Caleb Ragland, a Kentucky farmer and president of the American Soybean Association, is warning of an agricultural crisis as China has placed zero soybean orders for the upcoming harvest. It's a departure from typical patterns, where 25% of the U.S. crop goes to China. With prices 40% below three-year highs and production costs rising, hundreds of thousands of farmers face losses unless there's a trade resolution between the two countries.
The European Commission took the first step on Wednesday to ratify a long-awaited free-trade package with Latin American countries: an agreement with Mexico, and, crucially, one with members of the Mercosur trading bloc. The EU spent over 25 years negotiating the deal with Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, the four founding members of the Southern Common Market, or Mercosur. Bolivia, which joined the group only last year, and Venezuela, whose membership has been suspended, are not included in the deal.
President Daniel Chapo launches $40m fund for small businesses at 60th annual Maputo International Trade Fair. Maputo, Mozambique Down the main aisle of a bustling conference pavilion in Mozambique's capital, Maputo, Lucia Matimele stands surrounded by lush green leaves, peppers on the stalk, and bunches of ripe bananas. We have land, we have water, we have farmers! she enthuses. What we need is investment.
The U.S. plans to build a $750 million factory to breed billions of sterile flies to combat the New World screwworm flies that threaten the cattle industry.
Ewelina Bialoszewska embeds seeds into her homemade photo book, known as the Growing Album, enabling viewers to plant and grow the album after use.
"Basically, the land is sinking and so are the property values," Mehdi Nemati, a UCR assistant professor of environmental economics and policy who led the study, said in a press release.
"We know that it isn't going to eliminate them, really. To be perfectly frank, all of the management options that we have on the table right now are not going to eliminate spotted lanternfly."
Inside a greenhouse in the English countryside, one of the newest inventions from Dyson just went through its first large-scale test: an 18-foot-tall rotating wheel of strawberry plants, designed to ensure each plant gets its share of sunlight.
The Behind the Seeds Tour at Epcot's Land Pavilion costs $39 to $45 per person, making it the cheapest tour at Disney World. The tour allows guests to walk through greenhouses and see plants and growing methods up close, providing a hands-on experience with an expert guide.
"USDA has a lot of data that people should be very concerned about protecting for a lot of different reasons," said one current USDA employee who requested anonymity due to ongoing fear of retaliation. "Farmers' financial and production data should be protected at all costs, for privacy reasons and because of competition. If you got access to disaster payments, you would be able to layer a lot of data and arrive at a lot of valuable conclusions about productivity and U.S. farmland, futures markets, and commodity prices. You can hedge a lot of bets and make a lot of money if you know what's happening with U.S. agriculture."
