Wheat exports are being flattened by the strengthening dollar, as competitors with weaker currencies take US share of the global market for this and other agricultural products. Generally among the top 3 US agricultural exports (behind soybeans and corn), wheat...
Food Prices: Why So High?
Latest spike is a variation on the pattern set in 2002 A steady downward trend in global food prices in 1980-2002 has given way to sharp rises and falls. A report from the US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service (ERS) looks for answers to the question...
Not a Party
Countries left out of FTAs lose out on trade Proponents of the free trade agreements awaiting Congressional approval often argue their case by pointing to the boost FTAs will give to US exports. So, for instance, the US Department of Agriculture projects the US-Panama...
Cluck-cluck Cutlet of the Sea
It’s on menus everywhere, but is tilapia good for you? Americans ate 475 million pounds of tilapia last year the New York Times reports, citing US Department of Agriculture statistics. The so-called “aquatic chicken” tastes bland and, just like chicken cutlets, works...
Weed Killer App
Glyphosate, the world’s herbicide of choice, may be a victim of its popularity While debate continues over the pros and cons of planting sugar beets genetically modified to be “Roundup Ready” [see A Time to Plant, a Time to Sue], it appears that nature has done some...
Type Casting?
Corn ethanol is cast as a culprit in rising food prices (again) A Financial Times report from the Commodity Markets Council annual meeting (this week in Palm Beach) notes that Dodd-Frank financial system reforms top the list of worries for the commodities futures...
Pro-Poor Biofuel
Side-stepping the food-or-fuel choice by cultivating cassava It seemed like a good idea at the time: Reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and start weaning the gasoline-dependent by phasing in (with a mix of subsidies and mandates) the use of ethanol as motor fuel. The...