Australian Beef Industry ‘Extremely Disappointed’ after China Hits Imports with 55% Tariff

THE GUARDIAN: Levy on beef exceeding quotas to begin immediately as Beijing seeks to protect domestic industry

Australian beef producers said they were “extremely disappointed” after China announced a 55% tariff on imports that exceed quota levels in a move to protect a domestic cattle industry slowly emerging from oversupply.

China’s commerce ministry said on Wednesday the total import quota for 2026 for Australia and other countries such as Brazil and the US covered under its new “safeguard measures” is 2.7m metric tons, roughly in line with the record 2.87m tons it imported overall in 2024.

The new annual quota levels are set below import levels for the first 11 months of 2025 for Australia as well as its top supplier, Brazil.

“The increase in the amount of imported beef has seriously damaged China’s domestic industry,” the ministry said in announcing the measure after an investigation launched last December.

The measure takes effect on 1 January for three years, with the total quota increasing annually. » | Martin Farrer and Dan Jervis-Bardy | Thursday, January 1, 2026

France Tries to Contain Protests by Farmers as Outrage Spreads

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The government announced measures to quell the anger, including the scrapping of a fuel tax increase, as thousands of tractors blocked highways across the country.

Farmers blocking the entrance of a supermarket burn tires in Le Mans, in northwestern France, on Friday. | Guillaume Souvant/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Protests by farmers angered by complex regulations, administrative hassles and low wages spread across France on Friday, blocking several highways, snarling traffic for miles and forcing the country’s new prime minister to tear up his schedule and head to a remote farm in the region where the demonstrations began.

Gabriel Attal, the 34-year-old prime minister who took office this month, arrived late in the afternoon in southwestern France to try to ease the tension.

“Without our farmers, we are no longer France,” he declared at a cattle farm in Montastruc-de-Salies, in the Haute-Garonne region. He appeared intent on convincing his rural audience that its angry message had been received, even as some tractor convoys inched closer to Paris.

Mr. Attal said that the government would scrap plans to reduce state subsidies on the diesel fuel used in trucks and other farming machinery, and he promised that it would significantly cut back the time-consuming bureaucratic regulations farmers must follow. For example, 14 different regulations on hedges would be merged into one. » | Roger Cohen and Aurelien Breeden, Reporting from Paris | Friday, January 26, 2024

En direct, colère des agriculteurs : Marc Fesneau promet des « mesures complémentaires » dès mardi : Le ministre de l’agriculture a promis dimanche une « tolérance zéro » en cas de « violences et de dégradations » alors que certains agriculteurs veulent mettre en place lundi « un siège de la capitale pour une durée indéterminée ». LIVE EN COURS »

US Wants UK to Open Up Its Agriculture Markets as Part of New Trade Deal

GUARDIAN INTERNATIONAL: Potentially wide-ranging agreement could be unachievable due to British objections to lower animal welfare standards

The US is pushing for Britain to open up its agricultural markets to US traders as part of a new economic agreement that would fall just short of a free trade agreement.

Washington and London have begun negotiations over a “foundational trade partnership”, which would cover subjects such as digital trade, labour protections and agriculture, according to documents seen by the Guardian and first revealed by Politico.

The partnership would not guarantee any particular levels of access for service providers to offer their products in each other’s countries, meaning it would fall short of the full free trade agreement that was promised by Brexit supporters after the leave vote.

The negotiations could run into trouble, especially over agriculture. Previous talks over a free trade agreement stalled in part because the UK refused to provide access to American food products such as chlorine-washed chicken or hormone-injected beef. » | Kiran Stacey, Political correspondent | Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Inside Story - How Can Food Security in Africa Be Achieved?

Global Impact as Drought Wilts US Crops
At least 29 states in the United States'' Midwest are feeling the heat of the Big Dry as oppressive heat and a worsening drought are pushing grain prices near or past records. Corn is a mega-crop and a bad year drives up the price everything from beef to cereal and auto fuel. As crops continue to wilt and falter, farmers and consumers across the globe are hoping for more rain, despite forecasts of dry days ahead. Al Jazeera's John Hendren reports from Rensselaer, Indiana.

Young Italians Flock to Become Shepherds

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Pay is poor and the hours are long, but there is job security, fresh air and as much pecorino cheese as you can eat.

As Italy’s unemployment rate topped 10pc this week, it emerged that young people are flocking to become shepherds.

Traditionally the preserve of older men, the profession has recently attracted 3,000 young Italians, according to agricultural body Coldiretti.

They are choosing a simple life in the great outdoors because their aspirations to become doctors, lawyers or engineers have been thwarted by Italy’s negligible economic growth, which has been compounded by grinding austerity measures. » | Nick Squires in Rome | Thursday, May 03, 2012

A Fan of Camel Milk Struggles to Start a Drome-dairy
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: In North Carolina, Ms. Hinkle Promotes Hard-to-Get Beverage; Milking Martha

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Millie Hinkle first tasted camel milk in the United Arab Emirates about 10 years ago. She had no idea the salty drink, still warm from the camel and served in an ornate bowl with a side of walnuts, would become an obsession.

"It has taken over my life," said the 57-year-old practitioner of natural medicine as she cruised down a tree-lined road here in her white SUV emblazoned with a camel.

Ms. Hinkle has drained her savings, slashed the number of hours she spends at her day job and started a company called Camel Milk USA. Her goal is to bring the milk, reputed to have healing and aphrodisiac powers, to the U.S. where it's been hard to get mainly because camels weren't listed in rules governing the sale of milk.

In April, Ms. Hinkle won initial approval from the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments, a nonprofit group, to market the milk. Now, she's awaiting approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on some final details.

But there are several humps to overcome before camel milk is widely available in the U.S. For starters, there aren't many camels here. Those that are mainly work in circuses or live in zoos.

Another challenge: Camels don't much like to be milked. Camels can be cantankerous and persuading them to give up their milk can be part chore, part art. Camel experts say the animals are often ticklish around their udders and, without proper training, might lie down in the middle of being milked.

Camel milk is a centuries-old staple for nomadic tribes across the Middle East and Africa. It is also drunk by elderly men to enhance virility; by the sick to treat a variety of ailments; and by those who believe it has magical properties. >>> Lauren Etter | Wednesday, July 22, 2009