MIAMI - The United States plans to spend $600 million in coming years to propel development of renewable fuels and other new energy solutions. The funding goes along with millions that private investors are spending to find ways to cut the nation’s dependence on oil.
The future of alternative energy appears to be rich, whether it […]

SEOUL - The first cuts of US beef with bones have arrived in South Korea since they were banned nearly five years ago. Massive street protests over US beef have calmed, but anger over an import resumption deal remains. 
South Korean quarantine inspectors began the process Tuesday of admitting beef ribs from the United States for […]

GENEVA - The United States says it is ready to cut its trade-distorting farm subsides to $15 billion a year in a bid to reach a global trade deal that could help boost the world economy. The offer was made on the second day of a ministerial meeting aimed at wrapping up the seven-year-old negotiation […]

COLLEGE STATION - The increased use of corn-derived ethanol and other bio-fuels has been blamed for rising food prices worldwide. But defenders of these fuels say their impact on food prices is being exaggerated and that new fuels under development will largely bypass that problem in any case. 
American corn, wheat and soybean fields feed much […]

IOWA - Corn prices are surging on the world market after devastating floods in the U.S. heartland destroyed many crops shortly after they were planted. Corn is also in high demand these days, because it is used for making the alcohol fuel additive called ethanol, which is highly subsidized in the United States and mandated […]

SYDNEY - The most severe drought for 100 years in Australia is getting worse.  Farmers warn that this winter’s wheat crop could be even smaller than last year’s if rain does not come soon. Most Australian grain is exported and empty Outback grain silos have contributed to shortages and rising global prices. Australia is the […]

NEW DELHI - India, the world’s second largest sugar producer behind Brazil, may be forced to import the sweetener. Disgruntled sugar farmers are switching to other crops because mills are not able to pay them the mandated price. The industry blames artificially high prices set by state governments as a sop to the powerful voting […]

WASHINGTON - Farmers in Argentina are expected to begin exporting grain again Monday, after pledging to end a nearly three-month-long strike that has shaken the country’s economy.Leaders of Argentina’s farm groups are expected to meet today with a national ombudsman who has offered to broker talks on controversial new taxes on soy and other grains.
The […]

ROME - World leaders are gathered in Rome at the headquarters of the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization. They are discussing ways to deal with soaring food prices and how to improve ways to provide food to the world’s hungry. The U.N. secretary-general said world food production must rise by 50 percent by 2030 to […]

SEOUL - South Korea is seeking to ease some domestic irritation, with a move that could complicate American-Korean trade relations. Seoul is amending its promise to resume U.S. beef imports by imposing new trade conditions aimed at placating political critics of the South Korean president.
In what he described as a “humble acceptance of the people’s […]

ROME - The United Nations food agency says the high prices of rice may begin to come down amid predictions of excellent harvests this year. But the agency warns overall food prices will remain high.
The Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, says rice market conditions could ease this year as new crops are harvested around the […]

PARIS - The European Union’s executive commission has unveiled an agricultural reform plan for the 27-member block that aims to overhaul farm funding to better meet current challenges - including global warming and the recent spike in world food prices.
The plan by the European Commission aims to fundamentally change how agricultural subsidies are handed out […]

SEOUL - South Korean lawmakers from mainly liberal parties say they will block ratification of a major free-trade deal with the United States amid a panic about American beef imports.  The political stalemate ends hopes for a speedy implementation of the pact. 
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak met Tuesday with Sohn Hak-kyu, the leader of the […]

WASHINGTON - The Green Revolution is a good example of how technological advances can have a dramatic effect on economic development - in this case on food production. Other technological innovations are helping to improve agricultural production, from empowering farmers in India to an international effort to breed food staples fortified with nutritional vitamins.
When farmers […]

MIAMI - As crop prices remain high, farmers and other landowners are working to expand their output and take advantage of big profits for wheat, corn and soybeans. The boom is creating pressure to begin farming on lands enrolled in U.S. environmental programs intended to rebuild native prairie and wildlife habitats.
Rising crop prices are creating […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. program subsidizing the use of corn for the production of fuel ethanol came under sharp criticism at a Senate hearing Wednesday. Economists told the panel the program leads to higher food prices. 
Corn prices worldwide have increased by 50 percent over the past year. John Sununu, a Republican senator opposed to farm […]

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA - At the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris, Rudolf Diesel exhibited an engine that could run on oil from vegetables and plants. But Diesel’s design was eclipsed by automobile engines that ran on petroleum-based fuel. Today, though, with concerns about the environment and the supply of oil, diesel engines – and the sustainable options […]

WASHINGTON - There is mixed news on food prices Tuesday.
The price of corn rose to a record high in Tuesday’s trading on the Chicago Board of Trade while the cost of rice declined from recent highs.
The price spike in corn futures, which went as high as $6.24 a bushel, followed a government report that wet […]

AMARILLO, TEXAS — This past winter cattle producers experienced record high prices, on the spot market, for supplemental feed. But cattlemen can rest assured that a new website from Forty-Five Cattle will provide decision making tools for contracting feed this fall.
Lately, news of unstable commodity prices, wheat supply shortage, and the high demand for corn […]

DAYTON, TEXAS - A dramatic surge in the international price for rice has U.S. producers planting more fields in an effort to increase profits. 
Tractors are tilling the land and building earthen rows that will serve as levees once water flows into these fields.  This area of southeast Texas is one of the best rice growing […]

WASHINGTON - Soaring food prices are causing big problems in many parts of the world today. One factor in the ballooning costs may be the increasing global demand for biofuels - vehicle fuels made at least partly from corn (maize) or other food crops.
Some critics of biofuels contend that using food-based fuel to power vehicles […]

BANGKOK - As rice prices soar toward $1,000 a ton, governments across Asia brace for possible unrest as the region’s staple food becomes less affordable and less available.
Fried or steamed, rice is eaten at almost every meal in Asia.
But there could be less rice on the table now, as prices soar and supply shrinks.
In central […]

HONG KONG - Grocery stores in Hong Kong have replenished rice supplies after panic buying nearly cleared the shelves. Concern is growing among Asian consumers that the region’s staple food will no longer be affordable for low-income families.
The rush for rice in Hong Kong began after wholesale prices spiked in Thailand.
At the end of February, […]

LONDON - Britain is stepping up the use of biofuels with new targets in the coming weeks - as the first step toward meeting an EU directive that five percent of all transport fuels come from renewable energy sources by the year 2010.
Efforts to find sustainable, renewable sources of energy are growing and at the […]

NEW DELHI - India has taken steps to drastically limit rice exports in a bid to cool prices and ensure sufficient food stocks for its more than one billion people. India is battling inflation and a spike in food prices.
The Indian trade ministry has steeply raised the minimum prices at which all except the most […]