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- Group honors student trio for hard work
Date: Thursday, July 17, 2008. By Sophia Pino, The Miami Herald
The Redland Citizens Association honors three students striving to improve local farming by setting up a scholarship in the name of the late 'Strawberry King,' Charlie Burr.
Tara Tarnowski, Marcio Pereira and Isaya Kisekka are three researchers with a common goal: improving South Florida agriculture. Friends, family and local officials converged upon Burr's Berry Farm in The Redland to honor the three students with a grant to aid them in the pursuit of their research in subtropical agriculture. More>>- Fed's challenge: Balance the economy
Date: Tuesday, June 17, 2008. By Kevin G. Hall, The Miami Herald
The tug of economic forces toward both recession and inflation have the Federal Reserve in a regulatory bind.
Not since the 1970s has the U.S. economy faced such an ugly combination of a persistent energy shock, a looming recession threat, and menacing inflation that stays stubbornly high -- even in the face of a screeching slowdown in growth. More>>- Global food crisis: Latin America has both abundance and want
Date: Sunday, June 15, 2008. By Pamela Cox, The Miami Herald
Latin American and Caribbean countries face a critical paradox. On the one hand, the region has a rich agricultural tradition, and several countries are among the world's largest food exporters.
As world leaders left the Rome summit with plans to aid the world's poor struggling with record food prices, it is important to consider some unique characteristics of Latin American and Caribbean countries. High commodity prices present an opportunity for the region to increase food supply while confronting the urgent challenge to help those most in need during this crisis. More>>- Latin, Caribbean leaders prepare for the economic worst
Date: Wednesday, April 9, 2008. By Jane Bussey and Jacqueline Charles, The Miami Herald
Latin American and Caribbean countries are bracing for repercussions from a U.S. slowdown while urging the Inter-American Development Bank to find ways to boost future lending for countries that may need potential rescues.
The Dominican Republic is boosting its foreign reserves; Ecuador -- which resisted the fading Washington prescription of economic restructuring -- has stretched out debt payments to free up more money for immediate needs; while Chile has been setting aside its windfall copper profits in a national piggy bank. More>>- Treasury secretary praises Latin economies
Date: Tuesday, April 8, 2008. By The Miami Herald
Hemispheric leaders, meeting in Miami Beach, got few answers from the U.S. on how their economies might weather a financial fallout.
With the U.S. economy nearing or in recession, financial leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean hoped U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's speech Monday in Miami Beach might provide insight on how their economies will be affected. More>>- Food prices on rise worldwide
Date: Sunday, March 30, 2008. By Katherine Corcoran, Associated Press
Freak weather is a factor. But so are dramatic changes in the global economy, including higher oil prices, lower food reserves and growing consumer demand in China and India.
Soaring grocery bills aren't just a distressing trend that U.S. consumers are facing. From subsistence farmers eating rice in Ecuador to gourmands feasting on escargot in France, consumers worldwide face rising food prices in what analysts call a perfect storm of adverse conditions and new trends. More>>- The mounting cost of food
Date: Sunday, March 30, 2008. By Betsy Blaney, Associated Press
One more reason to cut the carbs: Record-high wheat and grain prices are hitting everything from pasta to pizza.
The price of wheat has more than tripled during the past 10 months, making Americans' daily bread -- and bagels and pizza and pasta -- feel a little likAnd baked goods aren't the only ones getting more expensive: Experts expect about 80 percent of grocery prices will spike, too, and could remain steep for years because wheat and other grains are used to feed cattle, poultry and dairy cows. More>>- Argentine farmers return to barricades
Date: Saturday, March 29, 2008. By Bill Cormier, Associated Press
Farmworkers resumed highway blockades in four rural provinces -- Entre Rios, Cordoba, Santa Fe and Chaco.
Farmers chafing at export taxes on their crops set up new blockades of rural highways on Saturday after talks failed to end a dispute that has halted grain exports and emptied supermarket shelves of meat. More>>- Argentine farm protest enters third week
Date: Thursday, March 27, 2008. By Bill Cormier, Associated Press
Striking farmers built new highway blockades around Argentina's agricultural heartland Wednesday in a standoff with the president over tax increases on major export crops.
The nationwide farm and ranch strike headed into a third week, all but paralyzing one of the leading world exporters of soybeans, beef and wheat. There were no reports of major violence despite tension and fisticuffs at one barricade and huge traffic jams elsewhere. More>>- Argentine farmers protest export tax hike
Date: Wednesday, March 26, 2008. By Jack Chang and Vinod Sreeharsha, McClatchy News Service
Argentine farmers angrily protested an increase in export taxes by mounting roadblocks and snarling traffic in parts of the country.
Tensions have simmered since former President Néstor Kirchner began imposing export bans two years ago on some cuts of beef to control rising prices. Price controls and export bans on wheat and other products followed, further enraging farmers. More>>- Argentine farm strike tests president
Date: Wednesday, March 26, 2008. By Bill Cormier, Associated Press
South America's second-largest economy - a leading exporter of soybeans, beef and wheat - is in full farmbelt rebellion over a new sliding-scale increase in export taxes.
President Cristina Fernandez refused to ease tax hikes on agricultural exports Tuesday, facing down angry farmers embroiled in a nationwide strike that has all but halted production in one of the world's biggest beef-exporting nations. More>>- Argentine farmers lash out at government restrictions
Date: Tuesday, March 25, 2008. By Jack Chang and Vinod Sreeharsha, McClatchy News Service
Farmers set up roadblocks and refused to release their production to protest an export tax increase on some products.
Government officials counter that farmers have earned record profits as international commodity prices soared over the past two years and can afford to pay the higher taxes. The new system raises taxes when prices rise and reduces them when prices fall. More>>- 'Yes, we are in a recession' -- just ask your neighbor
Date: Friday, March 21, 2008. By Scott Andron, The Miami Herald
Economists are finally starting to figure out what we working stiffs have known for a while: The recession is already here.
For months, many economists believed neither South Florida nor the nation was in a recession or likely to enter one soon. But in the last few weeks, those optimistic assessments have collided with new statistics showing record-high oil prices and vanishing jobs amid the escalating real estate meltdown. More>>- Study: Ethanol may add to global warming
Date: Friday, February 8, 2008. By H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press
The widespread use of ethanol from corn could result in nearly twice the greenhouse gas emissions as the gasoline it would replace because of expected land-use changes.
The researchers said that past studies showing the benefits of ethanol in combating climate change have not taken into account almost certain changes in land use worldwide if ethanol from corn - and in the future from other feedstocks such as switchgrass - become a prized commodity. More>>- Xethanol Announces Grant Application for Citrus Waste to Ethanol Production
Date: Tuesday, December 18, 2007. By The Miami Herald
Xethanol intends to build a demonstration plant for converting citrus peel waste into ethanol.
Xethanol Corporation (AMEX: XNL), a renewable energy company, today announced that its subsidiary Southeast Biofuels LLC has filed a grant application with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to expand the company's work on converting waste to energy, using citrus waste as the raw material and converting it into ethanol. More>>- Strong economic growth continues in Latin America
Date: Friday, December 14, 2007. By Phil Long, The Miami Herald
Latin America and the Caribbean mark the fifth year of strong economic expansion, expected to continue next year.
Economies in Latin America and the Caribbean are headed into their sixth consecutive year of strong growth in 2008, raising prospects they will be cushioned from the financial turbulence sweeping the globe. More>>- Biofuels generate interest
Date: Thursday, December 6, 2007. By Jane Bussey and Jacqueline Charles, The Miami Herald
The 31st annual Miami Conference on the Caribbean Basin focused on how the region can benefit from an increase in biofuel production.
Biofuels once had the connotation of an energy source of the future. But extracting energy from sugar cane, corn, palm oil, and grasses has rapidly become an industry of the present and an opportunity for Central American and Caribbean nations. More>>- U.S. economy No. 1 again
Date: Wednesday, October 31, 2007. By Eliane Engeler, Associated Press
The World Economic Forum ranked the United States as the most competitive economy in the world, followed by Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Finland.
The United States has regained its status as the world's most competitive economy thanks to strong innovation and excellent universities, according to a survey released Wednesday by the World Economic Forum. More>>- Biofuel is the region's next promising venture
Date: Sunday, September 16, 2007. By Tyler Bridges, The Miami Herald
Most Latin American and Caribbean countries are rushing forward with plans to begin exporting biofuels by 2010, undeterred that Brazil has jumped far ahead with its production of ethanol.
Companies in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and El Salvador are importing sugar cane-based ethanol from Brazil, processing it and then shipping it duty-free to the United States, under the Caribbean Basin Initiative and the Central America Free Trade Agreement. More>>- Ethanol debuts in South Florida
Date: Thursday, September 13, 2007. By Martha Brannigan, The Miami Herald
A U Gas station has made E85 fuel publicly available for the first time in South Florida.
The U Gas station near the Mall of the Americas in Miami-Dade County plans to begin selling E85 fuel -- an ethanol gasoline mixture -- for flex-fuel vehicles today. That makes it the first service station in South Florida to offer E85 to the public. More>>- Brazil wants probe of U.S. farm aid
Date: Wednesday, September 12, 2007. By Bradley S. Klapper, Associated Press
Brazil will ask the World Trade Organization for a formal investigation of U.S. farm subsidy programs, which it says includes payments for ethanol production.
The dispute could become a major case for the global commerce body, which has largely steered clear of energy issues in its 12-year history. More>>- Water woes could mean more limits
Date: Tuesday, September 11, 2007. By Curtis Morgan, The Miami Herald
With Lake Okeechobee remaining low, water managers warn of tougher restrictions in the future.
It adds up to a case of drought déjà vu -- another looming water shortage that could be deeper than the one that cost farmers tens of millions and browned suburban yards across South Florida this year. More>>- White House hopefuls love Iowa ethanol
Date: Thursday, August 30, 2007. By Amy Lorentzen, Associated Press
Don't expect to hear much talk about farming from the presidential candidates who regularly tour Iowa, one of the nation's premier agriculture states.
At a time when demand for the corn-based fuel is soaring, support for ethanol among candidates is nearly unanimous and has largely crowded out talk of other agriculture-related issues. More>>- Ethanol makers join food vs. fuel debate
Date: Thursday, August 2, 2007. By Amy Lorentzen, Associated Press
Somebody else is profiting, and it certainly isn't the huge profits going to the Iowa corn grower.
Ethanol producers are clamoring over food industry claims that prices on everything from popcorn to soda are skyrocketing because of the rising demand for corn to make the renewable fuel. More>>- What's next? Citrus peels to ethanol
Date: Friday, July 20, 2007. By Marc Caputo and Phil Long, The Miami Herald
FPL Energy has a plan to produce cleaner fuel by turning agricultural waste -- citrus peels, specifically -- into ethanol.
FPL Energy announced plans to partner with a citrus processor and a new energy firm to build one of the world's first processing plants that would convert citrus peels into the gasoline additive ethanol. A likely spot for the plant: U.S. Sugar's Hendry County citrus facility. More>>- FPL announces plans to convert citrus waste into ethanol
Date: Thursday, July 19, 2007. By Phil Davis, Associated Press
The FPL plant is expected to produce about 4 million gallons of ethanol a year to be sold as a gasoline additive in Florida.
An FPL Group subsidiary announced plans to develop a first-of-its-kind commercial plant to convert orange and grapefruit waste into ethanol that will be sold to Florida motorists at gasoline pumps. More>>- Brazil leads the way in biofuels exports
Date: Wednesday, July 18, 2007. By Tyler Bridges, The Miami Herald
Latin American and Caribbean countries -- from Mexico and St. Kitts and Nevis to Peru -- are trying to catch the biofuels wave.
Government officials throughout the region say they want to help reduce global warming and improve public health by producing a less-polluting fuel, but the main driver is the desire to create jobs, attract new investment and increase exports to the United States and Europe. More>>- Seeds from plant said biodiesel source
Date: Tuesday, July 10, 2007. By Randall Chase, Associated Press
While the seashore mallow might be handy for a quick snack, the sturdy plant has provided Gallagher food for thought in addressing a smorgasbord of environmental problems.
Unlike soybeans and corn, which require annual plantings to feed the growing appetite for biofuels, the pink-flowered seashore mallow is both a perennial and a halophyte, or salt-tolerant plant, that grows in areas where other crops can't. More>>- Workers say pesticides made them sterile
Date: Monday, July 9, 2007. By Noaki Schwartz, Associated Press
The pesticide was designed to kill worms infesting the roots of banana trees on Latin American plantations.
At least 5,000 agricultural workers from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama have filed five lawsuits in this country claiming they were left sterile after being exposed in the 1970s to the pesticide known as DBCP. More>>- Ethanol pioneers dream big
Date: Thursday, June 28, 2007. By Jane Bussey, The Miami Herald
The giant seed and chemicals company could help them develop the ethanol market.
In the emerging and rapidly changing ethanol industry, business executives, farmers and scientists view biofuels as both a business and a mission to help reduce U.S. dependence on oil and help the environment. More>>- Brazil's strong currency -- the real -- is forcing importers to be creative
Date: Sunday, June 17, 2007. By Martha Brannigan, The Miami Herald
These days it's becoming almost impossible to import stuff from Brazil.
ince the start of 2003, the Brazilian real has gained 83 percent in value against the dollar, including 10 percent so far this year alone. That makes Brazilian imports relatively more expensive and U.S. exports to Brazil relatively cheap. More>>- Organic farmland in Europe doubles
Date: Wednesday, June 13, 2007. By Aoife White, Associated Press
European organic farmland has doubled since 1998 and the EU is implementing policies intended to spur more interest in organics.
The 15 nations that joined the European Union before 2004 -- mostly in Western Europe -- increased organic farmland from 1.8 percent of all land under the plow in 1998 to 4.1 percent in 2005. More>>- Organic dairies test organic feed supply
Date: Sunday, June 10, 2007. By Shannon Dininny, Associated Press
It comes as no surprise to anyone that the number of organic farms is booming to meet consumer demand for healthy food.
Dairy farmers are no exception. Demand for consumer organic dairy products has grown by more than 20 percent each year, a trend that is expected to continue at least in the near term. More>>- U.N. raises doubts on biofuels
Date: Tuesday, May 8, 2007. By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press
The world had both the money and technology to prevent global warming blamed in part on greenhouse gas emissions.
Biofuels like ethanol can help reduce global warming and create jobs for the rural poor, but the benefits may be offset by serious environmental problems and increased food prices for the hungry. More>>- Switch to organic crops could help poor
Date: Saturday, May 5 2007. By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press
Researchers told a U.N. conference Saturday that a large-scale shift to organic agriculture could help fight world hunger while improving the environment.
Researchers in Denmark found, however, that food security for sub-Saharan Africa would not be seriously harmed if 50 percent of agricultural land in the food exporting regions of Europe and North America were converted to organic by 2020. More>>- New Biotech product could end up in feed
Date: Thursday, May 3, 2007. By Amy Lorentzen, Associated Press
Ethanol industry leaders say a new biotech product that helps corn fight off pests could end up in exported animal feed and risk the industry's relationship with foreign markets.
The trait has not been approved for export markets but is being sold to growers in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The trait could end up in exported distillers grains, a byproduct of ethanol production that is fed to livestock. More>>- Ethanol juggernaut moves through D.C.
Date: Tuesday, May 1, 2007. By H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press
Nebraska hog producer Joy Philippi says livestock farmers "are having jitters" over ethanol, worried there won't be enough corn left for the pigs.
There is an ethanol juggernaut moving through Congress that will call for a sevenfold increase in biofuels production - almost all of it ethanol - over the next 15 years. Presidential primaries, anger over gasoline prices and global warming make ethanol a potent political issue for both parties. More>>- Drought forces consideration of year-round water restrictions
Date: Tuesday, May 1, 2007. By Brian Skoloff, Associated Press
Florida's worsening drought conditions - one of the driest periods on record - could result in year-round water restrictions for residents and farmers as forecasters say no real relief is in sight.
Lake Okeechobee, a backup drinking water source for millions in South Florida and the lifeblood of the Everglades, is nearing a record low at 9.6 feet, four feet below average. It was the first time in history that Everglades water was deemed off-limits. More>>- Why is Florida so dry?
Date: Monday, April 30, 2007. By Curtis Morgan, The Miami Herald
Some people in South Florida may have a hard time believing it, but state water managers insist that, yes, things really are serious.
''Droughts are slow-simmering water emergencies, not sudden flares like floods or hurricanes,'' said Carol Ann Wehle, executive director of the South Florida Water Management District. ''But they can be just as dangerous, because they impact our drinking-water supplies, the environment and our regional economy.'' More>>- The Americas must work to maintain their advantage in biofuels
Date: Monday, April 30, 2007. By Jane Bussey, The Miami Herald
From President Bush signing an ethanol cooperation accord with Brazil to green conferences to a flurry of alternative energy ventures, biofuels have graduated from science page to front page.
Much of the attention has focused on ethanol, a biodegradable alcohol usually distilled from sugar. Brazil is the leading producer of sugar-based ethanol while the United States makes most of its ethanol from corn. But just about any biodegradable product, from grasses to citrus waste, can be used as a fuel or gasoline additive. More>>- Chávez tries to defuse ethanol rift with Brazil
Date: Wednesday, April 18, 2007. By Fabiola Sanchez, Associated Press
Venezuela President Hugo Chávez said he is opposed to American corn-based ethanol and not Brazil's sugar-cane version.
Chávez said he does not object to ethanol, which the United States and Brazil have agreed to jointly promote, but that he does oppose U.S. plans to step up production of ethanol made from corn. He called it ''taking corn away from people and the food chain to feed automobiles -- a terrible thing.'' More>>- Brazil defends ethanol deal at summit
Date: Tuesday, April 17, 2007. By Fabiola Sanchez, Associated Press
Brazil is defending its ethanol agreement with the United States, despite efforts by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to undermine the deal using his country's vast reserves of oil and natural gas.
Chavez, a staunch critic of U.S. President George W. Bush, has warned that Brazil's deal with Washington would monopolize arable lands and starve the poor - concerns shared by his Cuban ally Fidel Castro. More>>- Chávez rips U.S.-Brazil deal
Date: Tuesday, April 17, 2007. By Fabiola Sanchez, Associated Press
Hosting an energy summit in Venezuela, President Hugo Chávez assailed an ethanol pact between the United States and Brazil.
President Hugo Chávez attempted to derail a U.S.-Brazil ethanol agreement as host of an energy summit on Monday, offering his own development plans for South America using Venezuela's vast reserves of oil and natural gas. More>>- Drought may force Glades action
Date: Tuesday, April 17, 2007. By Mary Ellen Klas, The Miami Herald
Florida's drought is poised to break records and force more drastic moves, state officials told the governor.
Florida's drought has all the makings of becoming one of the worst in state history, requiring water managers to drain water from the Everglades to pump into drinking-water wells. More>>- Global warming may put U.S. in hot water
Date: Tuesday, April 17, 2007. By Seth Borenstein, Associated Press
As the world warms, water - either too little or too much of it - is going to be the major problem for the United States.
It will be a domestic problem, with states clashing over controls of rivers, and a national security problem as water shortages and floods worsen conflicts and terrorism elsewhere in the world. More>>- Imported food rarely inspected
Date: Monday, April 16, 2007. By Andrew Bridges, Associated Press
Just 1.3 percent of imported fish, vegetables, fruit and other foods are inspected - yet those government inspections regularly reveal food unfit for human consumption.
Frozen catfish from China, beans from Belgium, jalapenos from Peru, blackberries from Guatemala, baked goods from Canada, India and the Philippines - the list of tainted food detained at the border by the Food and Drug Administration stretches on. More>>- ConocoPhillips, Tyson team on project
Date: Monday, April 16, 2007. By John Porretto, Associated Press
Oil major ConocoPhillips and Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat producer, are teaming up to produce and market diesel fuel for U.S. vehicles using beef, pork and poultry fat.
The companies said they've collaborated over the past year on ways to combine Tyson's expertise in protein chemistry and production with ConocoPhillips' processing and marketing knowledge to introduce a renewable diesel fuel with lower carbon emissions than conventional fuels. More>>- Biotech seeks to ease reliance on corn
Date: Sunday, April 15, 2007. By Paul Elias, Associated Press
The ethanol craze is putting the squeeze on corn supplies and causing food prices to rise.
Scientists are engineering microscopic bugs to extract fuel from a variety of non-corn sources, including the human urinary tract, a Russian fungus and the plant responsible for tequila. More>>- IMF economist: U.S. not facing recession
Date: Thursday, April 5, 2007. By Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press
The U.S. economy - despite a painful housing slump - should not fall into recession this year, the International Monetary Fund's top economist said Thursday.
Worries about the country's economic health have been fanned in recent weeks by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who has said he thinks there's a one-in-three chance of a recession this year. However, current Fed chief Ben Bernanke told Congress last week that he doesn't believe the economic expansion, now in its sixth year, is in danger of fizzling out. More>>- High fuel blends said crucial for ethanol
Date: Thursday, April 5, 2007. By Dirk Lammers, Associated Press
Boosting the level of ethanol used in fuel blends is crucial to continuing the alternative energy industry's rapid growth, a panel of experts said.
About half of the gasoline sold across the United States is blended with 10 percent ethanol, but that percentage needs to increase for ethanol to go from being merely an additive to a true alternative. More>>- Venezuela's Chávez makes a U-turn on ethanol
Date: Wednesday, April 4, 2007. By Phil Gunson, The Miami Herald
With President Bush supporting ethanol initiatives, some leftist leaders have altered their stances to reflect anti-U.S. policies.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez was on the ethanol bandwagon. Until, that is, President Bush jumped aboard. Now, it seems, ethanol is a threat to the poor. More>>- Castro again blasts ethanol
Date: Wednesday, April 4, 2007. By Anita Snow, Associated Press
''Where are the poor countries of the Third World going to get the minimum resources to survive?'' asked the article, Reflections of the Commander in Chief.
Cuba's government on Wednesday issued the second article in a week about ethanol production signed by Fidel Castro, with the ailing leader reiterating his charge that the use of food crops to produce biofuels for automobiles could leave the world's poor hungry. More>>- U.S., Brazil discuss free trade, ethanol
Date: Sunday, April 1, 2007. By Pablo Bachelet, The Miami Herald
Presidents Bush and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva cemented their alliance at a five-hour meeting in Camp David.
President Bush and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, leaders of the hemisphere's most populous nations, pledged to jointly tackle some of humanity's most daunting challenges: free trade and global warming. More>>- Farmers to plant more corn to meet demands
Date: Saturday, March 31, 2007. By Nafeesa Syeed And David Pitt, Associated Press
U.S. farmers are planning to grow 15 percent more corn this year to meet ethanol demands, but some warn this may increase food prices and hurt the poor.
An ethanol-fueled boom in prices will prompt American farmers to plant the most corn since the year the Allies invaded Normandy, but surging demand could mean consumers still may pay more for everything from chicken to cough syrup. More>>- Why biofuels alliance is a good idea
Date: Saturday, March 31, 2007. By Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, The Washington Post
We are launching a partnership to enhance the role of ethanol fuel in our countries' energy mixes while moving to make biodiesel fuel more widely available.
Today I will visit with President Bush at Camp David to follow up on conversations we had a few weeks ago in Sao Paulo. We have taken an important first step toward committing our countries to developing clean and renewable energy sources that will ensure the prosperity of our peoples while protecting the environment. More>>- Rice industry rejects bioscience plan
Date: Saturday, March 31, 2007. By Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, The Washington Post
The country's growers would suffer "financial devastation" if modified crops contaminate the commercial supply.
Agriculture Department officials are considering a request by California-based Ventria Bioscience to grow rice engineered to contain human proteins on hundreds of acres of farmland near Junction City, Kan. More>>- Ethanol demand boosts corn planting
Date: Friday, March 30, 2007. By Nafeesa Syeed, Associated Press
High demand from the ethanol industry and strong export sales are expected to translate this year into the biggest U.S. corn planting since 1944.
Corn planting will be up 15 percent this year to 90.5 million acres and 12.1 million more acres than in 2006. A lot of the producers in the Midwest are planting more corn and not as much soybean,even some southern farmers are choosing corn over cotton and rice. More>>- Economy expected to remain sluggish
Date: Thursday, March 29, 2007. By Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press
After ending 2006 lethargically, the economy is expected to remain sluggish most of this year as businesses and consumers cope with fallout from the painful housing slump.
According to various projections, GDP growth will remain mediocre, hovering at around the 2 percent to 2.5 percent pace in the first half of this year. In contrast, the economy's average, or trend, growth rate is closer to 3.25 percent. More>>- Economist: Biofuel may raise food prices
Date: Tuesday, March 27, 2007. By Nate Jenkins, Associated Press
Increased production of biofuels such as ethanol might help farmers' bottom lines and address climate-change concerns, but it could inflate food prices worldwide.
Corn prices have already begun to soar. A rush to turn more acres into corn production could decrease supplies of other commodities, driving up prices of them as well. More>>- Can technology help produce blossom?
Date: Thursday, March 22, 2007. By Kyle Bailey, The Miami Herald
Research underway at the Tropical Research and Education Center may one day change the way we eat, the way we drive and what farmers choose to grow.
Moving beyond pure science, the center hired Edward ''Gilly'' Evans, the first economist in the center's 76-year history. He came on board in 2004 in response to increasing globalization of the world economy. More>>- Homegrown fuel takes root
Date: Thursday, March 22, 2007. By Kyle Bailey, The Miami Herald
A car that runs on sweet potatoes? It may sound far-fetched, but scientists are hoping that one day the fuel in your gas tank will be homegrown.
The idea of extracting ethanol and bio-diesel from locally grown crops holds immense potential for South Florida farmers, said Wagner Vendrame, a researcher at the Tropical Research and Education Center. More>>- Biotechs rush to embrace alternative fuels
Date: Thursday, March 22, 2007. By Paul Elias, Associated Press
The recent push to develop alternative fuels is driving biotechnology's growth into the industrial sector.
Thousands of corporate executives and scientists gather this weekend in Orlando for an industry trade show specifically aimed at touting biotechnology's so-called third wave, industrial applications. The word on everyone's lips: ethanol. More>>- Redbay trees dying; could be in danger across Southeast
Date: Sunday, March 18, 2007. By Associated Press
A little used but ecologically important tree is dying in droves along the Southeast coast because of an insect imported through the ports from Asia.
The redbay, which typically serves as lush greenery in the 15-25 foot height range in coastal forests, is being killed by the redbay ambrosia beetle - an Asian import that likely came to the states in redbay wood used in packing crates. More>>- Consumer inflation, industrial output up
Date: Friday, March 16, 2007. By Martin Crutsinger, Associated Press
Consumer inflation spurted higher in February, reflecting rising costs for gasoline and big jumps for food, while industrial output rebounded sharply, in large part because of the biggest jump in utility production in 17 years.
The Labor Department reported Friday that its Consumer Price Index rose by 0.4 percent last month, double the January increase and the largest advance since a similar increase in December. More>>- Water cutbacks ordered for South Florida
Date: Friday, March 16, 2007. By Curtis Morgan, Georgia Tasker and Phil Long, The Miami Herald
As expected, water managers ordered limits on lawn sprinkling and most uses -- and this time the restrictions could wind up permanent.
Homes in Miami-Dade, Broward, Monroe and eastern Palm Beach counties soon could be down to two and even one sprinkling day a week if a 14-month dry spell stretches as expected into June, the normal start of the rainy season. More>>- South Florida hit by water restrictions
Date: Friday, March 16, 2007. By Jessica Gresko, Associated Press
Crops, flower beds and golf courses will have to go thirsty after restrictions on water consumption were imposed on southeast Florida amid lower than normal rainfall.
The mandatory limits come as Florida growers head into the part of the year where they need the most water. They also come as the state heads into the two months of the year that are usually the driest. More>>- Water restrictions imposed due to critical South Florida shortage
Date: Thursday, March 15, 2007. By Jessica Gresko, Associated Press
Thirsty crops, flower beds and golf courses will be some of the results of water restrictions imposed Thursday on southeast Florida.
The measures are aimed at cutting the region's water consumption by 15 percent and more in some areas. They come after more than a year of below-normal rainfall in South Florida. More>>- Ethanol's corn need will raise meat price
Date: Saturday, March 10, 2007. By Libby Quaid, Associated Press
Ethanol fuel plants' demand for corn is raising the cost of feeding livestock and, in turn, the cost of meat.
The culprit is the rising price of corn. It's now more expensive to feed livestock, because there's so much demand for corn from ethanol plants. As feeding costs rise, meat and poultry production will fall. And that in turn means higher prices at the supermarket. More>>- Farm irrigation blamed for water woes
Date: Wednesday, March 7, 2007. By Maria Sudekum Fisher, Associated Press
Some farm groups contend water is plentiful and irrigation is necessary to sustain crops and the livelihoods of the people and businesses that rely on a solid farm economy.
But environmental groups are among those who claim irrigation - particularly west of the Mississippi - has helped dry up streams and lower reservoirs, and has threatened the land's long-term viability. More>>- Plunging Lake Okeechobee could bring water cutbacks
Date: Wednesday, March 7, 2007. By Curtis Morgan, The Miami Herald
As a drought continues to takes its toll on Lake Okeechobee, water managers warn more restrictions could be on the way for South Florida.
The problem: When the huge lake, which doubles as South Florida's water barrel, drops low enough, gravity alone no longer pushes enough water into the canals that replenish irrigation systems for surrounding sugar cane fields and groundwater supplies for metropolitan Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. More>>- Gasification may be key to U.S. ethanol
Date: Sunday, March 4, 2007. By Dirk Lammers, Associated Press
The government awarded $385 million in grants last week aimed at jumpstarting ethanol production from nontraditional sources like wood chips, switchgrass and citrus peels.
President Bush set a goal in his State of the Union address of producing 20 percent of the nation's fuel supply from renewable resources by 2017. Much of those supplies will come from the conversion of corn into enthanol, fueled by a boom in new ethanol plant construction that's already under way. More>>- Bush seeks ethanol alliance with Brazil
Date: Sunday, March 4, 2007. By Alan Clendenning, Associated Press
In only a few years, Brazil has turned itself into the planet's undisputed renewable energy leader, and the highlight of Bush's visit is expected to be a new ethanol "alliance" he will forge with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The deal is still being negotiated, but the two leaders are expected to sign an accord Friday to develop standards to help turn ethanol into an internationally traded commodity, and to promote sugar cane-based ethanol production in Central America and the Caribbean to meet rising international demand. More>>- U.S., Brazil launch biofuels forum
Date: Saturday, March 3, 2007. By Alexandra Olson, Associated Press
The world's two top ethanol producers - the U.S. and Brazil - announced the creation of an international forum to help expand the global market for biofuels.
The International Biofuel Forum will meet regularly for a year to draft global standards for biofuel production, find ways to open markets and encourage investment in countries with the potential to develop the industry. More>>- Hot summer leaves honey bees lethargic
Date: Friday, March 2, 2007. By Blake Nicholson, Associated Press
Dry, hot weather soured honey production in the nation's top two beekeeping states last year, leading to one of the smallest U.S. honey crops in at least 35 years.
Aside from California, much of the country's production comes from the Upper Midwest. North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana, which produced more than a third of the nation's honey crop last year, all struggled with dry weather. More>>- Consumer prices leap more than expected in January
Date: Thursday, February 22, 2007. By Martin Crutsinger, Associated Press
Recent data showing rising inflation pressures sparked concern among investors about the Federal Reserve's next move.
Consumer prices increased at a faster pace than expected in January while a gauge of future economic activity posted a tiny increase, raising concerns about inflation and future growth. More>>- Tourism rises, but not enough
Date: Saturday, February 17, 2007. By The Miami Herald
A one percent rise in tourism for 2006 was not enough to comfort industry officials, who hoped for a five percent increase.
The number of visitors grew by 1.2 percent to 84.6 million, officials said Friday. It was the fifth straight year of increases after a five percent drop following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. More>>- Argentina's economy: back from a meltdown
Date: Monday, February 12, 2007. By Bill Cormier, Associated Press
Argentina's economy blossoms, but the public isn't celebrating yet.
Five years after Argentina's economy melted down, triggering food riots, supermarket lootings, devaluation and debt default, María Elena López is still scavenging in the streets for recyclable paper. More>>- U.S. economic future in path of 'Perfect Storm,' study says
Date: Monday, February 12, 2007. By Gerry Smith, Cox News Service
Three sociological and economical forces are changing and threatening the nation's economic future, according to a recent report.
The convergence of inadequate education, changes to the labor force and demographic shifts caused by immigration have created a ''perfect storm'' that threatens the nation's economic future. More>>- Mexico's economy shows signs of stress
Date: Friday, February 9, 2007. By Laurence Iliff, Dallas Morning News
Mexico's new president struggles to keep food staple prices down and sustain the economic growth that Mexico has been undergoing for some time.
Mexico, which has been gobbling up U.S. goods and exporting record amounts to America, may face the end of a charmed period during which it grew rapidly with low inflation and managed to generate budget surpluses. More>>- Ethanol use would benefit U.S., region
Date: Wednesday, February 7, 2007. By Luis Alberto Moreno, The Miami Herald
President Bush focused attention on a question that has been largely absent from the debate about ethanol, the most widely used biofuel -- namely, should the United States go it alone on ethanol?
Until now, most biofuel advocates in the United States have portrayed ethanol as a domestic opportunity: a way to bring jobs and investment to the farm belt, while modestly decreasing dependence on imported fossil fuels. If this tendency prevails, ethanol is likely to end up like sugar, with its unsavory history of government intervention and endless protectionist maneuvering. More>>- Brazil, U.S. to forge ethanol alliance
Date: Monday, February 5, 2007. By Pablo Bachelet, The Miami Herald
Washington will roll out a strategic partnership with Brazil to expand ethanol and other biofuels usage in the hemisphere.
Still, the alliance between the two ethanol giants will be trumpeted as a major achievement by an administration that critics have long accused of allowing U.S.-Latin American relations to fall in a rut by focusing on a narrow range of difficult issues like free trade and drug trafficking. More>>- Consumer confidence dips in Florida
Date: Wednesday, January 31, 2007. By Niala Boodhoo, The Miami Herald
The state's slowing housing market weakened consumer confidence despite lower gas prices, but on a national level confidence was up slightly.
The national January index was the highest in five years, suggesting that consumers will continue to be the engine behind the nation's economic growth in coming months. More>>- Prices, wages inch up
Date: Friday, January 19, 2007. By Martin Crutsinger, Associated Press
While consumer prices rose at the slowest pace since 2003, wages saw their biggest increase since 1997.
The legislation would grant ''blue cards'' to illegal immigrants who could prove they had worked in agriculture for at least 150 days in the past two years. They must continue working in agriculture for several years before attaining permanent legal status. More>>- Farmers planting more corn this year to meet ethanol demand
Date: Thursday, January 18, 2007. By John Seewer, Associated Press
Farmers in the Midwest may be able to make $50 more per acre by going with corn instead soybeans.
Prices for corn are up to $3.40 a bushel and projected to approach $4, reaching highs not seen in the last decade. At least 6 million to 8 million more acres of corn will be needed to supply ethanol plants. More>>- Farm-bill fight takes shape
Date: Monday, January 15, 2007. By Libby Quaid, Associated Press
President Bush and many lawmakers are at odds over federal farm legislation.
The farm bill -- really a series of federal programs -- gives farmers payments and other help to supplement their incomes, support crop prices and manage supplies. The current farm bill, written in 2002, expires at the end of this year. Congress and the administration disagree mightily on what the new farm bill should look like. More>>- Corn farmers look to ethanol for growth, financial security
Date: Tuesday, December 26, 2006. By Associated Press
A number of farmers have jumped at the opportunities in the hope ethanol and other biofuels will secure their future earnings.
Demand is fed by federal law, which calls for the U.S. to nearly double its use of biofuels to 7.5 billion gallons by 2012. Gov. Jim Doyle has promised almost $80 million in loans, grants and tax incentives to help develop biofuel companies in Wisconsin. More>>- Market fall prompts Thais to lift stock rules
Date: Wednesday, December 20, 2006. By Michael Casey, Associated Press
After the market plunged almost 15 percent on Tuesday, the Thai government said it would lift controls on foreign investment in stocks.
The plunge came after the Bank of Thailand announced late Monday its toughest measures yet to clamp down on speculative inflows that have lifted the Thai currency, the baht, to a nine-year high of 35.09 to the dollar. More>>- Gov. Bush throws support behind ethanol initiative
Date: Tuesday, December 19, 2006. By Jane Bussey, The Miami Herald
Gov. Jeb Bush tips his hat to renewable fuels with the launch of a hemispheric commission to promote ethanol.
Bush called the project a ''win, win, win, win'' since it would help nudge the United States from oil dependency, preserve the environment, create jobs and help boost partnerships with Latin America. More>>- Latin America finds the green in organic
Date: Monday, December 18, 2006. By Tyler Bridges, The Miami Herald
Latin American farmers can thank health-conscious U.S. consumers for a booming export business.
Farmers in Bolivia are planting as much organic quinoa as possible because of increasing demand in the United States. But quinoa is only one of dozens of organic products that Latin American farmers are increasingly harvesting for export to the United States as they tap into the growing clamor for chemical-free products. More>>- Fed holds key rate steady
Date: Wednesday, December 13, 2006. By Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press
During the last Federal Reserve meeting of the year, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke agreed to leave the key rate unchanged at 5.25 percent.
The Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady, giving holiday shoppers a reason for some cheer. However, the Fed held back an extra gift Wall Street was hoping for -- a signal that rates might actually be lowered soon. More>>