Articles by Bill Tomson

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization is reporting that global food prices hit their highest level on record last month, and that doesn’t account for the full effects of the Ukraine crisis.

The Russian government's decision to suspend fertilizer exports will threaten supplies for farmers in the European Union, South America and Africa while eventually pushing up prices that U.S. farmers must pay, according to analysts.

Organizations representing wheat, corn, soybeans and sorghum will wait until this summer before finalizing policies for the next farm bill.

Canada has officially released its proposal on how it would change the way it operates tariff rate quotas for imports of U.S. dairy and launched public consultations on implementing the proposed alterations, but an American dairy industry leader says the pitch by Global Affairs Canada is “unacceptable.”

The U.S. exports more than $130 million worth of poultry and poultry products annually to Central Asian nations and other nearby countries like Armenia and Georgia, but all of that trade is threatened by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

A leading U.S. ag economist thinks the Biden administration may have to open up the Conservation Reserve Program to cropping this year because of grain shortages that could result from the crisis in Ukraine.

The nearly week-long Russian invasion of Ukraine is threatening to restrict already tight global supplies of grain and fertilizer as Black Sea distribution hubs and supply lines shut down amid the chaos and violence that is only expected to worsen as Russian aggression intensifies and Western sanctions broaden.

The Biden administration Tuesday rolled out its 2022 Trade Policy Agenda report to Congress, pledging to further develop its Indo-Pacific Strategy – an effort to strengthen ties with the Asian region – as well as continue to reduce trade barriers across the globe and bring new reform pressure on China.

Not much has been said about dairy quotas by either the U.S. or Canadian governments since Canada earlier this month submitted a proposal to alter the way it operates its tariff rate quotas for dairy imports, but both sides have been meeting on the issue over the past three weeks, sources tell Agri-Pulse.