DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Coffee prices are crashing. What it means for your cup of joe
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN Business —Coffee futures are crashing. “When the dollar goes up, everything measured in dollars, like international coffee prices, tend to go down,” Mera said. In the year through October, not adjusted for seasonal swings, coffee prices jumped 14.8% in the grocery store, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the improved conditions won’t necessarily mean a big decline in coffee prices for consumers, Mera noted. That’s because while coffee prices are falling, other costs, like labor and distribution, are still high for producers.

☆ Our world at 8 billion: Hope, joy and grief as humanity marks a milestone
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Anuja Jaiman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Reuters spoke to more than two dozen people in five provinces across Iraq who all said that a prolonged drought, which has only worsened in recent years, was crippling livelihoods. Farmers in neighbouring Syria and Turkey are also struggling with lower rainfall.

☆ Red carpet style at the Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery premiere
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Jeremy Schultz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Middle East's Fertile Crescent dries up as rains fail
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Alaa Al-Marjani | Orhan Qereman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

As world leaders meet in Egypt for a climate summit to address issues including water and food security, Elwan’s plight highlights a crisis facing Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries that could fuel more turmoil in the region as communities fight over dwindling water resources. Reuters spoke to more than two dozen people in five provinces across Iraq who all said that a prolonged drought, which has only worsened in recent years, was crippling livelihoods. Farmers in neighbouring Syria and Turkey are also struggling with lower rainfall. In Iraq, officials and water experts said rains had come later and ended sooner in each of the last three years. “Desertification now threatens almost 40% of the area of our country - a country that was once one of the most fertile and productive in the region,” Iraq's President Abdul Latif Rashid told the climate summit in Egypt last week.

Farmers in both are fighting a losing battle to save the soil that produces our food. By contrast, there's not enough water in the vast Yangtze basin, which produces a third of China's crops. Soil erosion could lead to a 10% loss in global crop production by 2050, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Similarly, other measures such as digging thousands of new wells and encouraging farmers to switch crops to boost yields have limited impact. Options include not tilling soil to reduce erosion, and planting off-season cover crops to prevent erosion and nutrient loss.

☆ Column: U.S. rush for renewable diesel may ignite fresh food fight
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Renewable diesel, however, is chemically identical to petroleum-based diesel - so can be consumed in place of or along with normal diesel in whatever quantities are desired by end users. US renewable diesel vs biodiesel useRenewable diesel also emits fewer emissions than both biodiesel and regular diesel. US renewable diesel vs biodiesel production capacityFurther increases in renewable diesel production capacity are expected in the near term, with the EIA projecting capacity to climb to 5.1 billion gallons a year by 2024, from less than 1 billion in 2020. But that consumption share looks set to grow further as more renewable diesel production comes on line. Other major renewable diesel suppliers include Finland and the Netherlands, although both those countries have stepped up their own domestic consumption of renewable diesel in recent years, leaving little left for exports.

☆ Why Fox Nuts (Water Lily Seeds) Are So Expensive
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Claudia Romeo | Pj Rickards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Makhana, as they are known locally, are the seeds of the prickly water lily plant. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyOnce popped, water lily seeds look just like popcorn. But a bag of these seeds, also known as fox nuts, will cost you much more: over $170 per kilogram. Farmers in India work tirelessly for over four days, partially submerged in 4-foot-deep water, kneeling in the scorching sun, and roasting the seeds in blazing-hot woks. So are water lily seeds worth it?

☆ Climate Change Is Real. Markets, Not Governments, Offer the Cure. - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Bret Stephens | Mr. Stephens Is An Opinion Columnist. Mr. Winter Is A Staff Photographer On Assignment In Opinion. | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +32 min

worse-case, highest-carbon-emission scenario.” (The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the U.N. body that assesses climate change.) How do we weigh the risks of underreacting to climate change against the risks of overreacting to it? While he’s not an expert on climate change, he has spent decades thinking deeply about every manner of risk. That’s particularly true if climate change is akin to cancer — manageable or curable in its earlier stages, disastrous in its later ones. Maybe, I realized, in assessing my newfound concerns about climate change, my long-held beliefs might provide a solution — look to the market.

"There are many alternatives to importing non-GMO yellow corn from the United States," Suarez said in an interview on Wednesday. It was the strongest indication yet from Mexico's Agriculture Ministry that the ban will hit yellow corn destined for livestock feed. The 2020 decree by Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador aims to phase out GM corn and the herbicide glyphosate by 2024. Yellow corn imports had become more expensive than domestic production, another incentive for farmers to make the switch, Suarez said. The government was working to make agreements with local corn growers to specifically increase yellow corn production to 6 million tonnes, he added.

Through Friday, CBOT soybean oil futures had risen 16% this month and Malaysian palm oil futures was up 20% as global vegetable oil supply concerns persist. Managed money net position in CBOT soybean oil futures and optionsBoth soyoil and soymeal futures notched 4% gains in the last three sessions, lifting soyoil above 70 cents per pound. Money managers in that period reduced their net long in CBOT corn futures and options by about 13,000 to 254,261 contracts. Funds’ net long in corn is larger than in the same weeks in 2021 and 2020, both of which were around 220,000 contracts. Money managers cut nearly 2,600 contracts from their CBOT wheat net short, which fell to 22,051 futures and options contracts.

Extreme fall dryness is more concerning for the U.S. winter wheat crop since there is less recovery time. However, the recent spread of dryness is alarming, as Midwest drought coverage was just 10% in mid-September versus 43% this week. Summer weather was largely supportive, and Nebraska’s 2021 corn yield was an all-time high. Fall of 2003 was one of the driest on record, and the 2004 corn yield was among the most impressive ever. And despite the terribly dry finish to 2012, the 2013 U.S. corn yield was respectable given the circumstances.

☆ Ukraine’s Grain Exports Recover to Near Prewar Levels
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Alistair Macdonald | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ukraine said its exports of agricultural products have recovered to around prewar levels, a revival that has helped ease pressure on global food prices and offers a bright spot in Kyiv’s fight against Russia. However, analysts say the rise in exports, which were hit hard by the war, hides continued hurdles for Ukraine’s globally important agricultural industry. The country relies on shipping grain out of the Black Sea, a route dependent on cooperation with Russia. Farmers, meanwhile, have planted fewer crops this year, and Russia still controls a large slice of Ukrainian farmland.

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - U.S. farmers in economic distress have received nearly $800 million in loan relief from the Department of Agriculture (USDA)using funds from the Inflation Reduction Act, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Deputy Secretary Jewel Bronaugh announced on Tuesday. The new law allocates $3.1 billion for USDA to make loan adjustments or payments for financially distressed farmers. The agency also cleared debt held by about 2,100 farmers who had been foreclosed on but still owed money. USDA will administer another $500 million to aid farmers with more complex financial situations, including where farmers are facing bankruptcy or foreclosure, the agency said. An earlier debt relief program in the American Rescue Plan would have allocated debt relief to farmers of color.

☆ U.S. nears record poultry deaths from bird flu; virus type complicates fight
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

This has spurred export bans, lowered egg and turkey production, and contributed to record prices of the staples ahead of the U.S. holiday season. Europe is already suffering its worst avian flu crisis, with nearly 50 million poultry culled. The United States is monitoring wild birds for avian flu in four migration paths known as flyways, up from two previously, and plans to do the same next year. "This virus could be present in wild birds for the foreseeable future," Sifford said. Minnesota-based Hormel Foods Corp (HRL.N), owner of the Jennie-O Turkey Store brand, said it expects avian flu to reduce its turkey production at least through March 2023.

Competitively priced South American offerings have recently undercut U.S. business and the upcoming Brazilian soybean harvest looms large, increasing pressure on U.S. soybean exporters’ performance through the end of the year. The U.S. soybean harvest is likely picking up this week, so any logistical interruptions are poorly timed. Soybean export inspections are already lagging more than expected, having fallen below the range of trade estimates in three of the last five weeks. Argentine farmers for the first time in six years may increase soybean area for the upcoming season, potentially boosting output more than 15% on the year. Brazil’s recent record-large corn harvest has lifted shipments to or near all-time highs in the latest two months.

☆ Droughts, Ukraine war push global grain stocks toward worrying decade low
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Tom Polansek | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

But the United States, the world's top corn producer, is now expected to harvest its smallest corn crop in three years. That would be fewer days of corn stocks than the world had in 2012, when the last global food crisis spurred riots. Ukraine is expected to harvest 25 to 27 million tonnes of corn in 2022, down from 42.1 million tonnes in 2021, following Russia's invasion, according to official estimates. read moreSanctions related to the war mean Russia has also struggled to export what is expected to be a record-large wheat crop. read moreAgricultural lender Rabobank said the next U.S. wheat crop is also at risk and will be planted in dust this autumn unless rains fall.

But this summer, the food stamps couldn't keep up with the grocery store's rising prices, sending her in search of a food donation for the first time. Some advocates argued for spending more on food stamps or cash distribution, which give people more choice than food handouts and also benefit local businesses. He doesn't qualify for food stamps, and has noticed when the pantry runs low on some items. While food supplies shrink, inflation is pushing more Americans toward food pantries for the first time. Food stamps made up less than 2% of U.S. government spending in 2022, according to U.S. Treasury data.

Excluding Russia's 91 million-tonne crop projection, USDA shows 2022-23 world wheat output dropping nearly 2% on the year, placing more weight on Russia's crop success and its ability to access world markets. China is routinely excluded from world wheat analyses because of its small part in global trade compared with its massive stockpiles, which will account for a record 54% of global wheat supply by mid-next year according to USDA figures. That major exporter ledger does not include India or Brazil, who have been increasingly relevant in global trade and could potentially expand that footprint. But adding them in does not change the previous conclusion: 2022-23 world wheat stocks-to-use is still set for a 15-year low. Wheat stocks-to-use in major exportersKaren Braun is a market analyst for Reuters.

☆ Extreme weather could push food inflation even higher
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-14 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

But as extreme weather events increase in frequency or become even more intense, the unpredictability is becoming more of an economic liability. “And those higher costs are being passed on to consumers.” The rise in food prices is one of the key factors fueling inflation, according to recent CPI data. Extreme weather also can negatively affect companies’ bottom lines, according to research from Paul Griffin, professor of management at UC Davis. Corn crops that died due to extreme heat and drought during a heatwave in Austin, Texas, on Monday, July 11, 2022. Still, the very prospect of more extreme weather could further sap away groundwater and limit the cultivation potential in the future, Smith said.

☆ How an Xprize-winning group developed an AI assistant to help African farmers increase their crops and adapt to the climate crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-10 | by ( Sarah Belle Lin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Penn State's PlantVillage uses technology solutions and field teams to increase farmers' crop yield. As warming temperatures spawn more crop pests, groups, including PlantVillage, are increasingly using artificial intelligence to protect agriculture. Each year, plant diseases cost the global economy more than $220 billion, while invasive insects cost at least $70 billion. The climate crisis increases crop diseases and pests — like the desert locust, which could spread because of warming temperatures. Farmers are encouraged to plant trees with biochar, a soil additive that can store carbon dioxide for centuries.

Victor große Macke is the founder of Farmerscent. Yet the health of animals affects more than just the quality and quantity of products like milk and meat. For farmers, weakened animals can quickly become a cost factor, as medications like antibiotics are expensive. Lavender oil to boost moodVictor große Macke wanted to find a way to promote animal health with a herbal remedy. "We hope it will get even better with the Internet," said große Macke.

☆ A 46-bedroom Texas mansion that nobody wanted, sat abandoned for nearly 20 years, and nearly got bought 20 times finally has tenants
▼ + stars: | 2015-06-24 | by ( Dennis Green | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A 60,000-square-foot mansion near Houston, Texas, has sat vacant for more than 20 years. Owner Jim Youngblood tried to sell the vacant home more than 20 times, but every deal fell through. Construction stopped about 80% through when the couple decided the house was too big, according to the current owner of the property, Jim Youngblood. Jim Youngblood, the owner of the Manvel mansion. Jim YoungbloodYoungblood, a partner at a local leasing and property management company, bought the abandoned mansion for $525,000 in 2007.

Search resuls for: ". Farmers"

22 mentions found