Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday that if the G7 moved to ban exports to Russia, Moscow would respond by terminating the Black Sea Grain deal that enables vital exports of grain from Ukraine. The Group of Seven (G7) countries are considering a near-total ban on exports to Russia, Japan’s Kyodo […] Read more
Moscow would scrap grain deal if G7 bans exports, Medvedev warns
G7 said to be considering blanket ban on exports to Russia
Poland pledges aid for farmers as PM slams EU response
PM says EU offer a 'drop in the ocean'
Reading Time: < 1 minute Warsaw | Reuters — European Union measures to help farmers affected by a glut of Ukrainian food imports are too little too late, the Polish prime minister said on Friday, after the government approved 10 billion zlotys (C$3.23 billion) in aid for Polish agriculture. Central European countries are trying to thrash out a deal with […] Read more
EU plans import curbs on Ukraine grain, farmer supports for border countries
Grain would be let into five countries only for export
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters — The European Union is preparing 100 million euros (C$147.4 million) in compensation for farmers in five countries bordering Ukraine and plans to introduce restrictions on imports of Ukrainian grains. Pressure has mounted on Brussels to work out a European Union-wide solution after Poland and Hungary banned some imports from Ukraine last […] Read more
Bans on Ukrainian grain imports mount as Kyiv seeks transit deal
Poland, Hungary ban imports; Slovakia follows
Reading Time: 3 minutes Kyiv/Rava-Ruska, Ukraine | Reuters — Slovakia on Monday joined Poland and Hungary in banning grain imports from Ukraine as even Kyiv’s staunchest allies come under domestic pressure to shield their agriculture markets. The heat is mounting on Brussels to work out a European Union wide solution after Warsaw and Budapest announced bans on some imports […] Read more
Russia says Black Sea grain deal may be nearly over
Ukraine and UN to blame for backlog of ships, Russia alleges
Reading Time: 2 minutes Moscow | Reuters — Russia on Thursday said there would be no extension of the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal beyond May 18 unless the West removed a series of obstacles to the export of Russian grain and fertilizer. The Ukraine grain Black Sea export deal was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in […] Read more
U.S. grains: Chicago grains higher after week of Black Sea doubts, China demand
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters – Chicago wheat rallied on Friday amid market talk of Russia possibly halting wheat exports, while corn futures continued to climb and closed higher for the second week in a row on hearty Chinese demand. Russian business newspaper Vedomosti reported that Moscow could recommend a temporary halt in wheat and sunflower exports. Later, though, sources told Reuters that […] Read more
U.S. pushes back against Russian demands linked to Ukraine grain deal
Russian food, fertilizer already carved out from sanctions, U.S. says
Reading Time: 2 minutes United Nations | Reuters — The United States pushed back on Russian demands that Western sanctions be eased before it allows Ukrainian Black Sea grain exports beyond mid-May, saying there were no restrictions on Russian agricultural products or fertilizer. Moscow’s demands include allowing the Russian Agricultural Bank to return to the SWIFT banking system and […] Read more
Argentina soybean crop smaller than expected, USDA attaché says
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Argentina’s 2022-23 soybean crop is likely much smaller than official projections as high temperatures and a lack of moisture cut into yields, according to an update from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Buenos Aires attaché. The USDA post from the South American country pegged the soybean crop at only 36 million tonnes, which […] Read more
Corteva cuts U.S. jobs while exiting Russia
California plant produces seed for sunflower growers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Seeds and pesticides company Corteva will eliminate U.S. jobs next year, as its exit from Russia reduces demand for its commercial sunflower seeds produced in California, the company said on Monday. Corteva will cut 51 positions from a Woodland, California facility, run by its Pioneer Hi-Bred International subsidiary, that supplied Europe […] Read more
Belarus to allow Ukraine grain transit with no preconditions, U.N. says
Belarus still wants sanctions lifted off fertilizer
Reading Time: < 1 minute United Nations | Reuters — Belarus told the United Nations on Friday that it would allow, without preconditions, the transit of grain from Ukraine through its territory for export from Lithuanian ports, a U.N. spokesman said. Belarus, used by its ally Russia as a staging ground for Moscow’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, said in […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
