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Soaring Fertilizer Prices Another Cog in Food Crisis

Costs up 65% percent, drawing calls for inquiries by US, UN

(Newser) - Farmers worldwide are fuming over soaring fertilizer prices, the Wall Street Journal reports. Costs are 65% higher in the US than a year ago, making it difficult for farmers to boost production in response to an international food crisis. Meanwhile, fertilizer companies have reaped big profits from a cartel-based system...

Food Prices May Force Cuts in Farm Subsidies

Normally 'untouchable' price supports at risk in Congress

(Newser) - Soaring food prices are putting pressure on Congress to withdraw some of the billions in  farm subsidies and ethanol incentives that have been considered politically untouchable for decades, the Los Angeles Times reports. With average farm income more than $89,000 this year—30% above the national average—the White...

'Big Dry' Killing Aussie Farms
 'Big Dry' Killing Aussie Farms 
May 2, 2008 8:33 AM CDT

'Big Dry' Killing Aussie Farms

Wheat exports critically low as farmers flee parched land

(Newser) - The worst drought in a century has forced a tenth of Australian farmers off the land, reports the BBC. The "Big Dry" has led to parched farmland across the nation over the last seven years, accelerating the exodus from rural areas. The number of farming families in Australia has...

Ethanol Guzzles 25% of US Corn; Links Food, Fuel Prices

Switch to corn-based fuel links grain and energy prices

(Newser) - When Congress passed its latest energy bill four months ago, the provision to boost ethanol requirements was exceedingly popular. But now, critics are lambasting that measure, and the ethanol movement in general, for linking skyrocketing food and oil prices. “We used to have a grain economy and a fuel...

US Farmers Want Feds' Help on Food Crisis

Skyrocketing prices bring speculators to grocery stores

(Newser) - US farmers asked for federal help yesterday in stemming a tide that has seen speculators hitting grocery stores and consumers hoarding basic foodstuffs, the Washington Times reports. "The public is all too aware of the recent credit crisis on Wall Street," a farmers-union rep said. "We don't...

UN May Cut Food Rations for Schoolkids

Soaring food prices raise 'world's misery index,' group says

(Newser) - Food rations for hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren may be cut because of surging crop prices that have widened the World Food Program’s funding gap to $750 million, Reuters says. The UN food aid agency also blamed the situation on high fuel prices and reductions in new crop plantings....

Argentina Prez Rallies as Massive Strike Empties Shelves

Farmers' blockade nears fourth week

(Newser) - Argentina's president canceled her trip to London today as a massive farmers' strike neared its fourth week, leaving supermarket shelves bare. Hundreds of thousands of agricultural workers have protested new taxes by blocking more than 400 roads and cutting off supplies of meat, grains and milk. Last night Cristina Ferná...

UK Pig Farmers Squeal Poverty
 UK Pig Farmers Squeal Poverty 
Mar 26, 2008 10:39 AM CDT

UK Pig Farmers Squeal Poverty

As high feed costs drive losses, protests seek higher pork prices

(Newser) - Floundering British pig farmers are on the march behind a curious protest song: "Stand by Your Ham." With feed prices soaring, UK farmers say they're losing $50 on every pig they sell, so they’re begging anyone who’ll listen to support higher pork prices, reports the Wall ...

Easter Bunny's Budget Strained as Egg Prices Skyrocket

But 29% jump is windfall for farmers

(Newser) - As far as the egg industry is concerned, Easter might as well have been Christmas. Prices skyrocketed 29% over the last year, and show no sign of slowing, as eggs are such a staple that demand hasn’t slowed a bit. “We’ve never seen profits like this,”...

As Global Temps Rise, So Do ... Popcorn Prices

As farmers plant more crops for biofuels, moviegoers feel pinch

(Newser) - The movie stars driving flex-fuel SUV are driving up popcorn prices at the nation’s nickelodeons, and it’s not because of their salaries: A move toward planting crops for alternative-fuel production has made popping corn more scarce—and therefore more expensive, the Los Angeles Times reports. Moviegoers shouldn’t...

Wal-Mart Helps Farmers Grow, American Style

But Central American stores may ruin them first, critics say

(Newser) - Wal-Mart is helping Central American farmers even as the chain threatens to render their mom-and-pop ways outdated, the Los Angeles Times reports. Thousands of small farmers are financially at risk, unable to grow produce that fits the US giant's supply chain—so Wal-Mart, Washington, and a Portland, Ore., relief group...

Clean Air Rules Squeezing Berry Farmers

Strawberry growers rip EPA pesticide limits as 'too much, too soon'

(Newser) - California strawberry farmers fear that EPA efforts to curb pesticide pollution could kill most of this year's crops, the AP reports. Ventura County growers, who produce 25% of the nation's berries, say the pesticides are needed to increase crop output. Requirements that fumigants be cut as much as half could...

Boom Time on Heartland Farms
Boom Time on Heartland Farms
Feb 15, 2008 2:55 AM CST

Boom Time on Heartland Farms

US farmers strike it rich satisfying ethanol, export demands

(Newser) - The US economy may be teetering on a precipice but agriculture is enjoying what one industry analyst is calling a "golden age" after decades of decline, with bountiful harvests of crops and profits. The boom is fueled by the soaring demand from ethanol producers and to fill grain orders...

Tweaks May Boost Guest Worker Pool
Tweaks May Boost Guest Worker Pool
Feb 6, 2008 11:11 AM CST

Tweaks May Boost Guest Worker Pool

Bush plan to ease visa requirements draws fire from both sides of debate

(Newser) - With immigration reform having failed in Congress, the Bush administration is today unveiling a plan aimed at boosting the US guest-worker program. President Bush's plan would simplify the much-derided bureaucratic program, providing a reliable source of legal workers to replace illegal immigrants. But anti-immigration groups say the changes will cost...

UK Veal Now Cool, Not Cruel
UK Veal Now Cool, Not Cruel
Jan 20, 2008 2:21 PM CST

UK Veal Now Cool, Not Cruel

New farming standards make calf meat a newly ethical food

(Newser) - Veal is the new guilt-free meat in Britain, and everyone from top chefs to farmers and animal activists is pushing consumers to eat up. Anti-cruelty groups largely eliminated veal from the UK diet in the '90s, and as a result, dairy farmers slaughter half a million male calves and export...

Fla. Growers Fight Record Cold
Fla. Growers Fight Record Cold
Jan 3, 2008 8:31 AM CST

Fla. Growers Fight Record Cold

State of emergency as temperatures plummet

(Newser) - Florida shivered last night  last night as a cold snap set new lows—35 degrees in Ft. Lauderdale—and threatened serious damage to crops. Farmers spent the night in the fields, spraying strawberries and oranges with water to create a protective glaze of ice. In  Plant City, dubbed the winter...

Bush Picks Ex-Governor to Head the Farm Team

Schafer could overhaul way Agricultural Department does business

(Newser) - Edward Schafer has extolled the virtues of smaller government, but he is President Bush’s nominee to head the mammoth Agriculture Department, which employs more than 100,000 people and spends $90 billion a year. If approved by the Senate, the former North Dakota governor would likely be thrust into...

Meteorite Hunter Gets His Due
Meteorite Hunter Gets His Due
Oct 27, 2007 1:17 PM CDT

Meteorite Hunter Gets His Due

He finds fame, maybe fortune, by digging through dust

(Newser) - He’s not exactly Indiana Jones, but Steve Arnold does have fame, wild adventures, and an 18-foot-wide metal detector. Arnold, a meteorite hunter, has combed the deserts of Chile, the tundras of Siberia, and the streets of Chicago looking for the extraterrestrial lumps of metal, the LA Times reports. His...

Ethanol Glut Sinking Farmers' Hopes
Ethanol Glut Sinking Farmers' Hopes
Sep 30, 2007 4:46 AM CDT

Ethanol Glut Sinking Farmers' Hopes

'Gold rush' fades as biofuel prices plummet

(Newser) - A glut of ethanol has sent prices plumetting, staggering the hopes of farmers and businesses who once counted on a biofuel gold rush, reports the New York Times. Companies and farm cooperatives built so many ethanol distilleries that production has far outpaced demand, in part because distribution hasn't kept up.

Grain Price Hikes: Here to Stay
Grain Price Hikes: Here to Stay
Sep 28, 2007 2:40 PM CDT

Grain Price Hikes: Here to Stay

Lasting hikes triggering profound changes for farmers and consumers

(Newser) - Rising global demand is pushing prices for grain and other crops to record heights and dramatically altering the food landscape for both farmers and consumers, the Wall Street Journal reports. Unlike ordinary price hikes, caused by crop failures, these increases—corn up 40%, soybeans 75%, wheat 70%—could last 10...

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