Harvest Delay California and Coronavirus Impact on Ag Markets

Harvest Delay California and Coronavirus Impact on Ag Markets

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.

**Winter vegetable harvest in the California desert has picked up the pace after something of a slow start.

Farmers says late December and early January rains delayed planting and harvest in the Imperial Valley while occasional cold weather meant waiting until midmorning to begin daily harvests.

The desert valleys of California and Arizona produce most of the nation's lettuce, spinach and other vegetables during the winter.

**The EPA says it’s finished a regulatory review that found glyphosate, the most widely used weed killer in the United States, is not a carcinogen.

According to agrimarketing.com, the conclusion reaffirms the agency's stance on glyphosate, the key ingredient in Bayer AG's Roundup, despite judgments by U.S. juries that have found using the weedkiller was responsible for plaintiffs' cancer in some trials.

The EPA judgment could help bolster the case for Bayer as it faces thousands more lawsuits.

https://www.agrimarketing.com/s/128667

**Coronavirus is already shaking up the market outlook this year, but could agriculture be next?

RaboBank’s Christian Lawrence says it’s very difficult to say at this stage, with the 2003 SARS outbreak the only comparison.

He tells milkbusiness.com, we did see a meaningful impact on global growth back then, but China was only around about 4% of global GDP, not today’s 16%.

Lawrence says if the virus is contained and the impact diminishes, the economic story could quickly rebound.

https://www.milkbusiness.com/article/could-coronavirus-dent-chinas-40-billion-ag-purchase-pledge?mkt/

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