The harvest of American sugar beet has ended in most locations, with uptick yields and volume climb year-on-year. American Crystal Sugar Company, a co-operative in North Dakota and Minnesota, alone has produced a record 13.2 million tonnes in 2024. This is above the 12.17 million tonnes that the company reaped in 2023. The company’s output is significant...
Author: Timothy Wahome (Timothy Wahome)
A yellow lobster rarity shores up in Bristol, North East U.S.
A fishermen in Bristol, Maine landed a rare yellow lobster on December 7, 2024, two months after a similar catch in Nantucket, Massachusetts. According to News Center Maine, Max Moody caught the crustacean after finding it among his traps on the nearby wharf. Even though lobsters come in a variety of tinges from the typical...
Market prices of coffee rise and fall from weather, trade
Market prices of coffee returned down to earth briefly on December 2 to a 14-day low after scoring a 47-year high. But by December 5, they had rebounded sharply due to multiple factors including trade and weather forces. Arabica in New York rose by 3.23% while Robusta in London by 2.62%, attendant to drought reports from Brazil and...
Southern Ethiopia embraces solar powered pumping systems
750 farmers including women in the coffee-rich Sidama Zone of southern Ethiopia have received solar powered pumping systems, courtesy of an international initiative. The allocations to farmers in Dore Bafana Kebele and Hawassa Zuria Woreda demarcations in Sidama feature 145 kilowatt solar pumps. Supervising the handover, the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP)’s representatives behind the project cited substantial emission...
Raw milk in California grounds from flu
The recall of raw milk in California continues after the detection of bird flu microbes in samples from a local dairy farm. Fresno’s Raw Farm voluntarily recalled its milk following the first virus contamination case in its dairy on November 21. The California Department of Food and Agriculture on December 3, 2024 further advised people to forfeit...
Ukraine sets minimum export prices for key agricultural produce
Ukraine has imposed minimum export prices for certain oilseeds, grains and vegetable oils effective December 1, 2024 to streamline foreign revenue inflows. Hitherto, traders have been purchasing fast-moving grains and oilseeds from farmers in cash and then exporting them at low prices. To prevent this, the government has published base prices which will keep changing each 10th of the...
The Scotland cod fishing quota downsizes by 20%
The UK, Norway and the European Union on December 2, 2024 reviewed the 2024-25 fishing quotas in the North Sea with cuts affecting the Scotland cod fisheries. This marks the second back-to-back reduction of cod allocations since the reinstatement of post-Brexit joint fishing rights. According to the Ministry of Trade and Fisheries of Norway, the total allowable...
Sugarcane union in India agitates price hike as global sugar cheapens
A sugarcane union in Uttar Pradesh in northern India has requested better cane prices for farmers. This at a time when preliminary local production is ebbing and sugar prices are falling worldwide. The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) wants the union government to up the price from 370 rupees ($4.37) a quintal to a reasonable 450 rupees ($5.31). In...
The Omani honey harvest stokes a rich tradition
The main Omani honey harvest is underway in the northern mountainsides, climaxing the biannual “liquid gold” cultural tradition. At this time of the year, markets in the district of Al Rustaq, a southern governorate, teem with honey. As the gateway to the northern mountains, the district brings the honey via traders to its famous Old Souq. ...
Global coffee prices hit a multi-decade point of no return
Originally posted on December 2, 2024. Global coffee prices have in late November 2024 soared to $3.3545 a pound for Arabica, the highest since March 1977, following weather concerns in Brazil. Meanwhile, Robusta prices have been at a four-decade high since September 2024 due to supply pressure in Vietnam. Despite falling to $3.181 a pound on November 29...