Tag: drought

August 5, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Russia Bans Grain Exports Amid Crippling Drought

MOSCOW — Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin on Thursday banned all exports of grain after millions of acres of Russian wheat withered in a severe drought, driving up prices around the world and pushing them to their highest level in two years in the United States.

The move was the latest of several abrupt interventions in the Russian economy by Mr. Putin, who called the ban necessary to curb rising food prices in the country. Russia is suffering from the worst heat wave since record-keeping began here more than 130 years ago.

“We need to prevent a rise in domestic food prices, we need to preserve the number of cattle and build up reserves for next year,” Mr. Putin said in a meeting broadcast on television. “As the saying goes, reserves don’t make your pocket heavy.”

Continue reading
August 5, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

The Associated Press: Wheat futures soar after Russia ends exports

NEW YORK — Wheat prices are soaring their maximum allowed amount on the Chicago Board of Trade after Russia banned grain exports for the rest of the year.

Prices shot up 60 cents, or 8 percent, to $7.8575 immediately after the open of trading on Thursday. It’s the highest price since August 2008.

CBOT rules stipulate that prices can rise a maximum of 60 cents in one day, although they are allowed to rise more the following day if the 60-cent limit is hit.

The price of wheat has been soaring since early June, and notched its biggest monthly gain in July in at least 51 years.

Russia, one of the world’s biggest grain exporters, cut off wheat exports because a severe drought has already destroyed one-fifth of that country’s crop.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The Associated Press: Wheat futures soar after Russia ends exports

August 4, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

‘It’s dry, dry, dry’

maui-news-ad

The first six months of 2010 were the driest in the 90 years that Ulupalakua Ranch has been measuring rainfall.

Rancher Sumner Erdman, president of Ulupalakua Ranch, said Tuesday that the total rainfall for the year is 37 percent of normal. He’s been selling stock and moving cattle off the Upcountry Ranch to other ranches.

The ranch might be eligible for some drought disaster relief loans from the Department of Agriculture, but he’s been too busy to start to apply. “We’re in complete disaster-control mode,” he said.

Erdman said the dry weather has cost his business “pretty good into six digits” this year.

Continue reading
August 3, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Drought Strains Russian Wheat Supplies

Wheat prices in Europe reached a two-year high this week after Russian officials announced that extreme heat and drought had decimated roughly 20 percent of the country’s winter crop. Prices retreated slightly after the country’s Agriculture Ministry said that Russia, the world’s third-largest wheat exporter, would use its stocks to maintain exports.

Despite the reassurances, financial markets remained concerned that the wheat losses could be higher than projected, The Financial Times reported. Meteorological reports indicate that hot, dry weather in Russia will continue until mid-August.

Poor growing weather has also stunted wheat harvests in other countries, including Canada, where unusually heavy rains will reduce yields by about 17 percent. Ukraine faces an even more severe grain shortage after a growing season marked by drought and floods, leading government officials to impose a wheat export ban. Meanwhile, hot, dry weather in Western Europe is expected to reduce production of a wide swath of food commodities.

Continue reading
July 26, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Dry conditions leave isle farms parched

Michelle Galimba has been moving her livestock across her 10,000-acre Kuahiwi Ranch to higher elevation in Kau on the Big Island in hopes of finding better pastures during a drought that is causing her business and others hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses.

“It’s pretty severe,” she said. “I’d say half of the pastures on our ranch is unusable or going to be unusable very shortly.

“They’re literally turning to dust. The soil’s drying up and blowing away.”

Galimba said South Point received 1.76 inches of rain from January through mid-July, compared with its usual 12 inches.

The National Weather Service said 2010 is bringing the worst drought on record for ranchers and farmers in some parts of the state, including Kau.

“If they don’t have more rainfall at a higher rate in the second half, it could be the driest year on record,” said Kevin Kodama, senior hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Honolulu.

Continue reading
July 22, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Deadly Nightshades

By Glenn I. Teves, County Extension Agent, UH College of Tropical Agriculture

The recent deaths of horses, mules and cattle on the island believed to be caused by consuming poisonous plants mixed in hay brings attention to the many poisonous plants we have on the island. The most obvious suspect is one of the deadly nightshades, Jimson Weed or Datura stramonium, seen throughout Ho`olehua. It is known by many names, including Stink Weed, Devil’s Apple, Thorn Apple, and Moonflower. This plant resembles the Apple of Peru, Nycandra physalodes, a common weed in Ho`olehua, and one in which animals eat without any negative effects. It has a similar flower and leaf shape, which could cause animals to eat Jimson Weed by mistake.

A member of the tomato family, or Solanaceae, the poisonous nightshades caused edible members of this family, especially tomatoes, to be viewed for generations with apprehension because people thought they were poisonous. Jimson weed or Jamestown Weed has a reputation that goes back centuries. Its scientific name, stramonium, means ‘mad nightshade’ due to its reputation for making people delirious or mad.

Its common name originated from Jamestown, Virginia where, in 1676, the British were sent to crush a rebellion, called the Bacon’s Rebellion. The British made a boiled salad from the Jimson Weed leaves, and were delirious for 11 days. When they came to their senses, they couldn’t remember a thing.

Continue reading