Crop Industry News
11 March 2015

ANALYSIS - It's been commonplace in the US for years, but the adoption of genetically modified (GM) crops has always been a somewhat 'scary' prospect for EU growers, writes Gemma Hyland....

GLOBAL - The FAO Food Price Index averaged 179. 4 points in February 2015, down 1.8 points (1.0 per cent) from its January value and 29 points (14.0 per cent) below its level in February 2014....
09 March 2015

ANALYSIS - Technology that is more akin to the movie world and science fiction is starting to take a hold in the world of agriculture and farming....
06 March 2015

US - Early spring is the optimal time to test and prepare farm equipment and make necessary repairs for a smooth planting season, a Purdue University agricultural machinery specialist says....
04 March 2015

ANALYSIS - Salmonella and Campylobacter show significant levels of resistance to common antimicrobials in humans and animals....
02 March 2015

BAHAMAS - Agriculture, particularly family farming, is crucial for Caribbean countries to achieve food security as they face climate change and other challenges, and can also spur their economic...
01 March 2015

SPAIN – Floods in northern Spain have caused widespread destruction to crop and livestock farms totalling €50 million after continuous rain combined with an early thaw....
27 February 2015

US - Lower energy prices, lower transportation costs, the appreciation of the US dollar, drought intensification in the West, and the Farm Bill implementation will affect the agricultural economy...
24 February 2015

GLOBAL - While the numbers of the chronically hungry have been reduced by 100 million over the past decade, 805 million still go without enough to eat on a regular basis....
23 February 2015

ANALYSIS - When you think 'bee' you often picture lush farmland and open fields. However new research suggests that bees and other pollinating bugs actually thrive as well in towns and cities...
19 February 2015

GLOBAL - The United States added around 7.6 million acres of forests between 1990 and 2010 - but at what cost?...
18 February 2015

RUSSIA - Despite Russia’s recently introduced restrictions on wheat exports for the remainder of the 2014/15 season, the country is still heading towards higher wheat exports than last season....
17 February 2015

US - Higher grain temperatures reduce the amount of time grain can be stored. Keeping stored grain cool is important as outdoor temperatures start to warm this spring, a North Dakota State University...
16 February 2015

US - Two new cotton germplasm lines developed by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are now available for use in safeguarding US cotton from...
13 February 2015

US - Minimizing yield losses while reducing groundwater usage is a continual goal for Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists on the High Plains, where quantities of water from the Ogallala Aquifer...
12 February 2015

GLOBAL - Pressure on young bees to grow up too fast could be a major factor in explaining the disastrous declines in bee populations seen worldwide....
09 February 2015

CHINA - Despite old land and unfavorable weather, farmer Xu Jianmin managed to double his harvest in central China last year, in some cases increasing the value of produce 10 fold....
06 February 2015

GLOBAL - The FAO Food Price Index averaged 182.7 points in January 2015, down 3.6 points (1.9 per cent) from its revised* (reduced) December 2014 value....
02 February 2015

GLOBAL – World grain stocks will tighten over the coming years but, after a small contraction, harvests will rise back to record breaking levels, predicts a grain market monitoring body....
29 January 2015

UK - UK May-15 wheat futures closed firmly below the £130/t support level yesterday (28 January), settling at £127.05/t, trading lower again as of yesterday morning. ...
28 January 2015

GLOBAL - Agriculture and food security must be treated as essential components of peacebuilding and conflict resolution, said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva during a special meeting...
23 January 2015

NEW ZEALAND - Federated Farmers believes that if the government made a medium-scale adverse event declaration for some South Island provinces, it would give more emotional support to farmers...
21 January 2015

SCOTLAND, UK - To combat tumbling consumption, NFU Scotland has urged the potato industry’s statutory levy body to consider shifting its funding emphasis from research and development to more...
20 January 2015

GLOBAL - Increasing competition for natural resources and emerging resource bottlenecks mean that global agriculture can no longer operate using a "business as usual" approach....
19 January 2015

ANALYSIS - Francesca DeBiase, VP Strategic Sourcing, Sustainability at McDonald's, said McDonald's vision is to source all of their food and products sustainably....
16 January 2015

US - Consumer advocates are fighting a new rule proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency that aims to address concerns over "inert" ingredients, including fragrances and dyes, in pesticides...
15 January 2015

UK - Agri-environmental schemes on farm are generally seen to be taking up production space but the big question facing farmers tempted to employ them is “Do they Work?”...
14 January 2015

ANALYSIS - Strict EU regulations on GM crops became a little less so yesterday as MEPs agreed to give Member States the right to ban the growing of GM crops that have been approved as safe, writes...

ANALYSIS - Changing policies on pesticides, animal feeds and welfare are threatening to reduce wheat crops in the UK and the pig herd each by a third....
13 January 2015

UK - Last week at the Oxford Farming Conference in the UK, environmental campaigner and author, George Monbiot, launched an attack on several farming practices....