On January 18, California’s fishermen hauled in their delayed first harvest of Dungeness crabs but they rued the price. Though the Dungeness crab season officially began on January 5, actual fishing took place only this week after a strike in Redwood, CA.  The strike by fishermen, which lasted till January 17, was in protest against the low landing prices by crab...

Cocoa ended January 18 on a higher note after a slump a day earlier occasioned by mixed demand. This is even as prospects of rain in West Africa bring hope of more supplies to curb present tight supplies..  On January 17, cocoa prices in London and New York had lowered amid unpredictable demand blamed on reigning record-high prices. The price...

A California court has dismissed a 2022 case against a West Coast aquarium for featuring American lobster on its “red list” of species not to eat. This is barely a week after New England’s lobster fishermen dropped the lawsuit to which they had pegged $75,000 in damages. The suit began in September 2022 when Seafood Watch of Monterey Bay Aquarium, California advised against eating lobster from North America. The...

Each winter from December to February, orange merchants from a Himalayan village in Paro district, Bhutan, relocate to Tsirang to export the commodity. This usually coincides with a time when oranges in Bhutan are simultaneously maturing in different districts. This season, some 40 exporters from Paro, the seat of Bhutan’s international airport, have come to Tsirang, the commercial trucking center. Gathering a hardworking...

Vancouver Island and the south-western province of British Columbia (B.C.) in Canada expect freezing rain and snowfall from January 17. The regions are the latest stopping points of a freezing winter storm that is moving from the west. For B.C., the weather change will temper a relatively dry winter, with strong winds bringing precipitation at temperatures below zero degrees Celsius. Already...

Florida’s orange production will rebound by 30% to 20.5 million boxes for the 2024 season opener, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In the grain and crop report on January 12, 2024, USDA predicted increases for all three major citrus fruits including grapefruit and lemon.  The rebound draws from reigning fair winter weather in the U.S.’ south and a lessening...

A firm from Germany has invented a robotic avocado line that can pit, halve and peel 1000 avocados (Persea Americana) an hour. Kronen GmBH will unveil its “robot avocado line” at the Fruit Logistica, a showpiece of innovations in the produce industry. The event will start on February 7, 2024 in Berlin. In anticipation, the company explained its peeler-and-cutter system in a press release. ...

Nigeria’s economy will experience a 3% growth rate thanks to agriculture, reports World Bank. The country will also recover its pre-Covid19 economic performance in 2025 by improving on the cited rate of growth. The 3% growth margin applies to the 2023-2024 financial year and will emanate from agriculture, construction and trade. By mid-2025, however, these two sectors will have revved the economy by 3.7%....

After a hiatus over aseptic requirements, South Africa is set to resume hass avocado exports to Japan. The go-ahead call came after successful negotiations in November 2023. The news will bolster South Africa’s chances to expand its Asian market reach following an earlier avocado pact with China in 2023. Commenting on this new opportunity, Derek Donkin, CEO of South Africa’s Subtrop...

A January 12 grain yield estimate revision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has slumped corn and soybean prices. On what is usually the most important grain market announcement each January, the 2024 USDA grain report caught traders unawares.  Opposite to expectations of corn holding to the November projection of a record 15.23 billion bushels, the new estimate actually hiked yields. Likewise,...