China brought in 600,000 tonnes of barley in July, down 16.2 percent from the previous year.  Photo: Thinkstock

China’s July grain imports plunge as tariffs on U.S. supplies bite

Beijing | Reuters – China’s grain imports plunged in July after Beijing imposed hefty tariffs on shipments from the United States as part of its trade conflict and as rising international prices curbed buying, customs data showed on Thursday. China brought in 220,000 tonnes of sorghum in July, down 62.5 percent from 588,364 tonnes a year ago, data from […] Read more


Photo: File/Reuters

China reports 1st African swine fever outbreak, culls 1,000 hogs

Beijing | Reuters – China reported its first outbreak of the deadly African swine fever (ASF) on Friday, as authorities in Liaoning province in the country’s northeast culled almost 1,000 hogs and rushed to control the highly contagious disease. News of the infection will stoke concern about its spread in the world’s largest pig herd, and possibly […] Read more




U.S. seen growing one of the smallest cotton crops in decades

Reading Time: < 1 minute U.S. farmers will plant one of the smallest cotton crops in two decades in 2013 as the fibre loses a battle for acreage to the more buoyant grains market, according to a Thomson Reuters poll. Ahead of the Beltwide Cotton conference here this week, an informal survey of market participants showed that American farmers are […] Read more