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November 2, 2011
· Corporate role in food security on the rise
· Drought wilts Texas winter veggie outlook
· Colorado takes action on melon safety
· Big bucks and lobbyists enter GPS fray
· Potash Corp. profits soar on strong demand
Corporate role in food security on the rise
The increased role has come at a time government involvement is hampered by the global financial crisis and led to fears a private sector-led expansion may focus on products with profit potential and neglect more effective alternatives.
"Corporates are getting worried about supply issues they are seeing and are now going upstream. They are working with farmers, working with trading companies," Cyrille Filott, who heads European food and agribusiness research for Rabobank said.
"They want to increase productivity...You see Nestle planting cocoa trees, there are many examples we are seeing where corporates are actively playing a role," he said at the CropWorld 2011 conference.
Filott told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference that many food companies in 2008 and again this year were hit by a spike in prices and had started to think about how to get more control over increasingly scarce commodities.
"Unilever as an example are interested in soybeans and are setting up their own supply chain and having control over production, crushing, the whole thing," he said.
Phil Bloomer, Director of Campaigns and Policies at charity Oxfam said, however, private companies may neglect valuable options which do not generate profits.
"Many poor farmers gain most by the introduction of new techniques rather than simply new technologies. Many private sector companies are not interested because there is not a package of techniques you can sell," he said.
Food demand is increasing as the global population continues to expand with the 7 billionth person expected to be born on Monday and some forecasting it could rise to 9 billion or above over the next few decades.
MORE FOOD NEEDED
"We need to produce more food. The figures are
debatable but we clearly need at least 50 percent more food in the next two or
three decades," said Ian Crute, chief scientist
at
Governments are investing in research and development but the global financial crisis has provided a challenge.
"I cannot in all honesty say there is going to be any
significant increase in spending on research, not in this spending round. The
country is broke, let's face up to it,"
Rabobank's Filott said there was a "lack of urgency at the government level."
"From government it is not high on the agenda except in
Hans Herren, president of think tank the Millenium Institute, expressed concern about the leading role played by the private sector.
"We are dealing with a human right here, food. How can you leave all the new ideas in the private sector," he said.
Filott said private investment could have a key role in expanding and upgrading storage, particularly given the rising value of food.
"I know that some investment funds are looking into storage because they see an immediate return," he said.
In some countries, about 10 to 15 percent of food crops can be wasted in the very early stages due partly to poor storage and losses mount out as food moves along the supply chain.
"It is important we tackle the amount of food wasted.
It has been estimated that as much as 30 percent of all food grown worldwide may
be lost or wasted,"
"I think we have a moral obligation to help to reduce this waste by deploying existing technologies on storage and infrastructure to low income countries," he added.
Drought wilts Texas
(cron.com)
– This year, the Winter Garden area southwest of
But next year, if rain does not arrive by spring, the region will be decimated.
Vegetable plantings in the four-county area of the Winter Garden have slipped almost 22 percent this fall, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said, and yields could slip if more water wells go dry.
J Carnes, president of Winter Garden Produce in Uvalde, said some producers confronted with irrigation limits have decided against planting vegetables to save water for higher-priced corn, cotton and other crops planted in the spring.
Winter Garden Produce reduced its vegetable acreage only slightly this fall, but Carnes said if the drought does not break, the company will cut back severely next year.
And he won't be the only one. Carnes said the spring crops - corn, cotton, etc. - use vastly more water, which, according to current forecasts, will not be around next year.
"If it doesn't rain until spring, it could be total Armageddon," he said.
The USDA reports that the acreage in Frio,
In
Small producers Juan and Dora Peralta have cut their
vegetable plantings near Natalia by a third because they lost irrigation water
from
Large producers like David Jones who owns J&B Farms near Hondo and is a partner in Jack's Produce Co. in Pearsall, haven't been spared, either. He paid extra to lease water rights when some of his water wells started to dry up, but that did get him enough water to produce the vegetables he planned on this year.
"I'll have a well-below-average year on production," said Jones, who estimates his cabbage and sweet corn plantings to be less than half of normal. "Hopefully, the price will make up for it."
Larry Stein, Texas AgriLife
Extension Service horticulturalist for southwest
"I don't think it's going to be a bust," said Stein.
Farmers in the Rio Grande Valley, the state's other key vegetable-producing region, have not been plagued with the water shortages that have hit Winter Garden growers, and produce from there could supplement local shortages.
Consumers who favor locally grown produce may pay a higher
price if area vegetable production falls much, said Nando
Gonzalez, a partner in River City Produce. But
Colorado
(Chieftain.com)
– An aggressive campaign to market safe Rocky Ford (
“We’re working hard
to organize a group of growers — with 100 percent participation — to figure out
some sort of protocol to ensure the safety of the crop,” Salazar said. “The
growers may decide on some kind of food safety class we can offer through
The campaign may result in a “Rocky Ford certified label for cantaloupe,” Salazar said.
“The campaign should produce two results: To show that growers are committed to meet safety requirements and to regain consumer confidence that Rocky Ford cantaloupes are the best in the world.”
In September, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment warned that cantaloupes “from the Rocky Ford region” were suspect in the listeria outbreak.
An investigation by the federal Food and Drug Administration blamed unsanitary conditions at Jensen Farms near Holly for the listeria contamination, which to date has been blamed for 28 deaths and 133 people infected across 26 states. “In addition, one woman pregnant at the time of illness had a miscarriage,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday.
Officials say not
one farm in the
Salazar said a precedent for a state-backed food safety programs already exists.
“The potato growers association has such a system in place. It protects them because there is an independent state agency that says when shipped, these are state-certified potatoes,” he said.
Tracy Vanderpool, chief of the state’s fruit and vegetable inspection service, said potato growers are required by state law to have their produce inspected and a grade assigned to the potatoes.
“The farmers work under a marketing order agreement,” Vanderpool said Monday from his office in Monte Vista. “The growers get together and market their product together instead of competing with each other.”
Retailers sometimes require independent inspections, he said.
“State inspectors provide third-party food safety audits of anyone who requests it. Potato producers are our biggest customer,” he said. “Growers can also request a private audit firm like Primus do it.”
Vanderpool said the food safety audits are voluntary.
“Grade inspections are mandatory because of state law.”
Salazar emphasized that cantaloupe growers must take the initiative in mounting a defense against unsafe products.
“I am here as a facilitator. We are in the process of organizing a meeting with growers, ag staff, educators and others,” Salazar said. “Whatever resources we have will be used in the safety campaign, but it must be driven by the industry of growers.
“There is a lot of support out there from growers. They believe it will help them.”
Big bucks and lobbyists enter GPS fray
(The Washington Post) – With the showdown heating up between Reston-based wireless broadband firm LightSquared and a broad coalition of players in the global positioning system industry, both sides are lining up lobbyists to sway lawmakers.
At issue is LightSquared’s effort to expand its mobile broadband network — a move opposed by the GPS industry led by the Coalition to Save Our GPS, a group co-founded by Trimble Nagivation that represents 78 technology companies, airlines and transportation associations. The opponents say LightSquared would disrupt GPS signals to millions of receivers.
This month, LightSquared hired four new firms to lobby on
its behalf. Trimble, Garmin and John Deere (registered as Deere & Company,
which uses GPS in agriculture and construction equipment) are pouring resources
into their own army of lobbyists. Since January, Trimble has spent $840,000 in
lobbying fees related to the LightSquared spectrum issue — including nearly
$330,000 in the third quarter alone — according to records filed with the
Senate. Most of Trimble’s lobbying on spectrum interference is through one of
The Coalition to Save Our GPS, Trimble, John Deere and Garmin did not return requests for comment.
TRIMBLE
Akin Gump
Vic Fazio, the former Democratic congressman from
Joel Jankowsky is one of three senior executive partners at Akin Gump, which he joined in 1977. His emphasis is in telecommunications and technology-related issues.
Roger Murry, another Parven Pomper Strategies lobbyist, was an assistant to Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) and Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.).
Bill Paxon, a five-term
Paul Scolese was Paxon’s assistant and legislative director and later a staffer on the House Committee on Commerce. He lobbies on energy, telecommunications and technology.
Arshi Siddiqu
i split the past decade between
Caliner Strategies
Paul Carliner was an adviser to Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), legislative assistant to Sen. George J. Mitchell (D-Maine), staff director for the Senate Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, and clerk for the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Veteran Affairs, Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies.
Innovative Federal Strategies
Le titia White was a longtime staffer to former House Appropriations chairman Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) until 2003, when she joined lobbying firm Copeland, Lowery & Jacquez. She specializes in high tech and defense.
David Kilian, another former Copeland Lowery lobbyist, was a staffer for the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.
Heather Hennessey is a former chief of staff and legislative director for Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) and previously worked at Copeland Lowery.
GARMIN
Dow Lohnes
Norman Lent III previously lobbied at Lent Scrivner & Roth, where he focused on energy, environment, telecommunications and health care. Prior to that, he was an attorney at Washington law firm Dyer, Ellis, Joseph & Mills (which in 2003 joined the larger Blank Rome), where he specialized in health care, maritime transportation and energy law; Lent has also served as assistant to Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.), focusing on telecommunications issues.
John Deere
John Rauber and William Behan are both longtime in-house lobbyists at Deere & Co.
Potash Corp. profits soar on strong demand
(Reuters) – Potash Corp., the world's top fertilizer maker, said its quarterly profit more than doubled, as strong grain prices boosted demand for its crop nutrient products.
Despite widespread economic concerns during the quarter, the push to capitalize on strong crop prices continued to support demand for fertilizer around the globe, the company said.
Potash Corp. said offshore demand for its namesake nutrient remained robust in the quarter, while Potash prices also rose, reflecting tight market conditions.
The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based company said net income was $826 million, or 94 cents a share, up from $343 million, or 38 cents a share, a year earlier.
Revenue rose 47 percent to $2.32 billion, on the back of strong demand and higher prices across its potash, phosphate and nitrogen businesses, the company said.
Gross profit reached $1.1 billion, double the $550 million generated a year earlier.
The company expects 2011 earnings of between $3.40 and $3.80 a share. Analysts, on average, have forecast earnings of $3.75, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Some investors may be disappointed that the company maintained its full-year guidance despite strong prices, Dahlman Rose analyst Charles Neivert said in a note to clients.
North American potash markets look "extraordinarily strong" for 2012, chief executive Bill Doyle said in a conference call.
"The big issue for everyone to understand is we're going to have an extraordinarily tight market because of the constraint on the production side."
The company is boosting potash-production capacity at
several sites, but expansion at its
Warm autumn weather has also hampered production at the
company's
Potash Corp's U.S.-listed shares were up 3 percent at $51.05 Thursday afternoon, while its Toronto-listed shares gained 1.8 percent at C$50.65.
MARKET CONDITIONS
Potash Corp said that although fertilizer dealers around the world were acting prudently to minimize their risks and inventories, robust demand continued to pressure global potash supplies.
"We believe most producers have been operating at or near their full capabilities in an attempt to keep pace," the company said.
Potash Corp. also tried to allay investor concerns about the pullback and heightened volatility in grain prices, arguing that low global grain inventories will continue to support high crop prices in the near-term.
The
"Six-dollar corn is nirvana for me," Doyle said, when asked if farmers might balk at high fertilizer prices with corn easing off highs. "(Farmers) just lick their chops at $6 corn. I don't see any farmer backing off from fertilizer."
The company expects global potash shipments to be approximately 57 million tonnes in 2011, with shipments ranging between 58 million and 60 million tonnes in 2012. It had earlier forecast 2011 potash shipments of between 55 million and 60 million tonnes.
Price negotiations between Canpotex,
the offshore potash sales agency for Potash Corp, Mosaic Co and Agrium Inc , and key buyer
Potash Corp. trimmed its 2011 gross profit target from its potash business due to slightly lower than projected shipments. But the company raised its gross profit expectations from its phosphate and nitrogen businesses by an equivalent amount, offsetting the slight disappointment on the potash side.
End Transmission