The company has been in the RPC pooling service business since 1993, successfully meeting USDA and other requirements for cleaning containers that come into direct contact with food, pharmaceuticals, and health and beauty aid products. Arena Products inc., which launched the reusable plastic container (RPC) pooling business in North America, is extending its popular fleet service to the meat, produce, and dairy markets, it was announced recently. We have built our expertise on our long...

Remember every bushel of corn or beans used as fuel in this country means that plantings in other countries will have to be increased to assure balance in the food markets. The bean counters are scratching their heads trying to calculate the number of acres that will likely be planted to soybeans. December 2007 corn futures floated back to Earth after speculative traders pulled prices back into the reach of gravity. Roughly 8.3 million acres were utilized for silage instead of feed grain a...

The NCGA hopes to see more of the safety net shifted to actual yield produced from an acre to protect more against crop disasters that can hurt farmers' investment. Roughly speaking, in the 2002 Farm Bill, which expires with the 2007 crop year, farmers are compensated based on corn prices, which were then far below their ethanol-fueled heights. On the stock markets, the instant beneficiaries from the corn report were major livestock concerns like pork behemoth Smithfield Foods (SFD) and...

Some farmers are delaying planting water-sensitive crops in the Mississippi Delta as dry conditions rapidly drain moisture from the soil. With the traditional rainy season a bust so far, drought appears to be taking hold across many areas of the country, including the Southeast. Department of Agriculture monitors rainfall, 0.67 inches had fallen in March going into the final day. Drought Monitor shows extreme drought conditions already have taken hold in five points around the country -...

Department of Agriculture has been collecting data on what's in food for more than 100 years. When we searched for "trans fat," for example, up came a technical scientific paper about food analysis that only laboratory wonks would find useful. Wondering about the side effects of that new drug your doctor prescribed? Want advice on how to cope with a new diagnosis? Should you believe reports that calcium can prevent colon cancer? Also receiving a "Better than Most" rating: the pork...