It says many grain farmers have joined an insurance scheme to protect their incomes and are benefiting from advice to help a shift to alternative crops like olives, fruit and chickpeas. The harvest is almost over, and farmers gathered for the weekly market in the nearby village of Lagfaf say most of the wheat is good enough only for the animals. Officials in the capital Rabat say climate change has raised temperatures and contributed to a 30 percent decline in rainfall in recent years and...

In this speech to the European Biotechnology Open day in Brussels EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson strongly defends an open European approach to biotechnology and GM food; one that prioritises strict science-based health and safety testing but which recognises that safe biotechnology has a crucial role to play in agriculture and agricultural trade both in Europe and the developing world. In this speech to the European Biotechnology Open day in Brussels EU Trade Commissioner Peter...

Juliette Jowit and Javier Espinoza Sunday June 17, 2007 The Observer One of the world's greatest wildlife spectacles is under threat because environmental projects to protect the monarch butterfly are failing, a leading expert has warned. Scientists have warned for years that the butterflies are under threat because genetically modified crops are destroying the weeds and flowers they feed on and lay eggs in, and illegal logging is decimating their winter habitat high in the Mexican...

Several inches of rain in the last few days have left fields so sodden Langston and other producers in the region can't get back in to replant them before a June 10 insurance cutoff. If hail has damaged planted fields and wet land precludes some producers from replanting before their county's deadline, they can still put in cotton for seven days past the cutoff but would get a 1 percent reduction per day on insurance coverage. Insurance coverage for West Texas cotton producers typically...

A northeast Louisiana woman has been sentenced to 16 months in jail and ordered to pay more than $300,000 in restitution after being convicted of crop insurance fraud. In July of 2002, Hayman told the crop insurance company that she had planted more than 100 acres of sweet potatoes before the date and in December of the same year. Hayman was found guilty of committing crop insurance fraud and for making a false statement on her farm loan application to the U. Further investigation revealed...

Last week, pork, and beef, producer Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD) topped lowered fiscal fourth-quarter profit expectations by two cents with earnings of 35 cents per share. Four brokerage analysts slashed their projections in response to the latest update, causing the full-year consensus estimate to drop 16 cents this week to $1. The higher feed prices are not only impacting pig farmers, however. Investors should note that not all meat producers are succumbing to higher feedstock prices....