(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

China’s farmers switch to soy amid corn market reform

Reuters — Wang Zhonghai, a 49-year-old farmer in China’s top corn producing province of Heilongjiang, plans to switch 80 per cent of his land to cultivate soybeans this year as the government ends a near-decade-old corn price support scheme. China announced last week it will stop its corn stockpiling program and allow markets to set […] Read more



China expected to boost imports of protein-rich wheat

Beijing/Singapore | Reuters — Chinese wheat buyers are likely to step up imports of higher quality grains to meet a domestic shortfall even though total overseas purchases are forecast to tumble this year due to bumper production at home, analysts and traders said. China, the world’s biggest wheat producer and consumer, has seen output climb […] Read more


(Country Guide file photo)

Asia’s mills eye Canada’s wheat as Australian supply slows

Singapore | Reuters — Asian flour millers are looking at buying Canadian spring wheat for shipment early next year as supplies from drought-hit Australia are likely to remain slow, traders said. Canadian western red spring wheat is being offered at around $345 a tonne, including cost and freight, nearly unchanged from last week, while Australia […] Read more

Australian farmers hold back wheat sales as dryness curbs yields

Reuters — Australian farmers are holding back wheat crop sales as dryness in parts of the country’s eastern grain belt cuts yields, raising the likelihood for a boost to global prices that have dropped 13 per cent this year. Farmers in the world’s fourth biggest wheat exporter have sold only about a quarter of this […] Read more