At $493.1 million, Vietnam’s pepper export value is up year-on-year (y-o-y) in the five months of 2024, the Vietnam News Agency reports.   This increase in revenue was however ill-matched by a yearly export volume decrement of 13.2% to 114,424 tonnes.  Prices Buoy Vietnam’s Pepper Export Value  Handsome international prices of pepper however propped the fall in volume and ensured an export value...

A legislation in New York State has prohibited the fishing of horseshoe crabs for reasons other than educational studies.  Fishing quotas will only apply to scientific education purposes but not for biomedicine or commerce. This effectively means that the long-lived “vulnerable-to-extinction” species will spawn freely this summer in the state.  According to a June 7, 2024 press release, the passing of...

Ivory Coast on June 7, 2024 temporarily halted unprocessed cocoa bean exports, edging the international cocoa price to a five-week peak. National regulator Le Conseil du Café-Cacao informed export firms with no grinding facilities that they wouldn’t buy cocoa beans till end June.  At the same time, cocoa futures for July delivery in London and New York witnessed a daily price...

The world’s food prices continued to rise for three consecutive months in May 2024 following upshot cereal and dairy prices despite low-priced vegetable oils. According to the FAO Food Price Index (FPPI) report of June 7, 2024, May’s food prices edged those of April by 0.9%. At 120.4 points, May’s FPPI was 1.1 points more than April’s upward revision of 119.3 points. However,...

The rose harvest in Kazanlak, Bulgaria has begun early June in the famous Rose Valley, the starting point of premium rose oil. For 2024, rising temperatures have propelled an early harvest as pickers worry a rainfall-heatwave combination may impact yields. But this has not prevented thousands of sightseers from coming from around the world to see the rose-picking event. According to the Associated Press, Rose Valley...

The Pacific Northwest cherry harvest in Washington, Utah, Oregon, Idaho and Montana began bravely early June 2024 with high yields.  Farmers are already reporting strong volumes of high-quality cherries as a result of fair weather during the spring-growing phase. The regional harvest organizer, Northwest Cherries, predicts an output of 17 to 18 million 20-pound boxes of cherries.   Sweet Cherries’ Capital Almost all this...

A June 2024 cattle auction in Brazil has lately crowned Viatina-19 as the world’s most expensive cow, worth 21 million reais (4.3 million).  A hardy snow-white cow, Viatina-19 FIV Mara Movéis fetched $1.44 million for a partial share at a Sâo Paulo auction.  The 2,400-pound cow boasts triple ownership but only one entity sold its share. This means that its total worth is over $4.3...

South Africa is free of citrus greening disease or huánglóngbíng (HLB) despite recent reports of its spotting in Eastern Cape province, the industry says.  Selina Wamucii got an insider look at the clarification statement by Justin Chadwick, CEO of the Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa. It reads as follows: “HLB (Huanglongbing or Asian Citrus Greening, and sometimes casually referred to as...

Forecasts show that tomato production in Mexico will increase to 3.3 million tonnes in 2024. This at a time when the U.S. market wants to check cross-border “price dumping” of Mexico’s tomatoes through tariffs.  USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) reported on June 4, 2024 that it expects Mexico’s production to increase by 2% over 2023’s 3.22 million tonnes. FAS cited climate change...

Peru’s organic coffee output is to grow by 7% in the 2024-25 season despite leaf rust disease problems. According to USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), production will peak at 4.22 million 60-kg bags, above 2023-24’s 4.2 million bags. Exports will also increase by 6%, to reach 4.07 60-kg million bags, up from 2023-24’s 4.06 million bags. The main drivers of production are the reigning high...