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A new study claims to link vegetable oils to ovarian toxicity and suggests they have “estrogenic properties” A little while back we called vegetable oils “one of the worst foods you can consume“. That was before our article on the serious genetic dysregulation caused to lab rodents by soybean oil, and now another new study has shown that vegetable oils are seriously bad news. In this new study, researchers looked at GM and non-GM varieties of various vegetable oils and discovered that they demonstrated ovarian toxicity in every case, as well as “remarkable estrogenic properties.” None of that is good....

It is amazing what has happened to our wheat products in a few short decades. In efforts to increase yield, improve shelf life, and enhance our appetites, modern food producers have taken a staple of our diet (breads and grains) that humans have consumed for millennia with little or no health issues, and turned it into a "Frankenfood". Bread, which was a cheap, nutritious way to fill our stomachs for thousands of years, is now potentially the cause of obesity and a variety of inflammatory diseases. A look at the processes we use to grow, harvest, mill, refine, enrich, and...

In early March, Tucker Carlson invited Iowa Corn and soybean farmer Ben Riensche on his top-rated program to discuss the massive inflation we are about to see in food prices here at home. According to Rienshe, grocery prices may increase up to $1,000 per month due to Russia’s sanctions on fertilizer. ... “It’s embarrassing how little most people know about fertilizer, what it means, tell us the implications of this sanction?” Carlson asked. .... Soaring fertilizer prices are likely to spike food prices,” Riensche said. “If you’re upset that gas is up a dollar or two a gallon, wait until...

A team of researchers in Japan has succeeded in making catfish all female with a compound found in soybeans -- a development that promises to increase the production efficiency of this and other species whose females are more valuable than males in the food market. The team, from Kindai University's Aquaculture Research Institute and based at the institute's Shingu Station in Shingu, Wakayama Prefecture, used isoflavone -- a compound found in soybeans similar in effect to female hormones -- to create the all-female groups of catfish. The feat is a Japan first, according to the university. As female catfish grow...

New UC Riverside research shows soybean oil not only leads to obesity and diabetes, but could also affect neurological conditions like autism, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, and depression. Used for fast food frying, added to packaged foods, and fed to livestock, soybean oil is by far the most widely produced and consumed edible oil in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In all likelihood, it is not healthy for humans. Chart depicts consumption of edible oils in the U.S. for 2017/18. (USDA)

Is a trade deal with China just around the corner? The White House announced this morning that an “enforceable trade deal” is now in sight after “constructive” talks with China in Shanghai. In a key concession, China has agreed to open its market for more American agricultural imports, which would be a huge win for farmers in the Midwest.That is, if China gets pinned down to that position: Update from the White House on the Shanghai talks: "The Chinese side confirmed their commitment to increase purchases of United States agricultural exports. … we expect negotiations on an enforceable trade...

WASHINGTON — The government announced a $12 billion plan Tuesday to assist farmers who have been hurt by President Donald Trump's trade disputes with China and other trading partners. The plan focuses on Midwest soybean producers and others targeted by retaliatory measures. The Agriculture Department said the proposal would include direct assistance for farmers, purchases of excess crops and trade promotion activities aimed at building new export markets. Officials said the plan would not require congressional approval and would come through the Commodity Credit Corporation, a wing of the department that addresses agricultural prices. "This is a short-term solution that...

When pork prices collapsed amid a global trade war during the Great Depression, the Roosevelt Administration in 1933 had an idea—slaughter six million piglets. Put a floor under prices by destroying supply. It didn’t work. Now the Trump Administration may try its own version of Depressionomics by using the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to support crop prices walloped by the Trump tariffs: Hurt farmers and then put them on the government dole. How about not hurting them in the first place? That’s the question as Mr. Trump escalates his trade war, on Wednesday proposing 10% tariffs on $200 billion in...

MAPLE PARK, Ill. — Snow and sleet were falling on Eldon Gould’s 500 acres this week, but he was already looking ahead to planting season; depending on ground conditions and the temperature, that could be just several weeks away. But now the prospect of steel and aluminum tariffs was adding to the list of worries and uncertainties that come with every corn and soybean season. “It’s the retaliation risk,” Mr. Gould said from his kitchen table in Maple Park, in a region of northern Illinois where farmland runs on for miles. “The world’s already awash in grain,” Mr. Gould said,...

"Think about trying to live today on the income you had 15 years ago." That's how agriculture expert Chris Hurt describes the plight facing U.S. farmers today. The unequal economy that's emerged over the past decade, combined with patchy access to health care in rural areas, have had a severe impact on the people growing America's food. Recent data shows just how much. Farmers are dying by suicide at a higher rate than any other occupational group, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The suicide rate in the field of farming, fishing and forestry is 84.5...

The U.S. Farm Belt helped deliver Donald Trump to the White House, drawn to his promises to revive rural America and deregulate industry. Now, the president’s global trade offensive is threatening the livelihoods of many farmers. Mounting trade disputes, spurred by U.S. threats to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement and tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of goods from key trading partners, have cut U.S. agricultural exports and sent commodity prices tumbling. Many farmers, who depend on shipments overseas for one-fifth of the goods they produce, say they are anxious, especially because they are already expecting bumper...

Chinese buy $5.3 billion in Iowa soybeans • By Rod Boshart DES MOINES | Representatives of the soybean industry and Chinese trading partners signed contracts Thursday valued at $5.3 billion. Leaders of a large commercial delegation from China and officials from the Iowa Soybean Association and the U.S. Soybean Export Council were on hand for an official signing ceremony involving more than a dozen contracts to purchase soy products equaling 13.8 million metric tons in the 12-month marketing year running through Aug. 31, according to information provided by Gov. Terry Branstad office. According to the Iowa Soybean Association, Iowa farmers...

Harvest is in full swing across the country, and farmers in many states are surprised at the abundance of corn they’re getting from their fields. Dairy farmer Ben Steffen, who also grows corn, soybeans and wheat on 1,900 acres near the southeastern Nebraska town of Humboldt, said his first corn field brought in 168 bushels an acre, above the average of 140. … The best crops in the U.S. are in areas that received adequate rain combined with cooler temperatures at the time corn pollinated, a welcome sight after last year’s dismal harvest due to the drought withering corn and...

Cotton, wheat, rice, and now corn. If revised Chinese import estimates by the US Grain Council are even remotely correct, look for corn prices of $6.80 a bushel at last check to jump by at least 15% in a very short amount of time. As the FT reports, "Corn prices – and with them, the price of meat – are set to explode if the latest import estimates from China are correct. The US Grain Council, the industry body, said late on Thursday that it has received information pointing to Chinese imports as high as 9m tonnes in 2011-12, up...

2008 Corn & Soybean Yield Expectations In Midwest Study URBANA, Ill. - A new study by University of Illinois agricultural economists projects that average 2008 corn yields could be reduced by 2.9 bushels per acre in Illinois, 3.5 bushels in Indiana, and 6.3 bushels in Iowa due to later-than-normal planting and above-normal precipitation in May. Soybean yields may be down 1.1 bushels, 0.4 bushels, and 1.0 bushels per acre, respectively, in those same states for the same reasons.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=amPZmB.ZSuiE&refer=latin_america

Increasing soybean imports trigger off worries about China's grain security www.chinaview.cn 2008-03-06 16:53:53 Print Special Report: NPC, CPPCC Annual Sessions 2008 BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planning agency, has decided to prolong implementation of interim import duty on soybeans from March 31 to September 30, a NDRC source confirmed Thursday. To reduce the cost of soybean imports and curb price rises for grain on the domestic market, on Oct. 1, 2007 China slashed import duty on soybeans from three percent to one percent. The country's consumer price index, a barometer...

Soybean seed shortage to increase production risks By Robert H. Wells Delta Research and Extension Center STONEVILLE -- With soybean seed in short supply in 2008, Mississippi soybean growers are facing increased production risks including unproven varieties and poor-quality seed. Mississippi State University Extension Service specialists recommend producers research available varieties to minimize these risks. “We’re not going to have replant options this year because of the seed shortage,” said Trey Koger, MSU Extension soybean specialist. “Most likely we are going to have one shot at getting a stand, and we don’t need to plant too early when conditions are...

Soybean growers hold up University of Minnesota funds to protest biofuels paper Trade council unhappy with biofuels paper By Leslie Brooks Suzukamo lsuzukamo@pioneerpress.com Article Last Updated: 02/28/2008 09:41:51 PM CST Call it a soybean spat. The University of Minnesota isn't going to receive any research funding from the state's soybean growers council until the two parties have a heart-to-heart talk next week. The Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council voted to temporarily suspend its financial support after a study co-authored by U researchers in the journal Science said increased use of biofuel crops like corn and soybeans could worsen global...

Soybean futures hit 34-year high on strong demand By JACKIE FARWELL, AP Business Writer NEW YORK 12/28/07 ?Soybean futures rose to their highest level in more than 30 years Friday as traders bet on robust exports next year and continued strong demand from China. Gold prices also climbed, boosted by strong oil prices, weak economic data in the U.S., and geopolitical concerns following Thursday’s assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. Other agricultural futures were mixed, while oil prices advanced. U.S. exporters have already sold roughly three-quarters of the soybeans the Agriculture Department predicts for the whole marketing year, which...