US corn crop and prices, Biotechnology and feeding the world

US corn crop and prices

  

Harvest in US is not finished as yet. Most farmers target Oct 31 to finish harvest. As the crop size is big, storage of corn will be a major issue. More corn will be stored under temporary storage. Indicative commodity prices at the end of the week were:

 

Corn: $95.50 per MT FOB US Gulf (Nov - Dec deliveries)

Sorghum: $97.50 per MT FOB US Gulf (Nov - Dec deliveries)

Barley: $ 103 - 105 per MT FOB PNW (Oct - Dec deliveries)

 

The detailed market report for the week ending Oct 22, 2004 can be found at.

 

http://www.grains.org/buying/market_perspectives/mp_10-22-04.pdf

 

Though the barge rates are down, the ocean freight rates are firm and not declining due to non availability of ships. Corn prices out of China are down by almost $7 - 10 per MT, which is forcing many to turn to China, due to steep ocean freight rates from US. Though China is still not in the market, many believe some reserves from last year may be available. 

 

As the oil prices continue to rise, China has also forayed into ethanol territory at full throttle. Information available suggests that by the end of this year, gas stations in all five provinces in central and northeastern China are required to replace regular gasoline with gasohol, a blend made of 90% gasoline and 10% ethanol. Gas stations in 27 cities in another four provinces will have to supply the same 10% ethanol-blended gasohol by the end of 2005. This move will further put pressure on China's export commitments as it increases its domestic usage. 

 

Biotechnology and feeding the world

 

On the Biotech front, the 2004 International Biotech Information Conference organized by U S Grains Council and sponsored by Nebraska Corn Board, Iowa Corn Promotion Board and U S Department of Agriculture was an eye opener for many attendees. Those from the science background had no problem in understanding the system, but those with other backgrounds in engineering etc got first hand information about DNA, sequencing and how hybrid and biotech commodity is produced.

 

I was pained to read an article from a learned environmentalist and I quote

"Yes. Consumption of hybrid varieties of food crops have transferred resistant viruses in our bodies, creating super viruses. How else do you explain SARS, bird flu or mad cow disease. Till now diseases never traveled from plant to animals to humans. We have created a tunnel allowing movement of dreaded viruses."

 

The details can be found at                  

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/oct092004/metro3.asp

 

All those who have misconceptions about DNA, RNA, how hybridization occurs, what makes us and what we eat should look at the presentation by Dr.Lisa L Lorenzen of Iowa State University. The presentation can be found at

http://www.grains.org/pdf/Technology_Education_For_All_Ages.pdf

 

Some facts need to be realized

 

By 2050 the world population will be close to 9 billion, an increase of 3 billion from year 2000. About 840 million people currently suffer from chronic malnutrition world wide. About 1.3 billion are afflicted with poverty. As populations grow, the per capita cultivable land which was over 0.45 hac in 1966 will be reduced to 0.15 hac by 2050. The productivity of staple food is already down. The world grain production which grew by 2.1% in 1980's grew by only 1% per annum in 1990's. In order to feed 9 billion people, the farmers will need to find more sustainable ways to produce food. We will need to double food production sustianably from the same land mass of 1.5 billion hac by 2050. 

 

In 1960 the average corn production in US was around 1.01 MT / acres (40 bushes / acre) and almost all corn acreage was under double cross hybrids.During the same year single cross hybrids were introduced and the productivity jumped from 1 MT in 1960's to about 1.57 MT in 1970. Today in 2004 when all of the US acreage is under single cross hybrids, of which 40% is biotech, the average productivity is close to 3.9 MT / acre. With more advancements and precision agriculture wherein Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are used to map the area and provide specific nutrients to the land the productivity is bound to increase and so are the challenges. In the last 24 years (since 1980), the global corn acreage has grown by 4.8%, while the global corn production has gone up by over 45%. This is all because of better management and more so better genetics and technology.  

 

Thanks to advancement in genetics, better animal breeding systems and availability of more corn, soybean, amino acids, minerals, vitamins and disease fighting vaccines, the poultry and dairy farmers has been able to provide much needed animals protein to the increasing human population. In the last 40 years, the world meat consumption has almost tripled.   

 

As wealth increases, aspirations too go up. People do not wish to age and wish to look young and use new technologies to enhance life expectancy. It is always difficult to adopt new technologies, as it was with microwaves or cell phones, the same is true for biotechnology.

 

I hope we will be able to move forward and use the technology to feed future generations and leave this world a better place to live, in a better environment.      

 

Amit Sachdev
Consultant, U S Grains Council - India
FF 303 G, Sushant Shopping Arcade, Sushant Lok 1
Gurgaon - 122 002 (Haryana), India
Tel: +124-2396539 * Fax: +124-2396209 * Mb: +98110-61516

E mail: bluecross@touchtelindia.net * bluecros@vsnl.com

 

2004 International Biotech Information Conference and USDA crop Report

Camp: Omaha
Date: 16th Oct 2004

2004 International Biotech Information Conference – Day 04

The participants travelled to Omaha, Nebraska on the last day of the conference to see a meat slaughter and meat packing plant. The plant slaughters about 2500 -3000 animals per day, each animal weighing about 600 kg each. The plant follows high hygienic standards and supplied meat for 2004 Olympics. There are 16 federal inspectors on the plant and each animal is inspected before the meat is packed and leaves the plant.

On some questions related to the feeding of GM products to the animals, the manager mentioned that in his 30 years of service in the industry he has not seen any difference in the animals fed on conventional feed material or GM feed ingredients.

The participants were supposed to take a trip of the river and look at the way the commodities travel on the river in barges and are collected at the Cargill elevator (Storage facility) from where they are shipped to the markets, domestic as well as international. The participants were not able to take the trip as the river was low on water and there were no barges being used to haul grain. The company currently is using 100 wagon train to haul grain from its facility to its markets and it takes around 12 hours to fill these 100 wagons. Each train carries 10,000 tons of grain.

The conference ended after a panel discussion on the protocols to be followed for trade and how countries can co-operate to make trade easy among themselves, but still protect their farmers and sovereignty of their respective countries,

In the open session participants pointed out that they are taking back learningÂ’s from this conference and will try to set short term and long term goals on setting up systems in place and making people aware about the current systems. Many misconceptions that they had have been cleared and they will be able to deal better with the questions that are posed to them about the technology in their respective countries and how the products are regulated in different countries. The participants also pointed out that they have to think about the new technology with an open mind and make general public aware about the situation in their own country.

USDA crop report

The corn / soy cop report from USDA was out on Oct 12, 2004. The production is expected to be over 294 million metric tons, with the average productivity of 9.94 tons / hac (against around 2 tons / hac) for India. The prices are reported to be down and ranging between USD 96 – 97 per ton FOB Gulf for Nov – Dec deliveries. The freight rates are still high as china is buying coal as well as iron ore.

Should you need more information about biotechnology or grain trade please feel free to contact me.

Regards
Amit Sachdev

2004 International Biotech Conference - Day 03

Camp: Des Moines
Dated: Oct 15, 2004

2004 International Biotech Conference – Day 03

Day 03, probably was one of the most significant days for the participants. During the visit to the Iowa State University, the participants were provided with the set of information related to biotech in very simple terms as for a lay person. With a demonstration of DNA extraction from Banana, the exercise was made fairly simple and easy to understand on what DNA is and what protein is. A tour of the facilities and a Public Private Partnership system, which provided space, equipment and expertise to new companies was good and may be followed. It allows companies to use the common facilities to start the research on the new technology, without many problems.

The panel discussion at the end of the tour with officer from FGIS, USDA and also training cleared many doubts in the minds of the participants about the regulation of the products produced using the technology. It was clarified that unless and until FGIS and FDA is satisfied with the data provided, the product cannot be commercialized and that the products made using the new technology (GM) and probably much more safer, than their counterparts due to such rigorous checking.

The end of the day brought the participants to the doorstep of the magnificent Iowa State Capital Building. The participants attended the ceremony of the World Food prize and rubbed shoulders with people who have done more for agriculture and creating opportunities for farmers to earn more. The World Food Laureates have helped save more lives than anybody else in the world. It was interesting to note that the of all the world prize recipients, 5 are from India including Dr.M S Swaminathan, Dr.Verghese Kurien, Dr.Gurdev Khush, Dr.B R Barwale and Dr.Surinder Vasal.

2004 International Biotech Conference - Day 2

Camp Des Moines
Dated: 14th Oct, 2004

2004 Biotech Tech Conference

On the first day another interesting event that I missed out was the panel of farmers, US as well as International.

While the US farmers pointed out on why they use the technology and how they have over the last 10 years co-existed with their organic neighbours. It was pointed out clearly out that all the three farmers segments, those using the technology, those not using (but are not opposed to the technology) and those growing organic are happy with the current regulatory mechanism. Also all three segments gave in their impressions on why they use the technology and how it is bringing benefits to them and their community and the society in general.

On the international panel, Mr.Jayapal Reddy, Secretary, Farmers Federation of Andhra Pradesh, India provided his experience of using biotechnology in a seed (GM Cotton) and how it has helped him and his farmer members in producing a better quality crop and making more money, while at the same time saving them selves and the environment by not spaying harmful pesticides.

Representative from South Africa, Mrs.Sabina Koza, Director, Fair Deal Trainig Centre was more enthusiastic about the use of technology and how it has helped her and her members in her co-operative make more money and save more monety for their families.

These were just a few stories of how the technology has helped those who need them the most. There are many more which we do not hear, but they are out there. It is necessary that the correct information about the advantages of the technology is made known to one and all and the right to chose be left on those who wish to use the technology for their own benefit and for the benefit of the society as a whole.

The second day of the conference was spent at Pioneer Hi Bred offices and labs looking at the research labs where the work is going on,, how the trait is selected, inserted and used in the particular crop. The panel discussion at the end of the day at the super market took the participants on a journey of the labelling jargon and how it can affect the product and the consumer.

2004 International Biotech Conference, World Food Prize

Camp – Des Moines, USA
Oct 12, 2004

2004 International Biotech Conference

The 2004 International Biotech Conference, the third in the series started in Des Moines, Iowa on Oct 12, 2004 with the presentation by Dr.Norman E Borlaug, the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Dr.Borlaug, who is known as the Father of the Green Revolution, initiated the World Food Prize in 1986 and the Biotech Conference coincides with the presentation ceremony of the 2004 World Food Prize.

The Biotech Conference, sponsored by Iowa Corn Growers Association, Nebraska Corn Board, U S Grains Council, National Corn Growers Association and the U S Department of Agriculture is attended by over 80 participants from 36 countries. The conference will provide an opportunity to the participants to meet with farmers who use biotechnology to produce food and feed for themselves and their animals, interact with the regulatory officials and meet with customers who eat products prepared from foods produced by using this technology.

During the for days of the conference the participants will visit corn production areas, seed companies, super stores to get a feel of the systems that make biotechnology the most powerful tool today in the hands of the farmers to make food and feed available.

Just to get few facts, the location of the conference is well chosen, the heartland of corn, Iowa, Nebraska and Illinois which produces about 122 million metric tons of corn. The latest USDA report projects US corn production to be at a record level of over 290 million metric tons, which would mean the three states put together produce over 42 percent of US corn. The adoption of biotechnology in US is ranging from a low of 20% in Indiana to a high of 80% in South Dakota.

To mark the occasion, the U S Grains council launched the online Biotechnology Resource Center, which can be accessed at www.grains.org/brc.

The Biotechnology Research Centre will be an information hub and provide science-based information about biotechnology for decision-makers, consumers and journalists worldwide.

The first day – Oct 12, 2004

In his speech to the participants of the 2004 Biotech Conference, Dr.Norman E Borlaug spoke on “Feeding the World with Ten Billion People – Our 21st century challenge”. Dr.Borlaug is very optimistic about the growth of Agriculture by using biotechnology. He said, “World food production must be doubled in the next 30 years and 80 % of the future growth will come from lands which are already in production, especially in Asia and there is a limited scope to expansion of land in South America and Sub Saharan Africa”.

Dr.Borlaug shared his Biotech dream with the participants, which is, “Transfer Rice Immunity for rust (Puccinia spp.) to other cereals like wheat, maize, sorghum and barley and transfer bread wheat protein – gliadin and glutenin from making superior dough for leavened bread to other cereals especially Rice and Maize”.

The participants after the enlightening talk from Dr.Borlaug visited an elevator (Storage bins) which handles about 150,000 tons to corn. Last year the elevator turned 3 times, handling 450,000 MT of corn in one year.

The participants had a chance to visit Mr.Gordan Wassenaar’s farm, which has over 1500 acres of land and crops corn of around 700 acres and soybean on another 600 acres. He is an advocate of biotechnology and utilizes the technology himself which help him to produce a better quality product and also helps the environment by improving the quality of life for his community. The farmers as true environmentalists would like to leave a legacy for the future generations, a land which is better, air which is much cleaner and water which is less polluted. Biotechnology as a tool can make it possible.

World Food Prize

In this year of Rice, the World Food Price has been shared by two scientists, Prof.Yuan Longping of China and Dr.Monty Jones of Sierra Leone.

Prof. Yuan, achievement led to the world’s first widely grown hybrid, which revolutionized the rice production in China and lead him to become the “Father on Hybrid Rice”.

Dr.Jones, developed new rice for Africa, by combining Asian and African rice species which provided hope to millions of poor farmers in Africa to produce food for themselves and other in the continent.

US Corn Prices continue downward trend, 10 top new technologies to help world reach globally-agreed goals by 2015, Chicken genomics

US Corn Prices continue downward trend

 

Amid hopes of a record harvest and as more crop comes into the market, US corn prices continue to slide lower. Prices are reported to be lower than expected even though barge rates are reported to be higher about 400 percent higher than base rates.

 

Prices for Oct – Dec deliveries at the end of the week (Oct 08, 2004)  were as under:

 

Corn: $ 95 – 95.50 / ton (FOB US GULF)

Sorghum: $ 98 – 99 / ton (FOB US GULF)

Barley: $ 100 – 103 / ton (FOB PNW)

 

For detailed market reports, please follow the link

http://www.grains.org/buying/market_perspectives/mp_10-8-04.pdf

 

How 10 top new technologies will help world reach globally-agreed goals by 2015

(Adapted from Medical News  Today)

 

Biotech breakthroughs promise to save millions of lives per year; Experts call for global body to better use knowledge worldwide

 

The list of top 10 of biotechnologies for improving health in developing countries represents a consensus of 28 eminent scientists canvassed separately in developing and developed countries. These technologies are:

 

1. Easy-to-use molecular diagnostic tests for TB, hepatitis C, HIV-AIDS, malaria and other diseases, which detect the presence or absence of pathogen-associated molecules, such as DNA or protein, in a patient's blood or tissues;

2. Recombinant vaccines against infectious diseases, produced through genetic engineering, which promise to be safer, cheaper and possibly easier to store and transport than traditional vaccines;

3. Reducing pollution and making water safe to drink through bioremediation - the potential exploitation of micro-organisms with remarkable biochemical properties;

4. Creating microbicides for female-controlled protection against sexually transmitted disease like HIV, both with and without contraceptive effect;

4. Better drug and vaccine delivery methods that avoid the use of needles and reduce cross contamination;

6. Bioinformatics to identify drug targets and to examine pathogen-host interactions;

7. Nutrition-enriched crops to counter specific deficiencies, such as vitamin A-rich "Golden Rice" to improve health for millions without a balanced diet;

8. Sequencing pathogen genomes to understand their biology and identify new antimicrobials;

9. Recombinant technology to make therapeutic products (e.g. insulin, interferons) more affordable to help fight such diseases as diabetes, now emerging as a major public health problem throughout the world;

10. Combinatorial chemistry for drug discovery.

 

A report prepared for the Science, Technology and Innovation Task Force of the UN Millennium Project, calls for a global institute to share and promote the health and environmental benefits being created through genomic sciences - and thereby save tens of millions of lives per year in developing countries.

 

The report also predicts the extent to which the new science will drive progress towards five of the eight globally agreed objectives:

 

a. Promote gender equality and empower women;

b. Reduce child mortality;

c. Improve maternal health;

d. Combat HIV, malaria and other diseases; and

e. Ensure environmental sustainability.

 

Of the above 5 goals, three goals, namely reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, and combating diseases also include inclusion on Nutritionally Enhanced GM crops to make progress in the goals set.

 

Chicken genomics: Feather-pecking and victim pigmentation

 

Feather-pecking in domestic birds is associated with cannibalism and severe welfare problems. It is a dramatic example of a spiteful behavior in which the victim's fitness is reduced for no immediate direct benefit to the perpetrator and its evolution is unexplained. Here we show that the plumage pigmentation of a chicken may predispose it to become a victim: birds suffer more drastic feather-pecking when the color of their plumage is due to the expression of a wild recessive allele at PMEL17, a gene that controls plumage melanization, and when these birds are relatively common in a flock. These findings, obtained using an intercross between a domestic fowl and its wild ancestor, have implications for the welfare of domestic species and offer insight into the genetic changes associated with the evolution of feather-pecking during the early stages of domestication.

 

(courtesy – Nature Magazine – Oct 07, 2004)

 

Amit Sachdev

Consultant, U S Grains Council - India

FF 303 G, Sushant Shopping Arcade, Sushant Lok 1

Gurgaon - 122 002 (Haryana), India

Tel: +124-2396539 * Fax: +124-2396209 * Mb: +98110-61516

E mail: bluecros@vsnl.com * bluecross@touchtelindia.net

China Corn crop outlook, Thailand to mend its ways - change the way poultry is kept, Biotech Labeling - Why biotech labeling can confuse consumers

China Corn crop outlook

 

Reports from China suggest that the corn crop in China will be better than last year (2003). The corn crop is expected to be 120 – 122 MMT, higher by around 5%. It is expected that China’s domestic consumption will be 119 – 120 MMT same as last year. It is more likely that China will not be in the market to sell corn this year as China’s export volumes have come down drastically in recent months.

 

Thailand to mend its ways – change the way poultry is kept

 (With inputs from Reuters news).

  

As more bird flu cases emerge in South East Asia, Thailand plans a campaign to change the poultry farming methods.  According to Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisang. “Priorities are to protect humans from the disease and minimize chances of the chickens being infected”.

 

The planned changes will be wrenching in a country where more than 60 percent of the people live on the land and the vast majority keep chickens, ducks and other fowl.

 

Chickens in Thailand, as in most Asian villages, often wander freely, even in and out of houses, and defecate wherever they want, spreading any disease they might have.

 

Huge flocks of ducks move over wide areas in a largely nomadic existence in search of food. That will have to be curtailed, Chaturon said.

 

"Given that people have died of bird flu, we can no longer allow free range poultry farming to continue at the current large scale," he said. The ducks would have to be kept on farms.

 

The campaign, due to start next week, would include incentives and punishments to persuade people to raise poultry in hygenic conditions and reduce the risk of disease.

 

"We will sponsor farmers to raise their chickens away from their homes, give them nets, cages and so on," Chaturon said.

 

International health agencies have been urging Asian nations to abandon traditional farming methods and overhaul hygiene at old-style farms since the H5N1 virus arrived.

But Hans Wagner, a senior animal production official of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation in Bangkok, told Reuters on Wednesday it would take time to implement change.

 

"If you look at how the farms are constructed, the houses of the owner and workers are close to the pens, there are people and motorbikes coming and going, the cages go to market and they come back without being disinfected," he said.

 

Chaturon said the Thai government shared the FAO's concern and it hoped to persuade people to change their farming methods with incentives.

 

Don’t think India will be spared. Virus cannot be stopped at borders, banning imports is not the answer. System will need to be set up so as the Indian farmer is safe, but at the same time does not suffer. Steps will need to be taken to make the farmers aware on the need of bio-security to safe-guard themselves as well as others. Proper disposal of dead birds, curtailing movement of people and vehicles inside / outside the farms, could be few steps that the farms can take.  

 

Biotech Labeling – Why biotech labeling can confuse consumers

(Adapted from http://www.whybiotech.com)

 

Consumers want food product labels with clear, meaningful information.

 

A grocery shopper, for example, finds a wealth of factual information on labels, whether it’s about nutrient and caloric content or specific health aspects of a food product.

 

Should that same shopper also be able to read on the label whether those corn chips or that bottle of cooking oil contains biotech ingredients? Some say yes. Given the concerns raised by a few about biotech safety, there’s an important “right to know,” they contend. 

 

Others say there’s no need to label foods with biotech ingredients that are the same as foods with ingredients from conventional crops. Requiring a label for biotech ingredients, they say, would confuse consumers, not inform them.

 

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which oversees food safety issues in the United States, takes the second view. The agency performs exhaustive safety tests on every biotech food entering the marketplace, and requires special labeling only when the new food product is significantly different from its conventional counterpart. 

 

Tested for safety

 

Before they reach a farmer’s field, biotech corn, soybeans and other genetically enhanced foods undergo years of review by researchers, university scientists, farmers and other government agencies in addition to the FDA. 

 

The results are unambiguous. Biotech crops are safe to eat. No studies or test results have said otherwise. There hasn’t been a single documented case of an illness caused by biotech foods. A report issued in 2000 by the National Academy of Sciences, an independent group of scientists and scholars, confirmed that all approved biotech products are as safe as their conventional counterparts.

 

So safety is not at issue in labeling biotech food. Instead, the FDA considers whether a biotech orange, for example, is “substantially equivalent” to a traditional orange. Does it produce the same nutrients? If it does, there’s no need for a label. If it doesn’t — if the orange has a higher or lower level of vitamin C — then the FDA requires a label.

 

Under this line of thinking, labeling all biotech foods would make a distinction without a difference. Rather than communicating relevant health or safety information, it would merely explain the process by which the food was developed. And in so doing it could sow confusion among consumers. Ninety-two percent of food industry leaders, for example, believe that mandatory biotech food labeling — which proponents often position simply as an informational tool — will instead be perceived as a “warning” by at least some consumers.³

 

The American Medical Association (AMA) has stated “there is no scientific justification for special labeling of genetically modified foods, as a class.”

 

Statistics show that the current FDA policy — labeling biotech foods when there’s a meaningful reason to do so — is what consumers want. When surveyed for their opinions, two-thirds to three-quarters consistently approve of the existing system once it’s explained that biotech foods have been reviewed and found safe by experts, and would be specially labeled if the nutritional content has been significantly changed.

   

When asked in an open-ended way what information they’d like more of on product labels, only 1 percent of consumers mentioned biotechnology. Three percent said ingredients; four percent nutrition and 75 percent said they wanted no additional information.

 

Costly and confusing

 

Countries and trading blocs that want to require labels have had to develop a long list of exemptions and loopholes. That’s the case in Europe, which enacted labeling requirements and other restrictions. An article in the Wall Street Journal pointed out that the European system has “confused consumers” and “spawned a bewildering array of marketing claims, counterclaims and outright contradictions that only a food scientist possibly could unravel.”

 

Labeling requirements also increase costs. Keeping biotech commodity crops separate from traditional ones requires new expenses in the agricultural supply chain — in added handling measures, testing requirements, and so on — that inevitably will be passed on to consumers.

 

A Canadian study estimated that mandatory labeling would cost that country’s consumers $700 million to $950 million annually — arguably, a food tax on the majority to pay for the labeling demands of a few.

 

Focusing debate

 

Biotechnology is a fast-changing science that’s raising environmental, economic and ethical issues. Given the importance of food in a fast-growing world where about 840 million people go hungry, those issues deserve to be considered on their merits.

 

By raising questionable concerns in the minds of consumers, and introducing unnecessary costs, mandatory labeling requirements may only distract from what’s truly important: a rational, fact-informed debate about the risks of biotechnology, balanced against the benefits it offers.

 Dated Oct 02, 2004

Amit Sachdev
Consultant, U S Grains Council - India
FF 303 G, Sushant Shopping Arcade, Sushant Lok 1, Gurgaon - 122 002 (Haryana), India
Tel: +124-2396539 * Fax: +124-2396209 * Mb: +98110-61516 * E Mail: bluecros@vsnl.com