 it announced a nationwide recall of pistachios after salmonella was found in one producer’s 2008 crop. Since then, recall announcements have come daily, for a total of 290 so far.



Symptomless Egypt Bird Flu Cases Studied

The World Health Organization is concerned some Egyptians may carry the highly pathogenic bird flu virus with-o ut showing symptoms, which could give it more of a chance to mutate to a strain that spreads easily among humans. Whether such cases exist still has to be put to the test and will be the focus