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Bayer may bid for Monsanto, food companies turn to sugar cane and JBS restructures.

Janet Kubat Willette, E-Content Editor

May 16, 2016

2 Min Read

Need a quick catch up on the news? Here are seven agricultural stories you might have missed this week.

1. Bayer is said to be considering a bid for Monsanto, a deal that would create the world’s largest supplier of seeds and farm chemicals. Monsanto has a market value of almost $40 billion. Bayer is valued at $96 billion. – Farm Futures

2. As food companies start to label their products as non-GMO, they are turning away from sugar beets to sugar cane.  Most sugar beets grown in the U.S. are GMO; there isn’t any GMO sugar cane. – Minnesota Public Radio

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3. JBS SA, the world’s largest meat producer, is creating a new New York-listed unit to hold the company’s non-Brazilian beef, chicken and processed-food businesses. – Farm Futures

4. Rental rates for Iowa farmland decreased by 6.5%, according to Iowa’s 2016 Cash Rental Rate survey. Conducted annually by Iowa State University Extension, this is the third consecutive year of declining cash rents after 15 years of increases. – Wallace’s Farmer

5. Investment groups started buying Louisiana farmland after the financial market meltdown. The annual return on farmland has averaged 11.5% over the past 25 years, according to the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries’ Farmland Index.  That’s better than the Standard and Poor’s performance over the same period. – The New Orleans Advocate

6. The United States is challenging China at the WTO because the country failed to bring its antidumping and countervailing duties against U.S. chicken broiler product imports into compliance with WTO rules. – Farm Futures

7. Beekeepers lost 44% of their honey bee colonies from April 2015 to April 2016, according to information from a survey conducted by the Bee Informed Partnership. – Farm Futures

And your bonus:

The Farm from a Box company has created a farming system designed to feed 150 people per year. It ships in a box and is designed for areas that lack the resources and infrastructure to access nutritious food. -  treehugger

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