Reading Time: 2 minutes Abu Dhabi/Cairo | Reuters — Egypt has rejected two shipments of wheat for containing trace levels of the ergot fungus, backtracking on a government pledge to apply international standards and alarming traders looking to do business with the world’s largest buyer of the grain. Earlier this year traders boycotted state wheat tenders after the country’s […] Read more
Egypt returns to zero tolerance of ergot in wheat
Rye takes an innovation jump
Hybrid varieties and new specialty markets are breathing new life into what had become the poor cousin of the Prairie cereal family
Reading Time: 5 minutes Some new varieties and new markets may signal the end of a long decline in Western Canada’s rye production. The 1990s started with rye area pushing the 1.3-million-acre mark, yet this year only 220,000 acres went into the ground. But some of those acres were planted with new hybrid varieties that have produced some eye-popping […] Read more
Egypt quarantine authority to ban ergot until new laws passed
Reading Time: 2 minutes Cairo | Reuters — Egypt’s agriculture quarantine authority will continue to apply a zero ergot policy on wheat shipments until new legislation is issued, the new head of the authority told Reuters on Tuesday. Former quarantine chief Saad Moussa’s zero-tolerance policy on common grains fungus ergot resulted in shipments to the world’s biggest importer of […] Read more
Egypt to allow trace ergot in wheat
Reading Time: < 1 minute Cairo | Reuters –– Egypt will allow wheat imports with trace levels of the ergot fungus of up to 0.05 per cent, the agriculture ministry said Monday, a day after the head of its agriculture quarantine authority was changed. Former quarantine head Saad Moussa’s zero tolerance policy on ergot had led to shipments to the […] Read more
Egypt replaces head of agriculture quarantine authority
Reading Time: 2 minutes Cairo | Reuters — Egypt has appointed a new head of its agriculture quarantine authority, the ministry of agriculture said on Sunday, replacing Saad Moussa, who has been at the centre of a controversy over the country’s wheat imports. As head of the agricultural quarantine agency Moussa imposed a zero tolerance policy on ergot, a […] Read more
Egypt’s Agriculture Ministry to keep sending wheat inspectors abroad
Reading Time: < 1 minute Abu Dhabi/Reuters – The Agriculture Ministry of Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer, said on Friday it would continue to send experts to inspect government wheat purchases at ports of origin. Sources had told Reuters on Thursday that the agricultural quarantine authority was considering halting inspections abroad. “The central administration of the agriculture quarantine will continue […] Read more
Canadian wheat rejected in Egypt re-exported to Europe
Reading Time: 2 minutes Abu Dhabi | Reuters — A shipment of Canadian wheat rejected in Egypt over concerns it contained traces of ergot has been re-exported to Europe after Egypt’s agricultural quarantine rejected a petition from the supplier, trade sources said Thursday. Egypt’s quarantine authority has rejected a series of wheat shipments over traces of the common grain […] Read more
Egypt writes to wheat suppliers on ergot, hoping to win confidence
Reading Time: 2 minutes Abu Dhabi | Reuters — Egypt’s Agriculture Ministry sent a letter to traders saying it will allow an ergot fungus tolerance level of 0.05 per cent in wheat imports, hoping suppliers will make offers in international purchase tenders for the strategic grain. Disputes about ergot content level have disrupted top buyer Egypt’s wheat imports in […] Read more
U.S. grains: Prices rise on short-covering, slow loadings in Brazil
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. soybean futures climbed to a 1-1/2-week high on Tuesday while wheat and corn each gained about one per cent, boosted by investor short-covering and a backlog of export loadings at Brazilian ports. Prices rose as trade resumed following a three-day weekend due to Monday’s U.S. Presidents Day holiday. They were […] Read more
Egypt rejects Canadian wheat shipment over ergot
Reading Time: 2 minutes Abu Dhabi | Reuters –– Egypt’s agricultural quarantine authority has rejected a shipment of Canadian wheat, saying it contained traces of the fungus ergot, a trade source said and official documents obtained by Reuters showed. The move by the quarantine authority is the latest in a series of rejections, which have caused serious concerns over […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
