Paris | Reuters — French company Ynsect said on Tuesday it had signed deals to build insect ingredient production sites in the United States and in Mexico as the firm kicks off what it says will be the world’s largest insect farm. Ynsect breeds mealworms that produce proteins for aquaculture, livestock, pet food, fertilizers and […] Read more

French insect-based ingredients maker Ynsect to expand in North America
U.S. plant would use Ardent Mills' flour milling byproducts

InVivo in talks to acquire French agribusiness Soufflet
Firms see limited overlap outside grain trading
Paris | Reuters — Co-operative group InVivo has entered exclusive talks to acquire family-controlled Soufflet in a deal that would create one of Europe’s biggest agricultural businesses with 10 billion euros (C$15.5 billion) in sales, the French firms said on Wednesday. The potential consolidation comes as France, the European Union’s largest agricultural producer, is trying […] Read more
France to help farmers to abandon glyphosate weedkiller
Paris | Reuters – France will give financial aid to farmers who agree to halt use of glyphosate, the farm ministry said on Monday after President Macron said he had failed with efforts to ban use of the weedkiller by 2021. Glyphosate, first developed by Bayer’s Monsanto under the Roundup brand, has generated intense global […] Read more

Plant-based protein maker Roquette sees short-term COVID-19 impact
Demand could accelerate second Canadian plant
Paris | Reuters — The plant-based protein market has seen a slowdown in new product launches and lower sales in restaurants and cafeterias due to COVID-19 but benefited from more people cooking at home and trying new products, French manufacturer Roquette said. The market for plant-based protein such as meat-free burgers has surged in the […] Read more

China’s pork output to fall by at least 20 percent in 2019: FAO
Paris | Reuters – African swine fever (ASF) will cut pork output in China, the world’s largest producer, by at least 20 percent in 2019, the United Nations’ food agency said on Thursday, doubling the decline it had expected six months ago. The disease has slashed China’s hog herd since August 2018, pushing Chinese pork […] Read more

No country immune to risk of African swine fever spreading: OIE
Paris | Reuters – African swine fever will spread further across Asia where it has devastated herds, and no country is immune from being hit by the deadly animal virus, the head of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Wednesday. The disease, which has hit the world’s top pork producer China hard, […] Read more

China faces long struggle to tackle African swine fever, OIE says
Paris | Reuters — It will take years for China to contain the deadly African swine fever virus that has spread throughout the country, which is the world’s biggest pork producer, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said on Tuesday. China has been struggling to control the epidemic, which some analysts predict could see […] Read more

French, German farmers destroy crops after GMOs found in Bayer seeds
Paris | Reuters — Bayer said on Wednesday that farmers in France and Germany were digging up thousands of hectares of rapeseed fields after traces of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) banned for cultivation were found in seeds sold by the company. GMO crops are widely grown across the world, but they remain controversial in Europe, […] Read more

France delays food price rise for farmers after protests
Paris | Reuters — France, reeling from violent protests over the cost of living, said Wednesday it will delay a planned rise in minimum food prices, incurring the wrath of the main farmers group which urged street action next week. A powerful constituency in French politics, farmers have long complained of being hit by a […] Read more

Heatwave ravages European fields, sending wheat prices soaring
Paris | Moscow | Hamburg | Reuters – Searing heat has devastated wheat fields across northern Europe while a combination of dry conditions and extreme rain in the Black Sea have hit output estimates, with prices soaring on fears of further crop damage. Evidence of serious harm to crops is growing as harvesting heads north in […] Read more