In his address, Guebuza recalled that Mozambicans have been producing cash crops for the last few centuries, including cotton, tobacco, and others, but that never interfered with food production. We are prepared to make the production of bio-fuel in large quantities a source of income for the producers, the peasants', he said. Addressing Mozambican reporters in the Brazilian capital, Guebuza said that the country is striving to ensure that the production of this resource does not...

The study, published Thursday in the online journal Science Express, was the first major report from a coalition of scientists hastily assembled last spring, after commercial beekeepers began reporting severe losses of honeybees that are vital to pollinating almonds, apples, cotton and almost 90 other crops nationwide. The study, published Thursday in the online journal Science Express, was the first major report from a coalition of scientists hastily assembled last spring, after...

Clark has been in the farming business since 1983 and worked in an agriculture consulting business before that. Precision agriculture relies on information, technology and management to help farmers distribute the necessary fertilizer and chemicals in the specific areas that need them. Shannon Norwood, the multi-county extension agent for precision agriculture in north Alabama, said there are two main components of precision agriculture: the global positioning system and geographic...

It makes you wonder why producers of the major subsidized crops wheat, corn, soybeans, rice and cotton couldn t somehow also survive without federal handouts. With more acreage going to corn, there s less acreage for wheat or soybeans, and that constrains supplies of those crops and helps keep prices up. The Agriculture Department predicts that net farm income this year will reach a record of more than $87 billion, nearly 50 percent above the previous year. Today, farmers constitute only...

In contrast, strong 2006-crop market prices for corn, grain sorghum, soybean and rice have caused the effective prices of these crops to exceed their respective target prices. This is the maximum upland cotton payment rate permitted, and occurs because of market prices averaging well below the 52-cent-per-pound loan rate for the marketing year. The effective price equals the direct payment rate plus the higher of: (1) the national average market price received by producers during the...

Published September 08, 2007 06:34 pm - The bad news first: There is no help in sight from the federal government for farmers who are in the middle of finishing up a dismal growing year that was hammered by an Easter freeze, a drought that still hasn t ended and the wildfires that destroyed everything from timber to honey bees. Published September 08, 2007 06:34 pm - The bad news first: There is no help in sight from the federal government for farmers who are in the middle of finishing up...

In 2004, Grissett and his son, like many tobacco farmers in the region, took their portion of the $12 billion tobacco quotas buyout and chose to stop growing the crop after the federal government cut the subsidy program that set market prices and production controls for decades. In 2004, Grissett and his son, like many tobacco farmers in the region, took their portion of the $12 billion tobacco quotas buyout and chose to stop growing the crop after the federal government cut the subsidy...

What produce growers did want was research money through block grants to the state that would help the competitiveness of U. We ve been very supportive of ag research for specialty crops, and there s been a fairly significant increase in funding for our research projects, he said. Specialty crop farmers haven t asked for a subsidy program along the lines of the hotly debated programs of cotton or peanuts that benefit individuals. What has been an issue is that we have not been a part of...

In the meeting , the government also agreed to purchase 0.4 million tons sugar from the industry from next season's stocks to help it make timely payments to the growers for their produce, and meet their operational cost. Bosan made the industry representatives feel that the government was fully aware of the industry's problems and that it would take care of the biting issues. The industry accepted minimum ex-factory sugar price subject to waiver of special duty and in other case its...