Growers Struggle With Volatility and High Costs

Farmers around the world are experiencing an unprecedented era of volatility in land, seed, fertilizer, pesticide, fuel and equipment costs, not to neglect crop prices. After prices of crops peaked in the summer, bumper crops recently reduced prices, dousing the anger behind riots in nearly 60 countries. But crop reserves remain unusually low while demand continues to grow. That means the slightest disruption -- flooding, drought, disease, or extra-cautious farmers -- could have a much bigger impact on prices than it would have had in recent decades. Demand has grown faster than farmers could increase their production most years of this decade, helping to drain grain reserves. Unusually good weather in most of the world this year is refilling grains stocks once again. But the situation could easily change. Some economists worry that the world will consume more grain than it produces by 2010, particularly if oil prices recover enough to make the production of ethanol from corn more profitable again. The situation is a headache for farmers even though it can mean years of big profits. Commodity prices are changing more quickly than farmers can plan which crops to grow. The price of a bushel of corn rarely varied by more than a dollar in a year's time for most of the 1980s and the 1990s. But this year, many U.S. corn farmers have seen the price of their crop swing by $4 a bushel. More here.

You think I jest...

American fast food chain Burger King is marketing a men's fragrance with the scent of meat. Called Flame, the company says the spray is "the scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat". The scent is on sale in New York for $3.99 and through a website that features a variety of romantic images - but no actual burgers. Its character the Burger King is also seen reclining almost naked in front of a log fire with whipped cream...see for yourself here.
(Almost too creepy to believe, but if I was duped, so was the BBC).

Breaking News: Vilsack to be Agriculture Secretary

President-elect Barack Obama, a backer of tighter farm subsidy rules and renewable fuels from rural America, selected former Gov. Tom Vilsack from the major U.S. farm state of Iowa to be agriculture secretary, a Democratic official said on Tuesday. Obama supports a $250,000 a year "hard" cap on farm payments and stricter rules on who qualifies as a farmer, changes that could save $100 million a year. Last month, he cited a congressional report on improper farm payments as an example of where to save federal money. Vilsack, a popular two-term governor of Iowa, was the first Democrat into the race for president won by Obama. He withdrew from the race three months later in February 2007. He was not immediately available for comment. Critics said Vilsack is too much of a supporter of agricultural biotechnology and not enough of a friend to organic or sustainable farmers. More here.

Follow Up 12.17.08: Click here to tell Obama you'd rather he picked an Ag Secretary concerned about a just and sustainable food and farming system not more of the same subsidy-fueled factory farming and bio-tech/fuel crops.
Hat tip: Amy Rice-Jones.

CASFS Director Dr. Patricia Allen on Global Food Policy

As we sit down to our holiday dinners this year, our meals cost more than they did a year ago. For some of us, higher food prices are inconvenient. For others, they require hard choices. For many, they are devastating. Already more people go hungry than at any point in history because they cannot afford food, and there is no end in sight: The United Nations predicts that food prices will increase by 20 to 50 percent over the next decade. Yet, like the financial crisis, skyrocketing food prices have been very good for certain businesses. So far in 2008, companies like Monsanto, Cargill, and Archer Daniels Midland have reported revenues as much as 59 percent higher than last year. Surging food prices, hunger, and record profits are the result of public policies and business decisions that have benefited the few at the expense of the many. Sound familiar? Think Wall Street or mortgage crisis or record oil-company profits. The same concentration of power that led to the current financial crisis is at work in the food system, where another crisis is erupting. Continue reading here.

Dioxin laced pig feed in Ireland now found in cattle

Irish officials confirmed Tuesday that cattle at three farms have tested positive for dioxin — the cancer-causing chemical that has contaminated its pork industry — but insisted the country's beef posed no real risk to health. Ireland has already ordered the withdrawal and destruction of all pork products produced since Sept. 1, a sweeping move the government says should reinforce — not undermine — international confidence in Ireland's food exports. rish investigators have traced the source of the contamination to a single animal-food maker, Millstream Power Recycling Ltd., which used an oil-fired burner to dry out-of-date bread, dough and confectionary. The Agriculture Department says Millstream — which has been shut down pending investigations by the government and police — was using a kind of oil that should never be used around food, creating fumes that infused the food with dioxins. It also failed to get the appropriate oil-burning permit from the Irish Environmental Protection Agency. Full story here.