Miller Magazine Issue:114 June 2019

32 NEWS JUNE 2019 Destructive pest threatens China’s grain production The devastating armyworm pest has already spread to more than 8,500 hectares of China’s grain production and could soon affect the country’s entire crop, CNN repots.The vora- cious, inch-long fall armyworm, the larval form of the army- worm moth, can breed rapidly, spread great distances and is hugely difficult to eradicate. In recent years the armyworm has ruined agricultural produce across Africa and the Americas, where it originated, and has now begun to march across Asia. It has a large impact on a wide range of crops, including impor- tant Chinese staples such as rice, soybeans and corn. According to the US report, prepared for the Department of Agriculture (USDA), it may have already spread to a range of southern Chinese provinces including Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hunan and Hainan.The Chinese Min- istry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has taken emergency measures to control the spread of the armyworm, the Unit- ed Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said in Janu- ary. In just two years, the so-called fall armyworm colonised three-quarters of Africa, according to the British-based Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI). The new pest comes as the Chinese government faces a number of daunting agricultural challenges. Every province in the country has now been affected by the swine fever virus, which is devastating the pork industry, a staple of the Chinese diet. While it is not harmful to humans so far, more than 1 million pigs have been slaughtered in the past year in China to try to halt the spread of the virus. According to the USDA report, the armyworm was first discovered in China on January 29 in Yunnan province, having entered from neighboring Myanmar. “Private and government affiliated crop protection experts in China report that the worm has spread much faster than they expected. More recently, the pest was detected in isolated pockets of summer-season corn in Yunnan province. In Guangxi province, the pest has been detected in about one-quarter of all counties,” the report said. CNN Morton Sosland, longtime head of Sosland Publishing, passed away It is with great sadness that we learnt of the passing away of Morton Sosland, who led Sosland Publishing Company for several decades. He died at age 93. Mr. Sosland was returning to Kansas City April 25 from a Continental Grain Co. board of directors meeting in New York and was stricken while riding home. He died soon afterward at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Food Business News reports. We have lost a great champion for milling sector. After graduation from Harvard University, Mr. Sosland joined Sosland Publishing Company in 1947. Active as a publisher and editor for most of his 72 years with the company, he also created and wrote much of the edito- rial page for several of the company magazines, includ- ing World Grain and Food Business News. In 1972, Mr. Sosland was at the center of national news when The Southwestern Miller broke the story of the Soviet Union’s huge purchases of grain from the Unit- ed States. The Russian Wheat Deal, to- gether with the Arab oil embargo a year later, proved a watershed moment for the U.S. and the global economy. With detailed and precise secret information provided over several months by a mys- terious source, Mr. Sosland’s tantalizing role in breaking the news attracted great attention from the national media. For many years, Mr. Sosland was a frequent speaker before industry groups, primarily analyzing develop- ments within various grain-based sectors — grain, flour milling and baking — and often looking thoughtfully toward future prospects. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family and to World Grain team. Morton Sosland