Caracas | Reuters –– An international arbitration centre has ordered Venezuela to pay British cattle company Vestey Group nearly US$100 million for the nationalization of cattle ranches, pilling fresh pressure on the cash-strapped leftist government. Venezuela’s late president Hugo Chavez in 2005 sent in soldiers to seize major ranches and repopulate rural areas largely abandoned […] Read more
Venezuela ordered to pay U.K. firm for ranch takeovers
World wine trade buoyed by rebound in China demand
Paris | Reuters –– Wine exporters toasted an upturn in Chinese wine consumption in 2015 after a two-year decline, as a growing taste there for reds helped global wine trade expand, the International Vine and Wine organization (OIV) said Monday. Chinese imports jumped 44 per cent to 5.5 million hectolitres, while overall consumption in the […] Read more
Olam forms joint venture with Mitsubishi
Singapore | Reuters –– Olam International has formed a joint venture with Mitsubishi Corp. to supply sustainable agricultural and food products to Japan, in the first tie-up between the two since the Japanese firm bought a stake in the commodity trader. The joint venture, MC Agri Alliance Ltd., will import and distribute coffee, cocoa, sesame, […] Read more
France set to ban dimethoate-treated cherries
Paris | Reuters — France will stop importing cherries from countries that use insecticide dimethoate after banning the chemical due to concerns over consumer health risks, the French agriculture ministry said. At a meeting of European Union country representatives on Friday, Italy and Spain said they would also withdraw dimethoate from their markets, but France […] Read more
Mars Food tells customers to go easy on the pasta sauce
London | Reuters –– Mars Food plans to tell customers to eat some of its Dolmio pasta sauces and macaroni cheese only once a week to maintain a balanced diet because of the products’ high levels of salt, sugar or fat. The scheme is part of a larger initiative by the privately owned U.S. food […] Read more
China may cultivate GM corn in next five years
Beijing | Reuters — China, the world’s second-largest corn consumer, may allow commercial cultivation of pest-resistant genetically-modified (GM) corn within the next five years, an agriculture ministry official said Wednesday. “We will push forward the commercial process of new strains of pest-resistant cotton and pest-resistant corn among other key crops,” during the 13th Five Year […] Read more
Germany backs EU plan to approve glyphosate
Berlin | Reuters –– Germany plans to back an European Union proposal that would allow the continued use of glyphosate in herbicides, according to a letter from the agriculture ministry. Glyphosate is used in many herbicides including Monsanto’s Roundup, but has provoked a dispute between EU and U.N. agencies over whether it might cause cancers. […] Read more
EU food safety experts warn on crop insecticide
Brussels | Reuters –– Dimethoate, an insecticide widely used to protect crops such as cherries, could be harmful to humans, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which advises EU policymakers, said Tuesday. The report follows a request from France, which is calling for a Europe-wide ban of the substance made by companies including BASF and […] Read more
England’s farmland prices fall ahead of Brexit vote
London | Reuters –– Farmland prices in England fell by 3.2 per cent in the first quarter of this year — the largest quarterly decline since 2008, weighed partly by uncertainty ahead of the June 23 referendum on European Union membership, estate agent Knight Frank said. Knight Frank’s Farmland Index fell to 19,538 pounds (C$35,881) […] Read more
CP scraps plans to buy Norfolk Southern
Reuters — Canadian Pacific Railway said on Monday it had scrapped efforts to buy Norfolk Southern, almost six months after it launched its unsolicited US$28 billion bid for the fourth-largest U.S. railroad operator. The announcement comes days after the U.S. Justice Department urged the Surface Transportation Board to reject a voting trust arrangement CP had […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
