Conti ransomware gang managed to forcefully shut down the internal IT systems of Nordex wind turbine company and brought down remote access to their turbines. Conti posted about the March 31 attack on April 11, but the information was made public on April 14. Nordex didn’t reveal what kind of cyber attack occurred in late March. Since Conti hasn’t started leaking any data, it could be that the cybercriminals group is negotiating ransom demand with the company. “Nordex turbines continued operating without restrictions and wind farm communication with grid operators and energy traders was, and remains, unaffected.” Nordex implemented alternative remote control services for the majority of its fleet.

Environmental factors affecting farmers this week:
- Third consecutive dry year sets in on California, drought affecting grapes and almonds crops.
- Iraq crop failures grow due to drought, farmers look to migrate. Not all wheat farmers have access drought resistant seed.
- Hailstorm damages crops in Thakurgaon district, Bangladesh.
- Reduced wheat production due to dry spell in Haryana, northern India.
- Kuttanad, southern India- the 'Rice Bowl of Kerala'. Rice crops set to be harvested in a fortnight destroyed in pre-monsoon rains.

Crypto News:
- European Commission receives more than 10,000 public comments amid digital euro consultation.
- Russia's Ministry of Finance drafts crypto bill, for exchange and digital trading platforms’ operators’ activities to be licensed and controlled by a Russian government body.
- Two major Indian cryptocurrency exchanges have disabled deposits via a popular payment system due to unclear gov't regulations.
- North Korean hackers pulled off $620 million crypto heist from an online video game network.

North American farmers become vocal on problems they face for reliable food production.
- Higher costs for diesel fuel, electricity and machine parts are stressing Maine farmers.
- Texas farmers face increase in prices for pesticides, herbicides and insecticides.
- Fertilizer, seed, gas and diesel price inflation affects Ohio farmers.
- Arkansas farmers faced with limited availability and skyrocketing prices for herbicides.
- New Brunswick, Canada farmers express high fertilizer costs as seeding season approaches. Fertilizer Canada CEO Karen Proud said about 85% of all nitrogen fertilizers used in the eastern provinces come from Russia.

Coffee producers affected by high fertilizer prices. Brazil is the largest producer (35% worldwide) and exporter of coffee beans in the world. Brazil is highly dependent on Russian nitrogen based fertilizers and potash fertilizers from Belarus. Both countries are facing western sanctions. Coffee futures have been volatile on the COMEX. In Feb, prices hit 100% increase in a year, now stands at a 74% increase in a year, $2.24 per/lb.

US - CF Industries Holdings (major nitrogen fertilizer producer) warned of delays in shipment of its nitrogen fertilizers. Union Pacific mandated certain shippers to reduce the volume of private cars on its railroad. CF planned to increase fertilizer shipments to both U.S. coasts from the world's largest nitrogen complex in Louisiana to help offset shortages. This is not possible again and have to reduce its shipments by nearly 20%.

US Avian Flu- About 23 million birds, mostly poultry, and turkeys — have been culled in efforts to stem the spread of avian flu over the past two months. The current strain of bird flu poses a low risk to humans. US egg prices more than doubled in March. Free range eggs are no longer available on UK supermarket shelves, as the “largest ever outbreak” of bird flu has kept hens inside for months.

If China’s disruptive lockdowns persist, they could fuel global inflation, slow the pace of exports shipped from the ‘world’s factory’, and weaken demand in the world’s largest consumer market. Locking down Shanghai has had a major impact on the world’s largest container port, and shipping lines are struggling to adapt. Shanghai is a critical port in the global supply chain. Shanghai handled 43.5 million cargo containers in 2020, more than triple the throughput of Rotterdam, Netherlands, the busiest port outside Asia.

Authorities in Puerto Rico say an electronic toll collection system was the target of a cyberattack over the weekend. The system, known as AutoExpreso, is run by a private operator called Professional Account Management. It wasn’t immediately clear when the system would be back online and whether any confidential information was stolen.

Almost 200,000 New Yorkers left without power after late-season snowstorm. Monday/Tuesday winter storm that hit New York, caused power outages across upstate New York from the Southern Tier to the Adirondack Mountains. (Always be prepared with a little extra candles, torchlights, batteries, propane, water and food for outages due to inclement weather).

High natural gas and coal prices begins to have a negative effect in south Asia.

India risks a repeat of last summer’s power outages as soaring temperatures boost demand for coal that’s used to generate about 70% of the country’s electricity. If India can’t close the coal shortfall, the nation will be threatened by power outages and the economy will take a hit as industrial output suffers.

Pakistan is cutting electricity to households and industry as the cash-strapped country can no longer afford to buy coal or natural gas from overseas to fuel its power plants.

Kazakhstan announced temporary quotas on exports of wheat and wheat flour. Kazakh flour mills warned that they were “running out of supplies and going out of business. Kazakhstan is a wheat producer and also imports from Russia for milling and boosts exports. They are cut-off from importing wheat from Russia.

Turkey indefinitely suspends the export of butter and cream.
Pakistan bans the export of sugar to reduce local sugar prices.
Tunisia imposes fruit and vegetables export ban to all countries – including its largest importer Libya.

The Japanese Yen is skidding toward its longest losing streak in at least half a century. Despite rising prices for imports, Japan’s central bank has kept its key interest rate at minus 0.1% for years, trying to pull the economy out of the doldrums. The government reported a bigger-than-expected trade deficit largely due to soaring costs for imports of oil, food and other necessities.

Costa Rica government confirms that the computer systems of the finance ministry remained disabled after a cyberattack on official platforms the previous day. tax and customs platforms had been temporarily suspended for external users. Internal financial systems and payroll services for the education ministry and the supreme electoral court were also suspended. Conti ransomware group has claimed responsibility and asks for ransom. Photo- Ransom messages to gov't from Conti group.

The U.S. exported the most oil and petroleum products in its history last week as countries across the world work to replace Russian supplies. The US recently began to release 1 million barrels of oil per day from the US Strategic Reserves to help reduce high fuel prices. "The U.S. is acting as the barrel of last resort to a global energy market hungry for oil." JPM's commodity strategist -"A full and immediate Russian oil embargo is likely to hurt European consumers more than Russian producers in the near term. More importantly, a full, immediate ban would likely drive Brent crude oil prices to $185/bbl."

After last month's fire at Walmart's distribution center & Taiwan's retail logistics center, this week more problems arise for the food supply system. The headquarters of Azure Standard, (Dafur, Oregon, USA) the nation’s premier independent distributor of organic and healthy food, was destroyed by fire overnight. The cause of the fire is unknown. Azure CEO Steltzer said the loss of the facility and impact on the company-wide operations is being assessed and expected to be limited. This comes less than a week after Taylor Farms salad package plant (Salinas, California) processing facility was burnt down last Thursday. Photo - Headlines of fires that destroyed food distribution and logistics centers across the US in the past 3 months.

Israel's central bank added yuan to its reserve holdings for the first time ever. Previously, the bank only held US dollars, euros, and the British pound. Israel's central bank will add Chinese yuan while slashing its dollar and euro holdings in a move to diversify its reserve allocations and lengthen its investment horizon. The dollar's share of the total global currency reserves has fallen to its lowest point in over two decades.

Farmers in China, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Vietnam — the largest rice-producing countries could experience reduced output due to soaring fertilizer prices. The International Rice Research Institute warns that harvests could plunge as much as 10% in the next season, equating to about 36 million tons of rice. Thailand accounts for about a quarter of the world’s global trade of rice. Thailand’s rice crop has been compromised, due to excessive rains, dampening harvests. This has caused market turbulence, food security concerns and leaving millions of Thai households facing economic difficulties.

Canada- Reports of Avian Flu. A Quebec duck-farming operation in the Eastern Townships says three of its facilities have been devastated by avian flu, forcing it to slaughter 150,000 birds and lay off nearly 300 employees. It will likely take six to 12 months and possibly several million dollars to fully restore the company's operations. US "experts" now warn of it spreading among wild birds. They want you to remove bird feeders and baths that encourage birds to congregate in your backyard because this allows the virus to spread. The risk of people catching the bird flu is low, with no cases reported in humans.

USA- California lawmakers takes first step toward lowering the standard for how much water people use in their homes - a move that won't be enforced on individual customers. The state requires water agencies to meet that standard across all of its customers. This could lead to higher rates even as consumption declines. Utah - due to drought Utah's Governor declared a new state of emergency, urging residences and business alike to conserve or reduce water use heading into the summer months.

Mexico - 53.3% of the nation’s territory is anywhere from moderate to exceptional drought, 7.2% more than on March 31. However, the worst affected states are in the north and northeast. Rainfall this year is significantly down.

Video - South America -Chile - Santiago's 7.1 million residents live under the constant threat of water rationing.

Wheat Futures contracts in Europe- Today, the forward harvest price of #wheat is €100/tonne above even the highest harvest prices achieved in the past. USA - With wheat prices already hitting a 14-year high this year, more Ohio farmers are now planning to plant more of the grain. Argentina- Dry weather and rising production costs could conspire to reduce wheat output by 25%, from 7.8 million tonnes in 2021-22 to 5.8 million in the coming year. Russia- will be able to increase wheat exports to friendly countries in the new July-June season due to high carry-over stocks in the south of the country and a record crop forecast. Russia yesterday donated nearly 20,000 tonnes of wheat to political ally Cuba, as a gift.