The operationalisation of the NFSM came just before the government recently signalled plans to import wheat to the tune of one million tonne from an extremely tight global wheat market. Preparations are on by the agriculture ministry to get things in place on the ground for the coming rabi season of 2007-08, the first crop season during which the NFSM programme will be kickstarted. Prices on the CBoT have been shooting through the roof and the Australian wheat production deficit has been...

BY PHYLLIS JACOBS GRIEKSPOOR The Wichita Eagle A near-record harvest of corn and grain sorghum -- added to a bin-buster wheat crop in the western part of the state -- has meant that thousands of bushels of Kansas grain are being piled on the ground at elevators. BY PHYLLIS JACOBS GRIEKSPOOR The Wichita Eagle A near-record harvest of corn and grain sorghum -- added to a bin-buster wheat crop in the western part of the state -- has meant that thousands of bushels of Kansas grain are being...

Most- active futures, which at one point yesterday rose the exchange limit of 30 cents, are down 15 percent since reaching a record $9. About 55 percent of the crop was in good or excellent condition compared with 60 percent a year earlier, the government said. Some analysts had expected a bigger drop, after wheat surged to a record high last month. Dry weather in other parts of the state is also hurting crops. In Kansas, the largest wheat-producing state, 61 percent of the crop was in...

Greenhouse and nursery plants are the state's most valuable commodities, with production valued at $877 million in 2005-06. The league's board of directors was most concerned about a "lack of public process" when the Legislature drafted Measure 49, the group said in a news release. The cattlemen's association, formed in Baker County in 1913, warned its members that Measure 49's "anti-constitution and anti-private property special interests" are out to control them. Farmers in the...

Also, the market could currently be overbought, due to the number of funds currently investing in the market, a trader said. News that Argentina, normally the world's sixth largest exporter, was returning exports to market following better than expected crops was weighing on prices. However, fundamentals for Robusta in London remain strong, with crops at historically low levels, ongoing concerns about weather conditions in key producers, and a fresh influx on interest from non-physical...