allAfrica.com: Africa: Developing Countries Are Afraid of 'Rigged Commerce' Not 'Free Trade' (Page 1 of 3) However, since the WTO waiver allowing the EU to extend this preferential access to the end of this year, the EU and ACP countries committed themselves in the Cotonou Agreement of 2000 to negotiate Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) by the end of 2007. However, since the WTO waiver allowing the EU to extend this preferential access to the end of this year, the EU and ACP countries...

The nation may produce 500,000 bales of cotton from the crop now being planted, Adam Kay, the industry group's chief executive officer, said today in a phone interview from Narrabri, New South Wales state. Australia's cotton production has fallen five of the past six years as prolonged drought dried up rivers and dams, reducing irrigation supplies. In a normal season, as much as 90 percent of the nation's cotton crop is irrigated, Kay said. Cotton prices have gained 29 percent in the past...

Growing cotton has rarely been a more risky proposition than it is now, which is precisely why cotton farmer Frank Williams is planning to sow his fields with wheat. Acreage dropped by about 22 percent in Texas, the national leader, and by nearly 20 percent in California, which ranks seventh in domestic production. Cotton also has lost ground for another reason that became apparent last week as the Senate debated the 2007 farm bill: the United States' cotton subsidy program is enmeshed in...

Other crops include about 50 acres of corn and 30 acres of soybeans. Hes the fourth generation in the Hudson family to grow cotton and other crops in the Falcon area. Hudson and his family have farmed through good years and lean ones, including this years drought that cut cotton yields by 50 percent to 60 percent. You really have to admire young people who are willing to start out with so much going against them with Mother Nature and so many things they have to contend with and have no...

Reasons for higher hay prices include more expensive diesel, water availability -- alfalfa needs a lot of water -- and permanent crops such as nut trees supplanting row crops such as alfalfa. Although alfalfa's prices are cyclical, he's never seen hay prices as high as they are now in the 20-plus years he's been a farmer. Higher milk prices are a combination of market factors, including the cost of hay, and regulation, Sanden said. One alfalfa farmer predicts people may stop growing the...

Acreage dropped roughly 23% in Texas, the national leader, and 19% in California, which ranks fourth in domestic production. The current bill on the Senate floor leaves those programs virtually intact, despite the threat of further legal complaints and concerns that international sanctions could ultimately cause layoffs and patchy unemployment. Last month, the World Trade Organization ruled subsidies handed out to American cotton farmers broke international trade laws, opening the door for...