Egypt Wheat Production Illustrates Global Supply Issues
Southeast Ag Net – 9/5/2018
Scientists, including many at the University of Florida, are trying to figure out how to feed 10 billion people worldwide by 2050. As they do, some UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers are studying how arid nations can produce enough crops to feed themselves and to avoid civil protests or even war. Egypt, for instance, lacks sufficient water to grow enough wheat, forcing the country to import half of that type of grain, UF/IFAS researchers say. A new UF/IFAS-led study shows Egypt’s wheat production will likely be insufficient in 20 to 25 years.
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NAFTA Talks Make Progress; U.S., Canadian Officials Work Into Night
Reuters – 9/5/2018
The United States and Canada have made progress in talks to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement, and officials from the two sides will work together into the night to flesh out areas for further discussion, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Wednesday. Freeland sounded upbeat as she emerged from a day of talks with top U.S. trade negotiator Robert Lighthizer, although she cautioned that no trade deal was done until the last issue was nailed down.
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Canada Braves Trump’s Threats and Insults in Hopes of Closing NAFTA Deal
The Washington Post – 9/5/2018
Negotiations over a new North American trade deal resumed Wednesday in Washington, clouded by uncertainty over Canadian reaction to President Trump’s hardball negotiating style. Few analysts expect a quick resolution to the talks, which have blown through a series of self-imposed deadlines over the past year. The Trump administration on Friday notified Congress that it intended by the end of November to sign a new trade deal “with Mexico — and with Canada if it is willing.” U.S. and Canadian diplomats now are trying to resolve a host of issues that have bedeviled their efforts to overhaul the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement. The talks face an apparent deadline of the end of this month, when the administration must send the official text of any proposed deal to Capitol Hill.
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Kansas Wheat Commission to Fund Gene Editing Research at K-State
KTIC – 9/5/2018
The Kansas Wheat Commission has announced that it is putting its support behind a technology being advanced at Kansas State University and that one researcher says will bring “many new discoveries” in improving wheat. The university has been working with wheat gene editing since 2014, and recently published findings of a study in which they successfully increased seed size in a cultivar of wheat. Their work was published Aug. 22 in the journal, Theoretical and Applied Genetics. “This is our first product that shows that the system works and that we can effectively apply it and affect a trait in wheat in a positive way,” said Eduard Akhunov, K-State professor of wheat genetics and pathology.
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Tariffs Have Brought In $3.5 Billion To U.S. Treasury
Ag Week – 9/4/2018
Tariffs enacted by the Trump Administration have brought in more than $3.5 billion so far, through Aug. 28. The money goes into the general fund of the U.S. Treasury. Heitkamp has introduced legislation to direct funds collected from tariffs on imported goods toward trade promotion programs that help U.S. farmers and ranchers, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., has introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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Source: U.S. Wheat Associates