17/10/13: Ireland and Ethiopia agri-food collaboration; Brazil predicts record grain harvest; Phytobiotics strengthens team

Simon Coveney, minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Ireland and Tefera Derbew, minister of agriculture, Ethiopia have agreed to work together on agricultural development and agribusiness investments in their two countries. 

This cooperation will include the exchange of information on agricultural policy and the encouragement of bilateral private agri-business collaboration.

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Brazil 's grain harvests are estimated to top more than 191 million tons for the 2013-2014 period, the country's crop forecasting agency said.

"Brazil's grain production for 2013-14 is estimated at between 191.9 and 195.5 million tons, up between 2.6 percent and 4.5 percent compared with the previous harvest," said the agency.

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Research and feed additive company, Phytobiotics, recently strengthened its management team with the appointment of Dr. Manfred Andratsch as new alkaloid research manager.

Phytobiotics is one of the fastest growing global companies, focusing on the improvement of  performance in livestock animals. As well as hiqh-quality feed additives, the company offers consultancy in topics such as gut health, stress reduction and bio-availability of nutrients.

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English: Brazil Português: Brasil Русский: Бразилия (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Updated grain sampling guide from HGCA

Research and development company HGCA has published an updated grain sampling guide. The guide consolidates information from a range of existing publications into one publication, highlighting the best practices from across the supply chain.
 

The new guide, which has been endorsed by industry organisations including AIC, MAGB, nabim, NFU, NFUS, Red Tractor Assurance, TASCC and UFU, covers recent developments in protocols as well as the essentials of when to sample and how to do it. 
 

“For growers, knowing the quality of your grain is essential so that you can store it then sell it effectively, and get the best return for your work,” says  Jonathan Tipples, HGCA chairman,. “But the new guide is not just for growers. It has been drawn up with support across the supply chain, so it sets a benchmark for good sampling practice from the field to the weighbridge,” he added. 

The right equipment is crucial for grain sampling

The new guide highlights four key points for sampling grain. The first is to know the harvested quality so that growers can dry and cool the grain as necessary and identify potential buyers.

Protecting the harvested quality is the second stage. Stored well, grain quality should not deteriorate but store managers need to be on the look-out for any early signs of spoilage or infestation.
 

Thirdly, when grain leaves the farm, it is important to get a sample of what is loaded onto the lorry. This provides a record of what has been sold and can show that the grain meets specifications. In addition, farm assurance schemes often require this type of sample to be retained to ensure traceability in the supply chain.
 

The final stage for sampling is at commercial intake where buyers use automated equipment to take samples from lorries as they come in. These samples are used to confirm that the grain meets the specification and also to inform decisions about further processing.  

Taking a representative sample

HGCA has also updated its poster ‘Inspecting grain for defects and impurities.’ Guide and poster available here.
 

Come and see HGCA’s interactive grain sampling display at this year’s UK Grain event on 6 November!

 

APK-Inform increased the forecast of grain production in Ukraine in 2013/14

Analysts from the APK-Inform Agency increased the estimations of the general grain harvest in Ukraine in 2013 to the level of 57.1 mln tonnes, a decrease of 5.5 percent compared with the previous month estimations (54.1 mln tonnes), and the index exceeds the record high grain production volumes, observed in 2011/12 MY (56.7 mln tonnes).

APK-Inform analysts increased the estimation mainly due to the growth of maize production forecast, which planted areas faced quite favorable agro-climatic conditions in the summer, assisting to improvement of the grain yield. For example, the experts increased the yield index from 5.29 t/ha, expected in June 2013, to 5.95 t/ha. As a result, the grain production forecast was increased from 23.9 mln tonnes, expected in June, to 26.2 mln tonnes. At the same time, the forecasted index significantly (up 14.6 percent) exceeds the record harvest of maize in Ukraine, made in 2011 (22.8 mln tonnes). The estimation of maize planted and harvested areas remained unchanged.
As for the forecast of other grain crops, the indices were slightly increased compared with the June estimations: wheat production is forecasted at 21.4 mln tonnes (as opposed to 20.5 mln tonnes in June) with the average yield of 3.25 t/ha, barley - 7.3 mln tonnes (7.15 mln tonnes) with the yield of 2.31 t/ha.

Cornheap (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Russia 2013 wheat harvest to total 52.1 million tonnes

According to a July forecast conducted by analysts at the APK-Inform Agency, the general production of wheat in Russia in 2013 is set to reach 52.1 millionn tonnes, an increase of 38.1 percent compared with to last year.

Low-scale losses of winter grain crops in the winter-spring period (nearly 6 percent) led to an increase in the remaining areas of crop compared with the previous season. At the same time, the general planted areas of wheat totaled 25.1 million ha, up 1.7 percent compared with last season, despite a slight decline of the areas under spring grains, analysts said.

According to experts, in terms of expansion of the planted areas, the wheat yield will also rise to 2.22 t/ha, against 1.77 t/ha in the the previous season.
It should be noted that the current results of the harvesting campaign show a 29 percent increase in wheat yields compared with last year. 

However, analysts added that the developing unfavorable weather conditions in the major grain-producing regions and results of the harvesting campaign in the Siberian Federal District, could result in significant adjustments to grain harvests forecasts.

English: Harvesting near Worlaby. Photo taken from Middlegate. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)