Country News
Brazil: Corn farmers are engaged in an expensive effort to protect what could be a record crop from the Helicoverpa armigera caterpillar that has become an increasing threat over 2013, according to Reuters. Increased demand for pesiticide is exhausting domestic stocks and the government has declared a state of emergency in Bahia and Mato Grosso to combat the threat. The Mato Grosso farm economy institute has estimated that application costs for insecticide have gone up by 88 percent to $115 per hectare.
China: China rejected a cargo of U.S.-sourced corn this week because it contained a genetically modified variety that has not yet been approved by the government, reports Reuters. The strain in question is Syngenta AG’s Agrisure Viptera, which is set to be approved by China soon and is already approved for export to Japan, Mexico and the EU. Despite this, its discovery has caused some concern among Chinese buyers at a time when China is buying high amounts of U.S. corn to ensure its food security.
Japan: The Ministry of Agriculture announced that it will import 126,370 MT of feed wheat via an SBS auction that closed on Wednesday, according to Reuters. The government had sought to purchase 120,000 MT of feed wheat and 200,000 MT of feed barley and will be seeking the same amounts in another tender to be held on November 27.
South Africa: The South Africa corn harvest is likely to be smaller this year than in 2012, reports Bloomberg News. The government’s Crop Estimates Committee had indicated that farmers produced 11.7 MMT of corn this year (the predicted range was 11.55-11.8 MMT) and brought in 12.1 MMT last year. In comparison, South Africa produced 12.8 MMT of corn in 2010, which was the largest crop since 1982.