In part the price-hike threat to the food staple for Mexican workers and the poor is what we might call the ethanol effect a consequence of the US stampede to corn-based ethanol as an energy substitute for oil, whose major wellsprings, of course, are in regions that even more grievously defy international order. In January, in Mexico City, tens of thousands of workers and farmers rallied in the Zocalo, the city s central square, to protest the skyrocketing cost of tortillas. In part the...

Although it wasn't the rain he was banking on, the second-generation farmer said there was enough moisture to plant the grain. Last year he did not plant crops so the land could rejuvenate and he wasn't sure he would get seed in the ground at all this season. After Friday's downpour, which saw up to 80mm fall in some parts of the state, farmers are optimistic there will be follow-up rain. Mr Laurie said follow-up rain was vital for farmers to recoup the losses of the past three to four...

Prices have exceeded $4 a bushel at times and are up 50 percent on the cash market from a year ago. The world's largest beef processor and second-largest chicken producer, Tyson has raised prices for its products to diminish the impact. Tyson CEO laments rising corn prices. Bond said rising grain prices will cost Springdale, Ark.

With the approaching 2007 farm bill debate and increased focus on the higher corn demand and prices brought on by expanding ethanol production, it would be helpful to review some facts on farm policy and prices as we move forward. Not only will the Kool-Aid peddlers pass out the Dixie Cups again, they have added a new wrinkle to their solution: the elimination of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) as a measure to increase corn acres to keep prices low in order to expand exports and...

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Relatively strong export demand, reduced plantings, dry weather and hopes for a future biodiesel boom sent July soybeans futures 30 cents a bushel higher at the Chicago Board of Trade this week, hoisting national average cash prices to their loftiest level since late February. Relatively strong export demand, reduced plantings, dry weather and hopes for a future biodiesel boom sent July soybeans futures 30 cents a bushel higher at the Chicago Board of Trade this week, hoisting national...