Cotton Futures Rise on Speculation U.S. Farmers May Further Cut Acreage

(Bloomberg) -- Cotton rose to a one-week high in New
York on speculation farmers will switch acres to other crops
because of concern a World Trade Organization ruling may threaten
U.S. subsidies for growers of the fiber.

The WTO ruled last week the U.S. failed to overhaul its
subsidies to growers sufficiently to comply with trade rules, the
U.S. Trade Representative's office and Brazil said. U.S. farmers
cut cotton acreage by 28 percent this year from 2006, with many
switching to corn after it rallied to a 10-year high in February.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

WTO chairmen propose compromises to save Doha round

(Reuters) - Mediators of the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) troubled farming and industrial goods talks on Tuesday proposed compromise texts meant to save the Doha free trade accord.

Don Stephenson, Canada's ambassador to the WTO and mediator of the industrial goods talks, said countries needed to "search for balance" between their competing interests in the nearly six-year-old negotiations to secure an agreement.


Read more at Reuters Africa