Scientists emphasize that the effects of climate change are already here.  Photo: Getty Images

Once-in-50-year heat waves now happening every decade: U.N. climate report

Reuters – Extreme heat waves that previously only struck once every 50 years are now expected to happen once per decade because of global warming, while downpours and droughts have also become more frequent, a U.N. climate science report said on Monday. The report www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1 found that we are already experiencing those effects of climate […] Read more

Amazon deforestation linked to lower corn yields in Brazil, study says

Amazon deforestation linked to lower corn yields in Brazil, study says

The large mass of forested land helps to moderate temperatures in the country

Reuters – Deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon and neighboring savannah may be hurting regional corn yields, according to a new study. Roughly one-fifth of Brazil’s Amazon has been cleared in the last 50 years, as the country went from being a food importer to a global farming powerhouse. In terms of corn, Brazil is now […] Read more

File photo of a soybean plantation in Brazil. (Mailson Pignata/iStock/Getty Images)

Brazil urges China to improve GMO approvals

Brasilia | Reuters –– Brazil Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo said on Thursday that the country must work with China to reduce non-tariff barriers to agriculture trade, including improving the process for genetically modified goods. Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of soybeans, the vast majority of which are genetically modified organisms (GMO). Many newer GMOs, […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Brazil health officials find glyphosate non-cancerous

Brasilia | Reuters — Analysts at Brazilian health agency Anvisa have determined that glyphosate herbicide does not cause cancer while recommending exposure limits as international pressure to reduce use of the chemical grows. Companies such as Bayer and its unit Monsanto, which produces glyphosate-based weedkillers, have faced legal challenges over allegations that glyphosate causes cancer. […] Read more

A soybean plantation in Brazil. (MailsonPignata/iStock/Getty Images)

Brazil may raise farm subsidies despite belt-tightening

Brasilia | Reuters — Brazil could double spending on subsidized farm insurance in 2020 and may expand subsidized loans, the country’s agriculture policy secretary said on Thursday, even though the new government’s economic team has pledged to cut spending. The negotiations on next year’s farm subsidies highlight the powerful agribusiness lobby’s struggle to preserve benefits […] Read more

A file photo of Brazil’s Mata Atlantica (Atlantic rainforest). (FG Trade/E+/Getty Images)

Brazil ag minister eyes indigenous land for commercial farming

Brasilia | Reuters — Brazil should open indigenous land to commercial farming, Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias said on Friday, while also seeking to soften many of President Jair Bolsonaro’s controversial stances on native people and the environment. Farmers form a key base of support for right-wing firebrand Bolsonaro who since taking office Jan. 1 […] Read more


File photo of a Brazilian coffee plantation. (Sidney de Almeida/iStock/Getty Images)

Brazil plans to fight invasions by landless workers

Brasilia | Reuters — Brazil’s right-wing government under President Jair Bolsonaro will seek to classify invasions of farmland by landless workers movements as akin to terrorism, with harsher penalties for perpetrators, an agriculture ministry official said on Monday. Nabhan Garcia, land issues secretary at the ministry, said the government must convince the National Congress to […] Read more

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Brazil expects to be declared free of foot-and-mouth with vaccination

Brazil | Reuters – Brazil expects the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to declare the country free from foot-and-mouth disease with vaccinations at a meeting in May, according to a government statement on Friday. The declaration will bolster the country’s prospects to export meat to new markets, the statement said. The OIE already considers […] Read more