The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Agricultural Statistics Services (NASS) will finalize the yearly crop report on January 12, 2024. Partially compiled from crop production and grain surveys, the report presents the Crop Production Annual Summary and the Grain Report. These two documents are important prediction sheets for marketers and farmers alike. Grain...
COP28 ended today in Dubai after bagging a hard-fought draft detailing on a global transition away from fossil fuels. UN Secretary General Antônio Guterres praised the Dubai breakthrough despite its coming short of its aim for a total phase-out. In a statement, Guterres cited the inevitability of a phaseout “to those who opposed a clear reference to...
Onion prices in India will fall by 42% to 40 rupees ($0.48) per kilogram by January 2024, according to the government. Consumer Affairs Secretary, Rohit Kumar Singh gave the timeline of the price reduction on December 11. Briefing the press at the Deloitte Growth with Impact Government Summit, Singh emphasised that prices will meanwhile remain...
New findings on ginseng roots have rocked the medical field including their anti-obesity effect on gut microbiota and the regulation of colon colitis. The findings are some of the health-related factors driving the global ginseng market size in 2023 and beyond. Experts forecast that the rising use of ginseng roots in health remedies will push the global...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports 251.5 million pounds of pecan production for 2023, a 9.4% drop from 2022. In its monthly crop report of December 8, 2023, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) cites a 1.4% increase over previous estimates. This year’s production marks a slight fall by 9.4% from the 2022 season, which bagged...
The outbreak of salmonella from eating tainted cantaloupe continues in the U.S. and Canada. There have been 8 fatalities as of December 8, even as food safety lawyers initiate an anti-trust lawsuit. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported 230 infections in the U.S. by December 8, 96 of whom in hospital. Canada also imported the tainted cantaloupe from...
The Department of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock of Panjshir in Afghanistan has reported a bumper harvest of walnuts totalling 241 metric tonnes. The 2023 season beat 2022’s output of 217 metric tonnes, but came shy of the record production of 2021. The Department of Agriculture’s head, Qari Fazlullah Dewobandi attributed the output to good weather including a...
Three days since China bought record tonnage of U.S. wheat and prompted the price per bushel to hit $6.491/2, price parity has returned. Though the March wheat contract in Chicago lowered to $6.33 1/2 per bushel on December 7, it has stayed put. Comparatively, it is worlds apart from the late November low of $5.43 1/2 a bushel. Since August, consistent wheat...
Long-term drought in Spain and Italy has sent olive oil prices to 9 Euros ($9.71) a litre in the most affordable stores. At the same time, police in Greece, Spain and Italy have cornered counterfeiters selling ordinary oil as extra-virgin. The root for the skyrocketing price and counterfeiting lies in Spain’s dominance of the product. Producing 70%...
The city of Paris in France is growing the first urban forest of its kind in the circular Place de Catalogne roundabout. This is a part of a multi-year bid to transform the city of lights into a ‘garden city.’ In a greening project that began in 2021, the Paris City Hall targets to plant 170,000 trees by 2026....