Leaders of Growth Energy, the ethanol coalition, painted a positive portrait of the industry going into 2012 in a call to reporters today, even though the ethanol tax break and protective tariff will expire on Dec. 31 and there are campaigns to get rid of the renewable fuel standard. Read More...

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Tuesday that it is broadening its commitment to agricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia by signing a memorandum of understanding with a Brazilian government agency and providing a $2.5 million grant to the Africa-Brazil Agricultural Innovation Marketplace, developed by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) to promote development in Africa through agricultural innovation. Read More...

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and former Ghanian President John Agyekum Kufuor have been awarded the World Food Prize. Read More...

Agreements between the United States and Brazil involving renewable energy that were announced during President Obama’s visit to South America have won praise from the Brazilian sugarcane industry association UNICA, and a more measured comment from the Renewable Fuels Association. Read More...