Archive for March, 2012

The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on March 20 that it has revised the FAO Statistical Yearbook to make data on food and agriculture more accessible and meaningful.

The yearbook provides a snapshot of related economic, environmental and social trends and issues. It breaks down a myriad of numbers gathered from around the world into four broad thematic categories: the state of the agricultural resource base; hunger dimensions; feeding the world; and sustainability, FAO said.

Each section of the ...

Farming leaders and politicians continue to send out dire warnings about future global food shortages and the need to develop strategies for national food security. Those messages conflict with the facts that Europe continues to waste half of all the food it produces, while countries around the world are diverting arable land from food production to growing crops for renewable energy.

For instance, the practice in the UK to generate electricity from straw will distort market forces in that essential commodity ...

International civilian and military teams aboard the U.S. naval vessel HSV SWIFT have completed their three-week mission of knowledge-sharing and capacity building in Northern Haiti, significantly strengthening the nation in key priority sectors and advancing the Martelly administration’s strategy for decentralization.  Presiding over a ceremony marking the departure of the vessel and crew, Haiti’s Minister of the Interior, Thierry Mayard-Paul, expressed the gratitude of the Haitian government, saying, “Thank you for your training and reconstruction work. This is the cornerstone ...

GRAIN farmers around Australia are frustrated with fluctuating grain prices, following a mostly above average harvest season, according to the Grains Research and Development Corporation.

The group has warned farmers considering storing grain to increase their marketing and profit opportunities to monitor it carefully to protect their investment.

Grain Storage expert Peter Botta said monitoring stored grain was an absolute necessity, particularly in the warmer months.

“Some farmers get their grain into the silo and breathe a sigh of relief, but it does ...

ABARES has predicted a challenging period for Australian grain producers in terms of pricing, flagging a 7pc decrease in world wheat prices over the 2012-13 period, in spite of a recent rally in international futures.

Chicago Board of Trade May 12 futures have risen by US30 cents a bushel over the past fortnight to US672c/bu, but ABARES has said high opening stocks and an expected big production year across the globe will see prices drop once again.

The average price of hard ...