22/07/2013: FDA permits Salmonella in animal feed; grain truckers cause crisis; school meal scheme ends in tragedy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has formally revoked a 1967 policy that prohibited the sale of feed contaminated with Salmonella. As a result of this policy change the agency will allow feed known to be contaminated with Salmonella to be fed to pigs, chickens and cattle. Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) has announced its disappointment at the elimination of a public safeguard.

"That the FDA is eliminating this policy that has stood for almost half a century directly contradicts the agency's mandate to protect public health and prevent harm," said Steve Roach, FACT's public health program director.
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Cities in southern Buenos Aires province are currently undergoing a major crisis as a result of the conflict between grain transporters and farmers.

The strike began in the rural city of Necochea, Buenos Aires, where an association of truch drivers blocked the city’s main roads. The grin transporters are demanding a 30 percent hike to the tariffs they receive for the trips undertaken by grain trucks.
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India's food safety has been called in to question following the deaths of at least 23 school children poisoned after eating free school meals, reports Reuters.


The National Food Security Ordinance aims to give 5 kg (11 lb) of cheap grain every month to 800 million people and more than doubles the reach of the existing subsidised food system.

The school tragedy in Bihar state however, has highlighted the potential dangers of implementing a food distribution scheme without strict monitoring of supplies and quality.
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Rice. Français : Du riz. Italiano: Riso non brillato (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Argentina still suffering with the effects of the hot, dry conditions

Argentina is still suffering and starting to feel the effects of the hot, dry weather. The agricultural sector in Argentina has has suffered the effects of a long drought coupled with the hot weather and the weekend brought no relief as there was little or none of the much needed rainfall. The nation's parched farms, exascerbating fears of not just a complete crop failure there, but also growing affects on the economy.

"Temperatures were very warm across much of Argentina yesterday, with highs well into the 100s across nearly all of the region, with the exception of far southeastern Buenos Aires," Keeney said Tuesday morning. "This put temperatures an average of 10-20 degrees above normal! The very warm temperatures combined with significant dryness is resulting in notable yield reductions and stress on corn and soybeans." Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little, The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and the International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers. To get your copy of  'PPLAPP' click here.

Global food crisis: Argentina battles multinational grain giants

The Pampas are just as the old geography textbooks described them: vast flat plains stretching to distant horizons, white heads of tall grasses catching the autumn light. A great empty road ploughs a furrow from Buenos Aires through mile upon mile of fertile lands towards the ports on the great South American waterway, the Paraná river.

But missing from much of the Pampas now are the Argentinian beef cattle that used to be synonymous with this region that makes up one of the world's most expansive grazing lands. The way-markers today are grain silos, agricultural hangars for harvesting machines, and banner adverts across nearly every field for agrochemicals and genetically modified soya seed. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little, The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and the International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers

Port strikes in Argentina fire up again

About three-quarters of Argentina's agriculture exports are shipped from river ports clustered around Rosario and nearby San Lorenzo. Argentina is the world’s leading soy meal and soy oil exporter and is third-largest in soybean exports.

The cooperative that employs the picketing workers is demanding that grain exporters pay more for the port services it provides. Argentine port workers this week continued to picket two important grain ports at a key shipping center north of the city of Rosario. A dispute over service fees is causing the strike. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine from Perendale Publishers.

Dutch firm under investigation for exploiting Argentine workers

Rotterdam based privately-held trading and agribusiness company Nidera is under investigation in Argentina for using 'slavery-like' conditions on a maize plantation in Argentina. Labour ministry inspectors from the Argentine national government and the Buenos Aires provincial government said they found 199 farm workers in conditions close to slavery during raids carried out at the end of December and the beginning of January on estates in the area of San Pedro, about 100 kilometres west of the national capital.

The inspectors said 130 of the labourers, including some 30 children and adolescents, were producing for the Dutch-based multinational Nidera, and 69 were producing for the Argentine company Southern Seeds Production SA; the workers appear to have been subcontracted through temporary agencies. The workers 'didn't know where they were, were unable to leave, had no electricity or water and their cash-in-hand wages were heavily discounted for the supplies sold by the company at extortionate prices,' according to local media reports.

Nidera on its website  "categorically denies" all the accusations that its "seed division in Argentina had employed temporary workers who were unregistered and exploited by the company." The 19 minors found working on the plantation were all aged 16 to 18 and had permission from their parents, Nidera's head of legal affairs Job Rietkerk told the paper. According to Argentine newspaper reports, the company is also under investigation for tax evasion totalling 260 million Argentine pesos (€49m). Read more...

This blog is written by Martin Little The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine from Perendale Publishers.