Scoopit!

The Financial Times has this piece by Geoffrey Wheatcroft on the life and times of Peter Mandelson, the often controversial British politician and EU Trade Commissioner, who has fallen out spectacularly with Nicholas Sarkozy.

Wheatcroft begins:-

When Michael Howard made his final parliamentary appearance as leader of the UK opposition, his last question for the prime minister was unexpected. He reminded Tony Blair that he had once said he would not have truly succeeded until he had taught Labour to love Peter Mandelson. Could he tell the house what progress had been made? Amid much laughter, Mr Blair replied with mock gravity: “A lot done and a lot left to do.”

A piece well worth reading.

Scoopit!

Feeling virtuous, I didn't even buy the box until this morning and whipped up a batch when I got home from the store.  Unfortunately by the time they were cooled, the picnic was cancelled because of expected thunderstorms.  Which meant there was a box of ready to eat brownies sitting on my counter.

Did I do the smart thing and demolish them in the disposal?  No.  Did I smush them up so they were unrecognizable?  No - and anyway, that wouldn't change anything because they would still be brownies, just in a different shape.  Did I pour dish soap or some other revolting (and sick-making) substance on top?  Yes, but not until I ate about 1/4 of the pan.  Okay, maybe 1/3.  No, 1/4.  I made myself sick overeating something I didn't even expect to have in the house and wouldn't have bought or eaten if I'd been anywhere else. The remains of the pan are now in the trash, liberally squirted with Dawn and worchestershire sauce, but the damage is done.

The bad news is that I ate them without listening to my body enough to know that it was saying, "This is enough, you can stop now."  The good news is that they are now in the trash, I have healthy groceries in the fridge, and tomorrow is another day.  And there is WW on Sunday morning, where I will step on the scale and hold myself accountable.  I don't have to wait until Sunday to be more in controlle tomorrow.

Since I didn't go to the picnic, I worked on The Closet Project today and have now successfully weeded through the closets and cedar chest. I still have the dresser and a box of reserved smaller things to evaluate.  I must say it's pretty liberating to use the lens of "would I buy this again?" instead of "would I wear this again?"  My bags of clothes will go in the car tomorrow and popped into clothing donation boxes so they don't get in the way.  Someone else will be thrilled to have the things that have no more value for me.  A Win-Win situation for everyone.

He notes the following about Zoellick:-

A former US trade representative, a former deputy secretary of state and before that an under-secretary of the treasury, Robert Zoellick - notoriously one of the brainiest people in Washington - has to bend the disparate institution he heads to answer the crises of the day.

Then a little further on he notes:-

Zoellick is a proponent of globalisation, but he wants sustainable globalisation, and above all globalisation that works for the world's poor.

He is a life-long Republican, although of the centrist kind, and while his commitment to the World Bank is complete, you could imagine him as secretary for virtually anything in a McCain administration. He is part of the permanent global governing class.

A workaholic and a long-time friend of Australia, and of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Zoellick embodies the traditional core Republican value of competence in government.

Adam was very interested to see that Zoellick has a strong connection apparently to Rudd. It is hard to think of our current PM having personal relationships with consummate American insiders, especially ones from across the divide.

Sheridan talks about what Zoellick is trying to on the food crisis and other matters, but these comments caught Adam's eye:-

But his argument on the Doha Round is simple and compelling. If the world cannot even bring itself to agree to a trade liberalisation that will undoubtedly bring economic benefits to everyone, how on earth will it be able to agree to a meaningful climate change arrangement that will have costs as well as benefits?

Here it is essential that the protectionist tendencies of many nations must be resisted. It is for this reason that Adam has such forebodings about the French assuming the EU Presidency for the next 6 months and the recent sniping by French President Sarkozy at Peter Mandelson, the EU Commissioner negotiating on the Doha Round. Adam sees an unholy alliance of the French and the Germans on defending the CAP to the last drop of economic life in the developing world. OK, an exaggeration but their track record on the CAP and Doha is lousy.

If the poorer and middle-income countries are denied the substantial development benefits that would flow from a successful conclusion of the Doha Round, in Zoellick's view they are even less likely to accept a negotiation on greenhouse gases that would put them under obligations.

To Adam that view makes sense.

Zoellick believes there is a deal to be done in the Doha Round - and that it's almost there.

His friend, Pascal Lamy, the director-general of the World Trade Organisation, has called for a ministerial meeting on the round next month.

"He's taking the fundamental step of moving beyond the negotiators to the ministers," Zoellick says. "If Lamy isn't successful, the Doha Round could just fade from the scene."

So will this be a smart move by Lamy? Can Lamy bridge the gaps and bring a deal to conclusion?

Sheridan asks Zoellick about the climate change issue and again we see an interesting response:-

One thing that has struck me as I travel around Asia is that no one in a poor country is willing to pay any price at all to limit greenhouse gas emissions. There are understandable reasons for this, but given how big a proportion of greenhouse gases comes from developing countries such as China, India and Indonesia, I wonder if the project is not doomed to failure from the start.

I put all this to Zoellick in a fairly direct fashion, and his response is realistic and measured. He is tackling the problem with his eyes wide open.

"The climate change negotiations are likely to be more challenging than many people have expected," he says.

Zoellick has concerns about some of the planned methods of dealing with climate change.

"If you look at some of the proposed cap and trade systems they have questionable trade components."

In other words, combating greenhouse gases could become an excuse for protectionism.

In fact this has started to happen with our old friends the EU, egged on by the French and Germans.

"But if you're serious about climate change problems, you have to engage developing nations. And developing nations are going to be very sensitive about the idea that (combating) climate change is going to interfere with their development."

A very interesting article, which repays reading in full. Zoellick in that last quote touches on one of the most thorny issues and one which many in the West choose to ignore in Adam's opinion.

Sheridan notes:-

It is difficult for anyone to imagine poor countries signing up to agreements that tie them to specific reductions in the total greenhouse gasemissions, but Zoellick believes there might be other types of agreements, on technology use and the paths of development, that poorer countries could adopt if they see the deal as a win-win situation. In his view, there have already been advances in the efforts of global governance institutions to deal with this.

One of the important consequences of the Bali climate change summit was that it recognised and agreed to give credit for foregone deforestation.

Deforestation accounts for something like 20 per cent of global greenhouse emissions. The Kyoto Protocol previously recognised forestation efforts as a greenhouse offset, but did not recognise deforestation foregone as an equally important contribution.

Adam was intrigued by this reference to foregone deforestation as it was the first time he had seen such reference. IS there an impact for NZ in this?

Overall worth a look and consideration of the comments made in the article. It would be good to think that NZ had such well placed friends in high places, connected and likely to remain connected through varying administrations.

UPDATE: The Hive provides some additional background on Zoellick

I've been trying hard to not navel-gaze, as my friend Phyllis calls it.  It's hard for me to do because I've spent most of my life worrying about food things and my frustration with my body and my eating habits.  And of course the result of what the eating actually does, which just gets me into an unhealthy spiral.  Yeah, I know all about the need to understand why I'm doing what I do so I can put new habits in place to change.

But honestly, what do I not know about my eating?   Not much.  My problem isn't the not knowing, it's having the self confidence and sense of commitment to myself to actually do something.  It's a lifetime problem and it won't be resolved overnight.  Which is fine.

What matters is that I remember each day why this is important, for my health, comfort and appearance.  I am a work in progress; today is just another step along the way.  I feel really good about how the week went and didn't care all that much what the scale said.  I pretty much ate what I wanted, including a pad thai lunch and meals out with friends.  I read labels and made the choice to not eat some snacks and meals because I knew they weren't worth the short-term taste.  I never felt deprived or overly hungry.

I feel good about myself today.

She proceded to scan the fridge and freezer, approached me again, and asked in an indignant tone, "Don't we have ANY MEAT in this house?" I looked up from my book, mouth agape, and searched her face. Dead seriousness looked back at me. I laughed. This from the girl who complains from the other end of the house when she smells meat cooking. This from the girl who crinkles her nose and mutters, "Gross," if I serve a shred of meat with dinner. This from the girl who thinks she might like to be a chef, but suspects she couldn't hack culinary school because she'd refuse to cook meat. She put her hands on her hips and clarified, as if I didn't understand already, "It's not for me! A~ eats meat, you know." I laughed again. Veggie Girl crossed her arms over her chest and tried again, shifting her weight and throwing out her right hip, "Well, DON'T we?"

Just then, Keith came through the door after finishing his daily bike ride. He saw that I was doubled over snorting with my legs crossed trying not to pee and inquired as to the matter. I choked out the explanation. He joined me in snorting which discouraged Veggie Girl from persuing the subject further. Quietly, she slipped into the kitchen and popped a frozen cheese pizza into the oven.

1. I'm busy like everyone else and I've never been able to figure out how to get organized in the kitchen. In my life, it's always 4:00 in the afternoon and somebody's asking, "What's for dinner?" Since I don't plan my shopping with a weekly dinner menu, I'm always having to ask myself, "What can I make with...?"
2. I love good food and I'm a good cook. Good food takes time and planning. Again, I don't have enough of either.
3. I love the idea of a quick casserole or slow-cooked meal, but I rarely love the made-with-a-can-of-soup-and-a-side-of-beef results. I do make a killer Salsa Chicken in the slow-cooker and could use more light recipes like this one. I also dislike expensive, unhealthy, convenience freezer food like chicken nuggets and pizza rolls. Plus...
4. I have a vegetarian to feed. Even a low-fat, veg-packed dish like my Salsa Chicken leaves her fending for herself. I often hear, "I'd tell her to eat the meat or cook her own meals," but I believe it's a healthier, more responsible way to eat, so I try to be accommodating. But...
5. The rest of us are meat eaters. Three of us enjoy veg fare and maybe even prefer it. We eat meatless meals most of the time, but after a week without animal protein, we begin to seek it out. The fourth is a die-hard meat-a-tarian and asks, "Where's the beef?", if she doesn't detect it from 50 paces. Luckily, she doesn't live at home anymore which makes dinner a little simpler.
6. My vegetarian repertoire is limited even after five years of living with Veggie Girl. I can't cook tofu in a way that any of us like, including her, and half of my family won't touch a mushroom or an olive if they can see it in the dish. There's so much more to veg cooking than tofu, mushrooms, and olives, but I'd like other hearty options beyond beans and eggs without smothering every thing in cheese (We aren't aiming for veganism, obviously. We're having a hard enough time with ovo-lacto fare.) I find myself rotating Cuban Black Beans and Rice, Louisiana Red Beans and Rice, Refried Beans and Rice, Vegetable-Egg Fried Rice, and an occasional Dal or Chickpea-Potato Curry.
7. I hate grocery shopping and I'd rather spend the time in a restaurant. Not that I can afford THAT.
8. I'm always either on a diet, just coming off a diet, or talking about starting a new diet. I'm all about volume, so a diet for me means cooking uber-light and my hubby has to eat twenty pounds of what ever I cook to be satisfied. Then he's hungry and hour later. He's a cyclist and trains nearly everyday. He needs hearty meals to maintain his weight. What I really want is balance. Healthy, hearty meals in reasonable portions.
9. I only like to cook for company. In fact, I love to cook for company. I make the time to plan and take the time to cook well. Food is my way of taking care of friends and family (the family that doesn't live here). Oppositely, I despise the daily drudgery of cooking whatever.
10. All of the above overwhelms me and leaves us all fending for ourselves a few times a week.

I have to get a grip now because our family is in for big changes this fall. We're a homeschool family and for the first time, someone will have a class away from home every afternoon. We'll also be adding two preschool palates to our table. I want to keep our dinner time intact especially now that my daughters living at home are teenagers and need uniterrupted time with the parents. Plus, we have bonding/attaching to do with our new sons when they come home. It's time I get plan. I have a few ideas and I'll share as I work through them.

That's my family and food is our issue.

My big accomplishment was not going into the grocery store.  I didn't need to go, having made two different runs (at different stores, for different things) and a trip to the farm stand for fresh local veggies.  But this morning I wanted more more more of something snacky.  I drove to the store and parked in the lot, but sat there for a few minutes before getting out of the car.  From somewhere I found the wherewithall to just decide not to go in today. If I entered the store, I knew I would not be able to not buy something I would regret later.  So instead I just started the car, turned around and went home.

I did not starve.  I ate a big healthy salad with edamame, vegetables, and protein, plus cherries for lunch.  Dinner was a pork chop, corn on the cob, big fat Canadian tomatoes, and a bowl of fresh strawberries with pudding yogurt for dessert.  A rich fudgy low-fat fudge bar made a satisfying snack.  I'm floating away in water and Crystal Light but am full and ready to stop eating.  Food for tomorrow is planned out.

I'm just taking this one day at a time, remembering my goal of 10% of my current weight off by Christmas.  It's doable.  Today was Day One.

Then last week I got a letter saying that I was going to be helping with snacks Mon-Fri - but it didn't give any more info. I finally called this morning to ask what exactly my responsibility would be. Turns out I'm to be there the ENTIRE time each day to prepare and distribute snacks as different shifts of children rotate in for snack time. They totally snagged a newbie on this one. My first thoughts went something like this, "But that's half a day! But that's my whole week! But it's FOOD SERVICE - I don't like food service! But that's going to be boring! Crap, I'm such a selfish, bad Christian!"

I know I volunteered and I'm supposed to be doing this is His service, so if they told me to scrub the toilets for VBS I should do it and not complain. They are providing a special time for my child, and at no cost to us to boot. I have 3 days left to work myself out of my bad attitude and buck up for my week of food service. I figure I should be at least passive about it by Monday. I do get to work with two other moms I like, so I figure I'll end up having fun (I repeat this as necessary as part of my bucking up process).

All of that complaining was to say that apparently God (or at least my church) wishes my rapt attention for the duration of next week as I prepare peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Kool-Aid for legions of small children and try to remember the higher reason of why I'm doing it. In other words, I won't be around here much next week, and I may not get much written before then. CA has some good stuff still to post though and I'll check in as I can in the afternoons or evenings (maybe... LOL). (So your comments may not go up in a timely fashion.)

And I'm getting a new modem, hopefully tomorrow, because this one is on it's last leg and I have random internet access (in and out about every 30 seconds or so - highly annoying), making my time on here sparse of late - wish me luck in hooking it up!

--------------------------------------------------

And on a totally random note for the weekend, Saresh took off today and he and DD and I went to the track to run and then to the park. On the way back home, there were two Indian boys around 13 yrs old walking (ahem... flirting) with two cutie white girls in white tank tops about the same age. They were all walking together. I had to smile and I said to Saresh, "If their mamas knew where they were right now, they'd be in a world of trouble!" He chuckled and said he was just thinking the same thing while smiling to himself.

Scoopit!

An article from the New York Times on the work of Norman Uphoff of Cornell University on improving agricultural productivity in rice without GM.

This extract refers:-

Harvests typically double, he says, if farmers plant early, give seedlings more room to grow and stop flooding fields. That cuts water and seed costs while promoting root and leaf growth.

The method, called the System of Rice Intensification, or S.R.I., emphasizes the quality of individual plants over the quantity. It applies a less-is-more ethic to rice cultivation.

In a decade, it has gone from obscure theory to global trend — and encountered fierce resistance from established rice scientists. Yet a million rice farmers have adopted the system, Dr. Uphoff says. The rural army, he predicts, will swell to 10 million farmers in the next few years, increasing rice harvests, filling empty bellies and saving untold lives.

“The world has lots and lots of problems,” Dr. Uphoff said recently while talking of rice intensification and his 38 years at Cornell. “But if we can’t solve the problems of peoples’ food needs, we can’t do anything. This, at least, is within our reach.”

Uphoff's approach is not universally accepted and critics include the 'rice science establishment as discussed in the article.

Robert Chambers, a leading analyst on rural development, who works at the University of Sussex, England, called it a breakthrough.

“The extraordinary thing,” he said, “is that both farmers and scientists have missed this — farmers for thousands of years, and scientists until very recently and then some of them in a state of denial.”

The method, he added, “has a big contribution to make to world food supplies. Its time has come.”

The article concludes:-

In Laos, an agriculture official recently said S.R.I. had doubled the size of rice crops in three provinces and would spread to the whole country because it provided greater yields with fewer resources.

“Once we get over the mental barriers,” Dr. Uphoff said, “it can go very, very quickly because there’s nothing to buy.”

The opponents have agreed to conduct a global field trial that may end the dispute, he said. The participants include the rice institute, Cornell and Wageningen University, a Dutch institution with a stellar reputation in agriculture.

The field trials may start in 2009 and run through 2011, Dr. Uphoff said. “This should satisfy any scientific questions,” he added. “But my sense is that S.R.I. is moving so well and so fast that this will be irrelevant.”

Practically, he said, the method is destined to grow.

“It raises the productivity of land, labor, water and capital,” he said. “It’s like playing with a stacked deck. So I know we’re going to win.”

It will be interesting to keep an eye on this, as if the approach holds up, it would seem to offer considerable advantages. productivity is increased and resource use reduced. Surely a good thing all round?

Adam recommends this article.

He wonders if there are other crops where a similar approach might be tried.

The article points up also how new approaches not only have to struggle to find acceptance from farmers, but also from the agriculture establishment.

YIELD The rice growing method is used in places like Indonesia.

Scoopit!

Scoopit!

The Wall Street Journal has this interesting article on changes in attitude towards farming in the developing world, especially by the World Bank and IMF, who are acknowledging past errors of judgement.

It discusses the change concerning whether farmers should grow for food or export.

The article is a useful one and comes at the issue in a manner somewhat different from that which one might expect from the Wall Street Journal.

PONT-SONDÉ, Haiti -- Leonid Eustache coaxes a small rice crop out of his tiny plot here, but he could use some help from his government. He can't afford fertilizer. His only tool is a hoe. And half of his crop rots because nearby drainage canals are filled with water hyacinth.

"The water stays, and it rots the roots of my plants," the 62-year-old farmer said on a recent day, standing barefoot in a pool of stagnant water. "They should do something about that."

For the first time in a long while, someone just might. Haiti is one of many developing nations where a global food crisis is causing both donors and recipients of anti-poverty aid to rethink doctrines about the role of agriculture -- and whether poor nations should grow their own food or rely on the world's trading system.

For decades, poor nations were discouraged from investing too much in agriculture, which was seen as a problem rather than a solution to fighting poverty. Many free-market economists came to believe that the reason billions of people are poor is because they are shackled to subsistence farming. The economists' solution: find something else for them in manufacturing, tourism or services so that they can make money to buy food instead of growing it.

Poor countries were discouraged from growing much of their own staples, such as rice and wheat, that are usually grown more cheaply in rich countries. Instead, they were told to focus on export crops that might fetch a higher price.

This link is to a related video on whether to drink water of use water for crops.

Later the article comments:-

A growing number of World Bank economists are now convinced most poor nations need a healthy farm sector as the basis of a robust economy. The manufacturing booms that swept Asia only happened after the region's farm sectors developed. And new research shows that investing in agriculture lifts more people out of poverty much faster than long thought. The 2007 study "Down to Earth" by World Bank economists Luc Christiaensen and Lionel Demery found economic growth of the agriculture sector is at least twice as effective at reducing poverty as any other sector.

later the article considers what the impact of past policies has been:

Since the early 1980s, the World Bank and IMF preached that higher yields from rich countries' farmers would keep food cheap, eliminating the need for poor countries to spend their meager dollars on boosting agricultural productivity. This held true for years. Most poor countries could usually import staples more cheaply than grow their own, and could focus resources elsewhere.

That advice failed to take into account the possibility that food grown by wealthy farmers might not stay cheap forever. Even though agricultural productivity is still climbing, rising demand for food in Asia, greater use of grains for cattle, and the diversion of crops for biofuels have all helped increase prices quickly.

Now that countries want to revive their agriculture sectors, it's not going to be easy, given the neglect of the past few decades.

Consider what has happened in Africa. In the 1980s, governments were prodded by the World Bank to get spending under control. Many set about whacking agriculture programs. Irrigation projects dried up. Schools that trained scientists and agronomists fell into disrepair. At an agriculture school in Mozambique, students who are supposed to study mechanized farming rely on broken-down tractors and combines that sit like museum pieces on the school's lawn. In Ghana, some agents for the government's agricultural extension service, who are supposed to spread the latest scientific advice to farmers, often must hitch rides or walk to make their rounds.

The situation in Haiti provides an illustration of what happened, according to the article:-

U.S. rice, which Haitians call "Miami" rice, slowly displaced local rice. In the Artibonite, large-scale farming was nearly wiped out by a combination of imports and a land reform. By 2003, the Artibonite was producing less than 80,000 metric tons of rice. Haiti is now the world's biggest per-capita importer of rice -- it imported about 400,000 metric tons last year -- and the number four market for U.S. rice growers, buying $112 million worth of rice last year, according to the USA Rice Federation.

"In the case of Haiti, the lowering of tariffs without support for farmers to transition into more-profitable crops was a negative blow to the agriculture sector," said Diego Arias, a rice specialist who worked in Haiti for the Inter-American Development Bank and is now with the World Bank.

Outside advisers, he says, often failed to see that, to a Haitian farmer, rice is preferred as a low-risk crop -- easy to store, and easy to eat in times of low prices. Tomatoes, which experts urged Haitians to cultivate, "could have offered a better return," Mr. Arias concedes. "But tomatoes also are more risky. In Haiti, they spoil on the way to market, the roads are so bad

This article is worth taking a look at, it provides a counter balance to some of the other material that is available.

Adam is of the view that there is no simplistic answer, nor will one solution fit all circumstances. For example Haiti has been ravaged by war for much of the period as well, further the article suggests that land reform and a reduction in large scale farming was a significant contributor to the problem.

Interestingly, the article would tend to support the view that subsidies to rich world farmers to produce staple crops such as rice are not in the long run helpful. Further, higher value crops might have benefited Haiti, but lack of infrastructure mitigated against that. Thus another key factor identified elsewhere is apparent here - farmers cannot move up the value train without investment in infrastructure and support in initial capitalisation.

Scoopit!

She keeps a journal. It's in one of those old composition notebooks, the ones with the black and white mottled covers. Sometimes she lets me read it, sometimes she doesn't, and I always respect her feelings on that. Kills me to do it, because all I want to know in this world is what's going on in that little head of hers, but I do it all the same. I have to.

Sometimes it's about what she did over the weekend. More often, it's about what stickers or books or toys her grandparents bought her. And then there's this one:

I love my dad.

I love my dad

becus he has no

joob and wen he

has no joob then

he sumtimes can

pic me up from

scool urly.

***

Sunday is Father's Day – my sixth, incredibly. Each is better than the last, because each day the kids get more magnificent. Couple weeks ago they held a debate on the question of robot poop – Max says they poop cannonballs, but Mia says it's more like screws and bolts. I think it depends on the robot's diet. The jury's out. And Saturday, Max drew a frog and named it Snort, and this is how he explained the name to his sister:

"My frog's name is snort because he snorted one of his boogers into the ocean. He had a booger that was really good, and he snorted it, and it fell into the water."

And in fact, there's a really good booger in the water. See for yourself.

***

Mia learned to tie her shoes this week.

Max ate a 64-ounce clamshell of blueberries watching Caillou.

Max still comes into our bed at night, but not every night.

Max is uncommonly polite. He uses please and thank you like they were Skittles. He also farts a lot, and this makes him laugh. A lot.

Mia's favorite food is Skittles. I have never given her Skittles.

Max doesn't like pizza. It has sauce, and he doesn't like sauce. He also doesn't like ketchup, or white sauce, or spaghetti with red sauce. The only sauce Max likes is syrup.

And Fig Newtons. Which he described to me as "the thing with the sauce with the bread around it." He likes Fig Newtons.

Mia and Max only eat the heads off broccoli.

Mia read a whole book in bed tonight. She called me in to tell me about it. Her smile kept the room lit even after I made her turn out the light.

Max is coming around on shorts.

Every night before bath, Max chooses a plastic animal or dinosaur to bring into the tub. And every night, he asks me if that particular animal or dinosaur swims, and if it swims underwater too. Every night, I say yes to both questions.

Max draws dogs. He draws cats. He draws bunnies. He draws mice. Yesterday, he drew a dog chasing a cat. Chasing a bunny. Chasing...no, not a mouse. A ball of yarn. The ball of yarn was chasing the mouse. The mouse was chasing an ant.

Mia refuses to tell me about her day. It's because it's her day, not my day. That's what she told me.

Max still gets tired of walking. I get tired of carrying him.

***

And then there's this: I got a joob. I've been working at it for five months, and right now I'm thrilled, but I'm not.

I've not gone to work for five years. I've worked, but I've not gone to work. I've written. And though this job is insanely close to home – close enough that I'll commute on foot – it's not at home, which means I can't watch kids and still work. Which brings with it all sorts of complications involving daycare and after-school care and babysitters and juggling and I don't know what else. I don't know. We'll figure it out soon, though. We'll have to. I start next month.

It's good. I'm happy. This is what I've been working toward. And it's as close to a perfect situation as I could have imagined. It's just.

Well. I like picking her up urly.

Randy Kron, a farmer in Griffin, Ind., on land that was a cornfield, then a soybean field, but that is now flooded.

The New York Times has a new article in it's Food Chain series. This one is on harvest expectations, not just in the US but elsewhere.

Considerable hope is riding on good harvests in 2008, but this may not be the case as discussed in the article.

In a year when global harvests need to be excellent to ease the threat of pervasive food shortages, evidence is mounting that they will be average at best. Some farmers are starting to fear disaster.

American corn and soybean farmers are suffering from too much rain, while Australian wheat farmers have been plagued by drought.

Later the article notes:-

As the world clamors for more corn, wheat, soybeans and rice, farmers are trying to meet the challenge. Millions of acres are coming back into production in Europe. In Asia, planting two or three crops in a single year is becoming more common.

There is scope with improved farming practices to meet the challenge but other issues have to be faced also. There would appear likely to be a fall off in US rice production as well.

The article discusses also the challenges facing rice growers in Thailand and the Philippines.

Weather conditions are not helping either, the drought in Australia and:-

China also faces trouble: the agriculture ministry issued an urgent notice to wheat and rice farmers in southern China on Sunday, telling them to harvest as much of their crop as possible immediately in the face of unseasonable torrential rains expected to rake the region for the next 10 days.

In the American corn belt, the issue has also been getting the rain to stop. After heavy rains and flooding last weekend, the price of corn on the commodity markets rose Monday to a record $6.57 a bushel.

The article concludes:-

Mr. Kron, the Indiana farmer, gave up on corn last week after managing to plant — and in some cases replant — only about half of his 1,200 acres.

Last year, his corn yielded 150 bushels an acre. This year, he will be happy to get 130 bushels. He has warned his processor, Azteca Milling, which makes flour for tortillas and chips, that he will be short.

Mr. Kron’s prospects are deteriorating. He was hoping to plant soybeans on some of his unused corn ground, but hundreds of those acres adjoin the swollen Wabash River. On Monday, the fields started flooding.

So food supply problems appear likely to continue.

“I don’t know if this is the worst year we’ve ever had, but it’s moving up the list pretty quick,” the farmer said.

Scoopit!