Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The U.S. Department of Commerce said Tuesday it would set preliminary duties on phosphate fertilizer imports from Russia and Morocco, after launching an investigation to determine if producers in these countries were receiving unfair subsidies. The department set preliminary duties of 23.46 per cent on imports from Morocco’s OCP Group and other producers […] Read more
U.S. puts duties on phosphate from Morocco, Russia
ADM, InnovaFeed to build world’s biggest insect protein plant in Illinois
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. grain trader and processor Archer Daniels Midland and French biotech company InnovaFeed announced plans on Thursday to build the world’s largest insect protein plant at Decatur, Illinois. The announcement comes amid rising global feed grain prices and tightening supplies, and as more companies work toward reducing the carbon footprint of […] Read more
U.N. draws on emergency fund in bid to avert famines
Reading Time: < 1 minute United Nations | Reuters — United Nations aid chief Mark Lowcock said on Tuesday he would use US$100 million from the world body’s emergency fund to help seven countries try to avert famine fueled by conflict, spiraling economies, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. Some $30 million will be spent in Yemen, $15 million each […] Read more
McDonald’s to make its own ‘McPlant’ items
Beyond Meat says co-created patty
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Burger chain McDonald’s on Monday decided to debut its own plant-based meat alternatives line called “McPlant” in 2021, including a patty that Beyond Meat subsequently said it helped co-create. “Beyond Meat and McDonald’s co-created the plant-based patty which will be available as part of their McPlant platform,” a Beyond Meat spokesperson said in […] Read more
USDA sees more soy and wheat plantings, less corn for 2021-22
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — U.S. farmers are likely to expand plantings of soybeans and wheat while slightly reducing plantings of corn for the upcoming marketing year, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Friday. USDA forecast that farmers will seed 90 million acres of corn in the 2021-22 crop year, down from 91.0 million for 2020-21. […] Read more
Canadian pot producer Aphria to buy U.S. craft brewer
SweetWater's '420' beer would come to Canada
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canadian cannabis company Aphria Inc. said on Wednesday it plans to buy craft brewer SweetWater Brewing for US$300 million as it looks to expand into the U.S. while becoming the first major pot producer to enter the alcoholic beverages market. The deal gives Leamington, Ont.-based Aphria a U.S. distribution point at a time […] Read more
Denmark to cull entire farmed mink population
Coronavirus mutation spreads to people
Reading Time: 2 minutes Copenhagen | Reuters — Denmark will cull its mink population of up to 17 million after a mutation of the coronavirus found in the animals spread to humans, the prime minister said on Wednesday. Health authorities found virus strains in humans and in mink which showed decreased sensitivity against antibodies, potentially lowering the efficacy of […] Read more
Adama to buy control of major Chinese ag chem maker
Reading Time: < 1 minute Tel Aviv | Reuters — Israeli crop protection firm Adama said Thursday it will acquire a majority stake in Jiangsu Huifeng Bio Agriculture’s crop protection plants for about US$175 million. In the first phase, it will buy 50 per cent of Shanghai Dibai Plant Protection, a wholly owned subsidiary of Huifeng focused on the sale […] Read more
U.S. EPA approves XtendiMax use for five years
Court ruling had blocked dicamba sales
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will allow farmers for the next five years to spray crops with a Bayer herbicide whose sales were blocked by a U.S. appeals court in June, EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler said Tuesday. XtendiMax, a dicamba-based herbicide that is sprayed on soybeans and cotton genetically engineered to […] Read more
Britain to protect pork pies, whisky with new scheme after EU exit
Reading Time: < 1 minute London | Reuters — New rules to guarantee the authenticity and origin of traditional British foods, such as Stilton cheese and Melton Mowbray pork pies, after the end of the UK’s Brexit transition period, were set out by the government on Thursday. Britain left the European Union at the end of January and an 11-month […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
