The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP): what's in a name?

Feta cheese has long been a favourite of mine. It augments, lifts up, enhances any salad or pizza to a mouth-watering experience!

Feta, and other foods, are the sticking points in negotiations over a free trade agreement called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). US Secretary of State for Agriculture Tom Vilsack says that feta should be seen a process, not a place. European officials disagree, and so the spats continue over Geographical indications (GIs).

South Africa has had its experience over these GIs when it came to marketing wine overseas, with various terms long used (like "champagne") suddenly contentious.

Find the article "EU, US face food labelling spat in TTIP talks" here.

2014 AMT programme finalised

The programme for the annual Agrimark Trends (AMT) conference has been finalised.

Amongst the usual analyses of political, economic, financial and climatic data and patterns, this year includes a slot by Philip Lymbery, author of Farmageddon: The True Cost of Cheap Meat.

The AMT is billed as "one of the premier agribusiness networking opportunities where business leaders and policy makers meet to shape the future of the South African agribusiness industry."

There are early bird discounts for booking and payment by the end of June 2014. Find information and a booking form here, or in Afrikaans here.

South Africa expects one of its biggest maize (corn) crops

Word from the national Crop Estimates Committee is that this year will see the largest maize crop in more than three decades. Find these estimates on the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) website.

This country is not a major producer in international terms and farmers are price takers. Internationally, there are already adequate supplies of maize, wheat and soya, and a bumper crop at home will mean pressure on prices paid to grain producers. Those who have contracts in place will breathe a sigh of relief. Others will store maize until prices are better.

Of course this is all good news for livestock farmers though (grain is a component of animal feeds).

Find the commodity trading and Grain storage & handling chapters in The Agri Handbook

Farmers paid-to-plant-peas-and-beans controversy

Farmers are custodians over much of the countryside and their nation's biodiversity. Should there be a financial incentive for them to do this function? What if looking after the country's biodiversity cuts across their being profitable?

Wonderful ideas like conservancies exist for farmers to conserve the land whilst earning a living. However there are also areas of controversy like dealing with stock losses owing to wildlife (like rooikat/caracul and jakkal) on the farm. Compare the websites of role players like the Predation Management Forum and the Landmark Foundation to get an idea of the different viewpoints. This evening there is a report, EU wildlife grants will be used to grow crops, that is also generating debate.  

How do farmers in modern agriculture remain profitable whilst factoring in issues like biodiversity?

Find the section on resources and good agricultural practice in The Agri Handbook. It is opened by the first chapter, Biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Juicy maggots

There are places in the world where people eat insects, yes ... But why not feed insects to the usual livestock - fish, chickens and so on?

AgriProtein, a South African company, and others in the USA, France and Canada are going into the farming of flies full time! Maggots come from flies, of course, and maggots are the equivalent of juicy steaks for poultry and other livestock! Yum yum! Imagine ... "Farming with flies". That has quite a ring about it!

Find the article Are maggots the future of food? or check out the AgriProtein website.