USDA-DOJ Workshop Better Work

“I can buy seed from 100 different companies but 90 per cent of all the germplasm in it comes from just one company, Monsanto.” The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, better known as NASCAR, often brags that it’s the only sport in the world to begin every new season with its biggest, richest

Cattle Set 16-Month High On Strong Technicals

Cattle futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange set a new 16-month high March 9 in the active April contract on a mix of technical and fundamental factors. Cash beef prices are the highest in nearly 10 months due to less production and improving demand. Investors also are buying cattle futures amid concerns rain and melting


U. S. Crops, China Becomes Top Soy User

U. S. farmers will grow the second-largest corn and soybean crops on record this year – 13.134 billion bushels of corn and 3.213 billion bushels of soybeans, just below the records set in 2009, said a University of Missouri think-tank March 9. The Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute also said U. S. wheat production

Agribusiness Monopolies Under Scrutiny

“Big is not necessarily bad, but big can be bad if power that comes from being big is misused.” – U. S. ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER Two U. S. cabinet members and other top officials have pledged a thorough examination of allegations that monopolistic practices in agriculture are driving small farmers out of business and


Restricted-Feed Intake In Heifers Makes Better Cows

“When you develop a heifer on a restricted-gain program, you change the metabolic efficiency of that heifer and the way it utilizes feed and stores energy reserves.” – JOHN POPP Just as too many cooks can spoil the broth, it seems too much feed makes for less efficient heifers. Using a similar strategy to that

U. S. Grain Stockpiles Swell As Sales Slow

U. S. corn and wheat stockpiles will swell to their largest size in years as corn exports slow and Americans use less flour, the government said on March 10 in a report likely to influence planting this spring. Record crops, despite last year’s rain, flooding and snow, are still in the marketing stream. The supplies


Key U. S. Lawmaker Blasts New Livestock-Tracking Plan

Arevamped U. S. livestock-tracking system will fail as a safeguard against disease and may imperil $20 billion a year in meat exports, says a key House subcommittee chairman. The new system would rely on states, instead of the Agriculture Department, to keep track of cattle, hogs and poultry sold across state lines for meat production.

USDA To Boost Wildlife Habitat, Trim Cropland

The federal government will maximize enrolment in the land-idling Conservation Reserve, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a policy that would reduce U. S. cropland by 1.5 per cent if successful. The amount of land involved, around five million acres, could produce more than 150 million bushels of wheat, 200 million bushels of soybeans or 700


More U. S. Weeds Found Resisting Monsanto Roundup

U. S. scientists said Feb. 26 they have confirmed kochia weed populations have developed resistance to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. Kansas State University said scientists had found five kochia weed populations in western Kansas that are resistant to glyphosate. Kochia, also called fireweed, is a drought-tolerant weed commonly found on land in the

Shareholders Pressure Companies For Change

“I think all agriculture products are going to face this challenge, not just potatoes.” – YVES LECLERC It all began with a filing at the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A group of unlikely McDonald’s Restaurant shareholders – including a college investment fund, an ethical investment adviser and a labour group registered a “shareholders’