Food & Farm News

Audio Actuality

Mexico reopening its borders to U.S. poultry products

Mexico to resume poultry imports from state

A market will reopen for California poultry farmers this fall, when Mexico again allows imports of U.S. poultry. Mexico had been a big market for California farmers, before it imposed the ban two years ago after poultry-disease outbreaks in several states. Beginning in October, farmers from California and the other states may resume selling eggs, meat, young turkeys and chickens to Mexico.

Minnesota co-op to purchase Holly Sugar

Sugar-beet farmers say they're optimistic about the sale of a large sugar processor. A Minnesota-based cooperative will purchase Holly Sugar, which operates sugar plants in Brawley and Mendota, plus a distribution center in Tracy. The California Beet Growers Association says it will begin contract talks next week with Holly Sugar's new owner, Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar. The contract will determine what farmers earn for sugar next year.

No end in sight for high diesel fuel prices

Analysts say there's little reason to believe that diesel fuel prices will ease any time soon. That's disappointing news for farmers who hoped for fuel-price relief before the height of harvest for cotton, rice and other crops. The California Energy Commission says supplies of diesel fuel remain at a five-year low, even though all the state's refineries are now operating at capacity. And, a commission analyst says underlying crude-oil prices may continue to rise.

Studies test potential new packaging material

Future packaging for produce and other products may be derived from a by-product of biodiesel fuel. Government researchers say the by-product, called glycerol, is now discarded after the manufacture of biodiesel. They combined glycerol with citric acid, resulting in a "biodegradable polyester" that may prove useful as a packaging material. Studies have begun to test that theory.

Top