Australia
El Niño drives 20-percent increase in Australian beef exports
The Australian government forecasting agency raised its estimate of beef exports in the trade year that ends next July 1 by 20 percent, as ranchers liquidate their herds in the face of drought worsened by El Niño, said Reuters.
Braving venomous snakes and crocs for resilient wild rice
Reporter Lisa Hamilton traveled to a remote corner of Australia to shadow a team of researchers looking to “collect, decode, and define” a hardier strain of wild rice that could help them save what Hamilton calls “the daily sustenance of the world’s poor.”
‘Bubble greenhouse’ to desalinate water and grow crops
Engineers from Murdoch University in Australia hope to build a prototype "bubble greenhouse" that could be used in arid areas as a low-tech way to turn saltwater into fresh water and grow food, says SciDevNet, a website devoted to international development.
Antibiotic-resistant genes in bacteria on Australian wildlife
Researchers have found antibiotic-resistant genes are spreading to bacteria on Australian wildlife, says Macquarie University.
Ag giants Australia and United States eye quinoa
Two of the world's leading grain exporters "are racing to become mass producers" of gluten-free quinoa, native to South America and the world's newest super food, says Reuters.
Canada harvests bumper oilseed crops
Canadian farmers harvested their sixth record soybean crop in a row and their second-largest canola crop, said Statistics Canada, with the harvest season over. The canola crop was 11 percent larger than the previous StatsCan estimate in October and was 1 million tonnes more than traders expected. Canola is Canada's major oilseed, at 15.6 million tonnes this year, down from 18 million tonnes last year. Soybeans totaled 6 million tonnes this year, up 13 percent from 2013.
Fall in cotton price discourages planting below the equator
Cotton plantings in the Southern Hemisphere are forecast for 3 million hectares in 2014/15, down 12 percent from last season and the smallest total in five years, due to low market prices, said the International Cotton Advisory Council.
China and Australia agree to trade pact with ag benefits
China will reduce its tariffs on a range of Australian farm exports including beef and dairy as part of a free trade agreement, said Bloomberg. Australia said the trade agreement will give its products an advantage over competitors such as the United States and Canada.
Stymie on Japan-US issues clouds TPP hopes
A face-to-face meeting of trade ministers from Japan and the United States "failed to reach a much-awaited breakthrough, seen as vital to advancing the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, at a three-day meeting on the...
Australia wheat exports to fall as market tightens
Australia expects to export the least amount of wheat in five years due to a smaller harvest and lower demand by China for the grain, said AgriMoney. The government forecaster ABARES said wheat exports would total 18.1 million tonnes in 2014/15. "The revised forecast represents a decline of 234,000 tonnes year on year and would represent the weakest performance since 2009/10 although still representing a higher number than the 10-year average," said AgriMoney. Australia is one of the five leading wheat exporters of the world.
Farm, industry groups in 3 countries call for biotech wheat
Farm and baking industry groups in Canada, Australia and the United States, who account for 45 percent of world wheat exports, called for commercialization of genetically engineered wheat.