Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Health-conscious customers with money to spend will be looking to purchase more food over the next 20 years, while changing technologies and global economic uncertainty will bring their own challenges. That’s the outlook in a recent report out of Australia, highlighting five megatrends expected to impact the agricultural sector in the coming […] Read more
‘Megatrends’ expected to move ag sector in future
U.S. grains: Soybeans climb as China fears wane
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– Benchmark U.S. soybean futures rose 1.5 per cent on Thursday as equity markets stabilized in China, the world’s top soy buyer, and on outlooks for dry weather as the U.S. Midwest growing season winds down, traders said. Corn clung to modest gains on better-than-expected weekly U.S. export sales and spillover strength […] Read more
How Australia plans to beat Canadian farmers
A must read from Down Under for coming out on top
Reading Time: 6 minutes You have to admit that for an economic study, this one has a great title: “The Puck Stops Here!: Canada challenges Australia’s grain supply chains.” The new study is by the Australian Export Grains Innovation Center (AEGIC), and it looks into Western Canada’s export grain supply chain. In fact, it looks at our grain system […] Read more
Chinese billionaire buys Australian cattle stations
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sydney | Reuters –– A Chinese billionaire has bought two large Australian cattle stations for A$47 million (C$44.8 million), in at least the third deal this year involving a Chinese investor buying into the country’s farmlands. Xingfa Ma, who owns the Tianma Bearing Group Co., snapped up 40,000 head of cattle along with the 705,700-hectare […] Read more
Warming Pacific waters seen fuelling lengthy El Nino
Reading Time: < 1 minute Sydney | Reuters –– Pacific Ocean temperatures continue to warm, supporting El Nino weather conditions for the rest of 2015, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said Tuesday. An El Nino can have devastating consequences for agriculture globally, causing heavy rains and floods in South America and scorching weather in Asia and as far away as east […] Read more
Editor’s Desk: Getting rail back on the political agenda
Reading Time: 2 minutes John Diefenbaker was no longer Prime Minister when I got to shake his hand. Still, there was an election in the air, and my father, who distrusted Liberals every bit as much Dief (especially when they were led by Pierre Trudeau) had hauled his four boys to the high school auditorium to hear the great […] Read more
Australia beef exports to fall on lower slaughter rate
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sydney | Reuters — Exports of Australian beef are likely to fall faster than previously expected as slaughter rates drop off as a two-year drought eases, threatening to add fuel to a rally in U.S. beef prices. A record slaughter rate has dropped nearly a fifth in the last two weeks, as farmers start to […] Read more
Australia’s largest private land owner to sell cattle business
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sydney | Reuters — Australia’s largest private land owner will sell its cattle operations, including the world’s largest ranch and an area equivalent in size to South Korea, to raise cash for other businesses and investments. S. Kidman and Co. said it will sell its privately owned 11 cattle stations and a feedlot, complete with […] Read more
Fighting weed resistance head on
Fighting weed resistance will be a long, tough battle, but the latest information says farmers are definitely paying attention
Reading Time: 5 minutes Doing chores on a mixed farm in South Australia, Josh Lade dreamed of working on a really big grain farm. It was a dream that intensified as he was growing up, like when he used to put in shifts on the large inland grain operation owned by members of his mother’s side of the family. […] Read more
Australia backs farmers on foreign ownership gripes
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canberra | Reuters –– The Australian government has sided with farmers who say official data vastly underestimates foreign ownership of the nation’s farmland, as it moves to clamp down on overseas purchases of agricultural land. Foreign ownership is a key concern for many farmers, a crucial part of the conservative government’s support base, who worry […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
