A California Air Resources Board (CARB)’s amendment is about to cap canola biodiesel at 20% of all biofuel output per producer. On August 27, CARB closed public commentary on the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) proposal. Among the proposal’s amendments awaiting a November 8, 2024 final hearing is one for reducing canola renewable energy production per company. If the board’s 20% cap...
Potato supply in South Africa almost stable despite price spike
South Africa is at a potato supply crossroads after a late July 2024 frost affected the keynote Limpopo crop. Despite a followup price rally as a result, insiders believe this could affect national reserves by only a minor margin. According to a survey report by Potatoes SA, 2024 reserves will end up being just 3% less than the 2019-23 average. This means up to...
Avocados from Michoacán are getting certification stamps
Avocados from Michoacán in western Mexico could prove quite sustainable soon, as an origin certification program begins August 28, 2024. Notably, this comes barely two months after a June 2024 routine avocado inspection exercise by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). For the current certification, certificates will only go to farmers who grow their fruits on land that is not deforested. Satellite...
New rice varieties to combat heat, shortage in Japan
New rice varieties (Oryza sativa) could solve Japan’s difficult rice dilemma following a 2023 drought that cut 2024’s stocks to 25-year lows. Private rice reserves have declined to 1.56 million tonnes, the lowest since 1999, per Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture via Reuters. The 2023 summer proved hard on northern paddy fields, leaving countrywide shortage of the sushi-making cereal. Analysts however think that the shortage...
Iraqi-Syrian agricultural relations gain a new chapter
Iraqi-Syrian agricultural ties could improve after a bilateral meeting in Damascus, Syria on August 25, 2024 outlined regional agronomic cooperation. Since 2022, the existing four-nation agreement with Jordan and Lebanon has been seeking to streamline regional agricultural systems. Its focus has been in animal quarantine, certificates of origin unification and agricultural trade duty reduction on crops such as wheat. For the Damascus meeting...
A new cherry from Chile could be a shipper’s dream
A month after the announcement that the 2023-24 harvest exceeded projections at 502,000 tonnes, a new shipper-happy cherry from Chile has emerged. According to an August 23, 2024 report by Agrositio, the new cherry cultivar, known as “S-21,” is set to be 100% local. Chile’s Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) cites that only registration remains before the variety gains farming and marketing...
Palm biodiesel to save Indonesia 20 billion dollars
Indonesia could save billions of dollars through palm biodiesel conversion instead of oil imports, Majalah Hortus reported on August 26, 2024. Speaking after attending his PAN party’s congress, president-elect Prabowo Subianto predicted ending palm oil export dependence on a restrictive European Union (EU). He stipulated that an EU deforestation-related palm oil embargo would be “a blessing in disguise.” Prabowo outlined that his country could...
Cherry in Japan sells for $276 on Honshu Island
A single cherry in Japan has sold for 40,000 yen ($276) at an auction in the northeast prefecture of Aomori, on Honshu island. This has happened at the tail end of the cherry harvest which peaks in June through July. The single box of 15 heart-shaped cherries fetched 600,000 yen ($4,143) or 150,000 yen ($1,034) more than in the 2023 auction. According to...
U.S.’ cattle futures make a brief comeback via bargain buying
After finishing mixed on August 21, 2024, U.S.’ cattle futures made a temporally comeback August 22 to finish strong via bargains. Though this gain would fall on the 23rd by at least 12 cents per pound, the preceding day’s strength was advance enough. On the 22nd, bargain hunters, who believed cattle for sale were low, had scrambled to fill positions, edging the...
The U.S. ginseng season knocks with issuance of permits in West Virginia
The Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia (WV) is kick-starting the U.S. ginseng marketing season by issuing permits. This is in anticipation of the 2024 harvest that runs from September 1 to November 30. In a PR statement on August 19, the forestry service stated that licenses will be available from August 26. The permit, whose 2024 cost is $20, guarantees...