World Farming Agriculture Commodity news - Weekly Updated - Exclusive and very popular -
Wine output in France, the world largest producer, is set to fall sharply this year after very humid weather helped develop diseases across French vineyards this year, and some regions were hit by hail and frosts, the farm ministry said on Friday. Overall wine output is projected to be between 40 million and 43 million hectolitres, below the five-year average of 44.2 million and well under the 2023 output of 47.9 million, the ministry said in a preliminary estimate. Wine, along with spirits, is one of France's biggest export earners. The sector is facing declining domestic consumption, which has hit some production areas such as Bordeaux, contributing to recent protests by farmers. `It is unclear how the fall in output would affect the overall price of wine. Big chateaux usually tend to lift the price of their scarce vintages but France has been suffering from strong competition on world markets.
Hungary's hottest July on record has forced some of the country's winemakers to start harvesting grapes in early August, up to a month earlier than usual. Climate change is having a severe impact on Hungary's acclaimed winemaking industry, as rising temperatures could make the country too hot for producing white wine, including the renowned Tokaji, scientists say. "I do not remember ever harvesting this variety of grape this early... we are at least a month early," said Laszlo Kerek, a 35-year-veteran of grape growing in Balatonlelle, south of Lake Balaton in western Hungary.
Kerek, who was harvesting grapes with his family in early August by hand, attributes the early harvest to "nothing else but climate change." A National Meteorological Service report revealed that this July was Hungary's hottest since temperature tracking began in 1901. Hungary's winemaking regions have seen an increase of 25% in growing degree days, a metric denoting heat accumulation until crops reach maturity, according to Peter Szabo, a climate scientist at Eotvos Lorand University.
As part of the Brno Agricultural and Forestry Fairs, editors from specialist magazine publisher Profi Press s.r.o. presented the MF 9S with ‘The Zemědělec’ (Farmer) Award to representatives from Austro Diesel GmbH, our Austrian distributor. The editors praised the MF 9S.425’s Dyna-VT stepless transmission and its Automatic Mode, which manages the engine according to load. As well as the powerful hydraulic system, they also highlighted the unique Protect-U design, with its unique 18cm gap between the engine and cab reducing noise levels and vibrations. One of the largest on the market, the cab offers excellent comfort and visibility along with easy to use, ergonomically positioned controls. The tractor has also won one of the GRAND PRIX TECHAGRO 2024, awarded by the show organisers to honour exceptional innovations and achievements.
German coffee trader Neumann Kaffee Gruppe (NKG), one of the world's largest coffee merchants, said on Thursday it has opened a subsidiary in China, looking to meet surging demand for the beans in Asia's fastest growing coffee market. The company's new Chinese operation is headquartered in downtown Shanghai, where it has also built a cupping lab for coffee quality control, it said in a statement. NGK said it has set up coffee warehouses and distribution operations at the bonded areas of Kunshan and Yangshan.
The global supply outlook is expected to increase year-on-year, largely at the hands of production growth in Brazil and the US. The improving global supply picture is weighing on ICE Cotton futures, in addition to Australian cash markets. The market expectation is that world stocks will rise next season, as demand growth is unlikely to fully absorb the additional global supplies. Speculators are playing a role in the current bearish market dynamics, given the large net short position they are holding on ICE Cotton futures. However, the potential for weather-related issues to arise (especially in Texas and the Delta) mean that short covering is possible.
World Farming Agriculture and Commodity news - Short update - 5th August 2024
Ghana's cocoa sector faces a long-term threat from worsening swollen shoot disease as recent data indicates the world's second largest grower of the bean is not managing to contain the outbreak, traders and experts said.
Spread by small insects called mealybugs that eat leaves, buds and flowers, swollen shoot initially allows trees to produce, but at a reduced rate. After five to 10 years however, it kills them.
The cocoa crop in Ghana has fallen for three straight seasons to a 20 year low, and while output next season is expected to improve thanks to benign weather, the sector's long term decline remains intact.
A Reuters poll issued on Wednesday projected next season's crop at 640,000 tons, sharply up from the prior season's 450,000 but still far below the record of more than one million tons in the 2020/21 season.
"Swollen shoot is getting worse in Ghana, it's not going away," said Steve Wateridge, a veteran world expert on cocoa and head of research at Tropical Research Services by Expana.
Another cocoa consultant told Reuters that even if Ghana's crop recovers next season as expected, the recovery will not be sustained if the country is unable to tackle the disease.
The viral disease is endemic to Ghana but its spread has accelerated over the past few years as the country lacks the resources to tackle it amid its economic crisis. To combat swollen shoot, trees must be ripped out and burnt before cocoa can be replanted.
Ghana's last nationwide survey in 2023 showed 31% of total cocoa growing land was infected with swollen shoot versus 17% in 2017, according to cocoa trade publications citing data from industry regulator
Moreover, a Cocobod survey conducted this year in Western North, the third largest of the country's seven cocoa regions, showed an infection rate of 81%. This compares with a 42% infection rate in 2020, Ghana-based Commodity Monitor Ltd's Moses Atta said, citing Cocobod data.
Atta said Western North's rising infection rate is deeply concerning because it shows the disease is likely worsening nationwide, even if the outbreak is less severe in other regions.
Cocobod said it has made huge strides tackling the disease, with a "significant percentage" of farms treated and replanted nationwide. The treated farms have not yet been captured by the data, according to a Cocobod source.
A chief farmer in Western North confirmed the government has been treating farms in the region, and said he is cautiously optimistic about next season's output as a result.
Cocobod told Reuters in February it has treated 67,000 hectares for swollen shoot since 2017, leaving another 590,000 still to be treated out of a total 1.9 million hectare production area.
Swollen shoot decimated Ghana's crop in the 1960s and 1970s, reducing production by 50 per cent at a time when the country was the world's largest grower of the chocolate ingredient.
