Reading Time: 2 minutes The outlook for rapeseed crops in Germany continues to improve, but prospects for crops elsewhere in western Europe are less promising with some low initial yields reported in France and production in Britain set to fall sharply. The rapeseed harvest in Germany, which is set to overtake France this year as the European Union’s top […] Read more
Rapeseed thrives in Germany but French yields fall
EU takes step back from market-driven farming
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reforms agreed by European Union negotiators on Wednesday offer subsidies to keep farms producing in regions where conditions are hard, going against the bloc’s shift towards relying on market forces in agriculture. Since 1992, the EU has been altering its common agricultural policy (CAP) to encourage farmers to grow crops in response to market prices, […] Read more
U.S.-Japan wheat trade set to resume
Reading Time: 2 minutes The discovery of unapproved genetically modified (GM) wheat in Oregon is unlikely to hit long-term U.S. wheat sales to Japan and could spark debate about whether importers should tolerate very low levels of “foreign material,” industry sources said on Tuesday. News of the unapproved wheat growing in Oregon, reported on May 29, prompted Tokyo to […] Read more
Deregulation sparks rise in grain container trade
Reading Time: 2 minutes Deregulation of grain trading in Australia has led to an explosion in shipments in containers rather than bulk — a trend that may be repeated in Canada, although on a less spectacular scale, industry sources said on Tuesday. Australia, where grain markets were deregulated in 2008, now ships around two million to 2.5 million tonnes […] Read more
EU pesticide ban may curb rapeseed production
Reading Time: 2 minutes Rapeseed production is likely to fall in the European Union, top grower of the oilseed, from the 2015 harvest after the bloc voted to protect bees by banning three of the most widely used pesticides. The EU has decided to restrict from Dec. 1 the use of a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, which […] Read more
IGC cuts grain stocks forecast to five-year low
Reading Time: 2 minutes The International Grains Council on Thursday cut its forecast for global maize and wheat crops in 2012-13, further tightening supplies with grain stocks at the end of the season seen sinking to a five-year low. "Inventories (of grain) for the major exporters will be even tighter and the smallest for 17 years," the IGC said […] Read more
World powers eye emergency food meeting; action doubted
Reading Time: 4 minutes Leading members of the Group of 20 nations are prepared to trigger an emergency meeting to address soaring grain prices caused by the worst U.S. drought in more than half a century and poor crops from the Black Sea bread basket. France, the United States and G20 president Mexico will hold a conference call at […] Read more
Rains threaten Western Europe’s wheat quality
Reading Time: 3 minutes Repeated rains threaten to reduce the quality of wheat crops in western Europe, though there remains the potential for reasonable yields in most areas, crop analysts said on Tuesday. "There is still potential, but there are threats to quality," Jean-Paul Bordes, head of research at Arvalis, said, referring to the crop in France, the European […] Read more
IGC cuts 2012-13 wheat crop outlook
Reading Time: 2 minutes The International Grains Council on Monday cut its forecast for global wheat production in 2012-13 as the outlook for the crop in key exporter Russia deteriorated. World wheat production was cut to 665 million tonnes from a previous forecast of 671 million and now stands well below the prior season’s 695 million. "The outlook for […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
