Grain loading at a shipping jetty

Grain harvest finishing strongly in Ukraine, fueling uptick exports

Ukraine’s July-August 2024 grain harvest has finalized impressively and so are preliminary exports despite war and last minute dry conditions. By August 19, the country had reaped 5.788 million tonnes of multiple cereals, 2.181 million tonnes more than in the corresponding mid-August 2023. Leading the preliminary tally are wheat at 2.777 million tonnes, corn at 2.084 million tonnes, and barley at 907,000...

Tomato price crash in Bengaluru following Bangladeshi turmoil 

Tomato price crash in Bengaluru following Bangladeshi turmoil 

Markets in Bengaluru in Karnataka, south-central India have recorded a tomato price crash after export stoppage to politically unstable Bangladesh. Protesters in Bangladesh forced the resignation of longtime PM Sheikh Hasina in early August 2024, after which regional trade flow declined. Since then, Karnataka, which ships tomatoes via West Bengal, has seen the vegetable’s wholesale prices slash by 96%. According to the Bengalore Mirror...

Winter wheat, rye post early yields in Manitoba’s multi-crop harvest

Winter wheat, rye post early yields in Manitoba’s multi-crop harvest

It is harvest time in Manitoba, central Canada, and early results show competitive yields for especially winter wheat and rye. The harvest of general crops had by August 19, 2024 yielded 3% of the province’s total fall output. Winter wheat, for one, is showing good yield rates of 80 to 110 bushels (bu) an acre in the central and eastern regions.  This early regional...

Sugar price reprieve in Kenya after supplies rebound

Sugar price reprieve in Kenya after supplies rebound

Kenya’s sweeteners industry is back in the picture following glut supplies, with consequential sugar price decrement. As of August 9, the farm-gate price of sugarcane had dropped to KSH 4,950 ($38.22) a tonne, triggering farmers’ frustration.  This marks a -3.4% price decline from May’s  KSH 5,125 ($39.58), down from KSH 6,050 ($46.72) a tonne before March 2024. Wholesale prices of sugar, now at KSH...

The Mindanao fruit export base strong despite the Philippines’ banana lag

The Mindanao fruit export base strong despite the Philippines’ banana lag

Fruit exports from Mindanao, the banana-rich southeast Philippines’ island, are proving strong despite slow growth in national banana exports. For one, companies that sell durian and coconut from Davao in southern Mindanao are registering uptick trade with China. One such company is Eng Seng Food Products, which operates an export plant in the region. The company’s Chief Executive John Tan told...

How a Canada rail strike would impact regional agriculture 

How a Canada rail strike would impact regional agriculture 

North American agriculture logistics could derail if wage-demanding union workers at a duo Canada rail monopoly down tools, starting August 22, 2024. The looming strike involves the agriculturally important Canadian National Railway (CNR) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC). According to a Reuters report on August 2020, a strike on both lines could halt much of their daily freight services. An immediate ramification will be...

Northwest Province is also a major maize-growing area

Northwest Province in South Africa masters maize production amid changing weather

Family growers in South Africa’s semi-arid Northwest Province have radically improved maize production via traditional and modern methods. This according to research findings that appeared on The Conversation on August 16, 2024. The results come just when maize in the country is experiencing rising prices with compensatory expanding acreage. Notably, the small-scale farmer-dominated Northwest is also expanding its maize area and using new farming...

Lamb prices surge across Europe as supplies founder 

Lamb prices surge across Europe as supplies founder 

Diminishing sheep numbers have occasioned uptick lamb prices by up to  €1 per kg at the farm-gate through Europe. France leads the upward pricing curve, with average offers at €9.13 a kg as of August 3, 2024. This was up from August 2022’s €8.01 and August 2023’s €8.06, reported the Irish Farmers Journal on August 14. Also experiencing a similarly high annual rise is...

Arabica

Coffee gains in end-week markets after Brazilian real strengthens

A strengthening Brazilian real currency delivered marginal coffee gains for September raw bean deliveries on August 15, 2024. Both Arabica and Robusta gained in prices by 1.22% and 2.21% respectively at the International Coffee Exchange (ICE) in New York .  The rise happened after producers in Brazil held back exports due to the strengthening of the local currency against the dollar.  ...

Lobster

The U.S. lobster minimum catch size up by 1/16th Inches

Beginning July 1, 2025, the U.S. lobster landing size minimum on the Gulf of Maine will have upgraded a wee bit. This follows the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s decision to protect diminishing stocks in a state famous for its lobster rolls. According to The Boston Globe on August 18, 2024, the minimum catch size will upgrade by around 1.6 mm. Besides,...