Reading Time: 4 minutes Chicago/Antananarivo, Madagascar | Reuters — A kilo of vanilla beans costs more than a kilo of silver. Cultivated painstakingly over years from an orchid plant, vanilla is the second most expensive spice in the world, after saffron. In less than five years, the wholesale price has risen nearly 500 per cent, partly because of growing […] Read more
Spice maker seeks path to make vanilla milkshakes cheaper
Brazil halts beef exports to China after atypical BSE case
Reading Time: < 1 minute Sao Paulo | Reuters — Brazil has temporarily halted beef exports to China following an atypical case of BSE in leading farm state Mato Grosso, the agriculture ministry said on Monday. China, Brazil’s largest beef importer by sales, spent US$1.5 billion on Brazilian beef last year, totaling 322,400 tonnes or almost 20 per cent of […] Read more
U.S. grains: CBOT wheat rallies on weather
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures rallied on Monday on concerns about harvest risks as more heavy rain was forecast in some U.S. grain belts and warm, dry weather was expected in top wheat exporter Russia. Meanwhile, corn and soybean futures traded choppily as the markets digested a threat of U.S. tariffs against Mexico, […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Trade fights continue to batter live cattle, lean hogs
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) live cattle and lean hog futures fell for a second trading day on Monday — with live cattle futures hitting a near-10 month low — amid robust supplies and trade fights quelling export demand, traders said. But trade issues helped feeder cattle futures settle the day slightly […] Read more
Cash advance boost to take effect next week
Reading Time: 2 minutes Regulations permanently expanding loan limits under the federal Advance Payments Program — and temporarily boosting interest-free advances for canola growers — are in place for applications to begin next Monday at the earliest. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said Monday amendments to the Agricultural Marketing Programs Regulations are now in place to boost the APP loan […] Read more
China says hopes Canada understands consequences of siding with U.S.
Reading Time: 2 minutes Beijing | Reuters — China hopes Canada understands the consequences of siding with the United States and doing its bidding, China’s foreign ministry said on Friday, after U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence called for the release of two Canadians detained in China. Chinese authorities detained Canadian businessman Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig in December, […] Read more
China faces long struggle to tackle African swine fever, OIE says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — It will take years for China to contain the deadly African swine fever virus that has spread throughout the country, which is the world’s biggest pork producer, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said on Tuesday. China has been struggling to control the epidemic, which some analysts predict could see […] Read more
Pence, Trudeau to discuss Huawei, China trade issues in Ottawa
Reading Time: < 1 minute Washington | Reuters — U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will discuss their joint dispute with China over Huawei Technologies during a meeting in Ottawa on Thursday, a senior U.S. administration official said. Pence, known for taking a hard line against China, will travel to the Canadian capital to discuss trade […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hog futures fall with demand uncertain due to trade fights
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures fell 2.9 per cent to their lowest level in nearly three weeks on Tuesday, with concerns about demand from top buyers in focus amid a record-large supply in the U.S., traders said. The market shrugged off a U.S. Agriculture Department report from last week that […] Read more
Timing not yet set on expanded advance payments for canola
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — With no clear end in sight to the dispute between China and Canada over Canadian canola, producers are anxious to know how and when they might access support programs to maintain cash flow. Since plans to help canola growers through expansions to the federal Advance Payments Program (APP) were announced May 1, there […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
