March 16, 2024
Spotlight Stories
Spotlight 1 – Food Business News writes that the global cocoa market is teetering on the brink of chaos. Check out the story, here.
Spotlight 2 – Civil Eats says that fungi are helping farmers unlock the secrets of soil carbon. Check it out, here.
Spotlight 3 – The Wall Street Journal discusses the new science that attributes ultra-processed foods to negative impacts on our brains. Check out the story, here.
Industry Updates
Red Tractor, the food chain assurance scheme in the UK, has confirmed that it is dropping plans to launch a green farming assurance standard in April. The British food assurance body sparked uproar from farmers across the UK last year when it announced the Greener Farms Commitment (GFC) – an optional standard for farmers that meet certain environmental criteria. Farmers feared the GFC would eventually evolve into a requirement for market access and would mean they foot the bill for implementing sustainability measures on behalf of supermarkets. Following the backlash, Red Tractor halted the development of the GFC as the National Farmers Union (NFU) carried out a governance review into the organization. [link]
Walmart Inc. plans to build its third milk processing plant in Robinson, Texas. The plant is scheduled to open in 2026. Walmart opened its first milk processing plant in 2018, in Fort Wayne, Ind., and previously announced a $350 million facility in Valdosta, Ga., which is scheduled to open in 2025. Building its own milk processing plants gives the retailer better visibility into the sources of its products and strengthens its supply chain, according to the company. [link]
Extension specialists at the University of California and University of Arizona have teamed up on a prototype steam applicator that injects steam into the soil to kill weeds and control soilborne pathogens. Work for the prototype was funded by the Propane Council. It works on a simple process of injecting steam several inches into the soil to raise the temperature sufficiently to kill the targeted seeds and pests, without sterilizing the soil. Studies have shown that heating the soil to 140 degrees for over 20 minutes at a depth of two inches effectively kills 89% of the weed seeds ahead of planting. [link]
Leaders with University of Idaho’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) dedicated a new laboratory in Parma that promises to advance crop science and technology, helping farmers adapt to a changing world. More than 200 stakeholders attended the grand opening of the 9,600-square-foot Idaho Center for Plant and Soil Health, which contains laboratory space for research in nematology, pomology, plant pathology, microbiology and hops quality. CALS launched the campaign to construct the $12.1 million facility in 2019. Construction was made possible thanks to $3 million in donations from agricultural stakeholders, in addition to investment from the university and the state of Idaho. [link]
First Milk, a prominent UK dairy processor, has introduced a variable regenerative bonus for its suppliers, designed to acknowledge and reward farmers for their dedicated efforts in advancing regenerative farming practices. The variable regenerative bonus is an additional incentive on top of an existing 0.5 pence per liter regenerative bonus already in place, which is tied to the successful completion of a regenerative farming plan each year. This new multi-tiered bonus structure will better demonstrate First Milk's commitment to promoting sustainability and supporting farmers engaged in regenerative practices. [link]
Saskatchewan Minister of Agriculture, David Marit, announced a funding commitment of $15 million over five years to the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. Founded in 2012 as part of the University of Saskatchewan’s world-class agri-science hub, GIFS works with its partners to provide expertise and leadership in the discovery, development and delivery of innovative solutions to produce globally sustainable food. The funding for GIFS will provide $3 million each year from 2023-2027 to support its ongoing operations, contributing to Saskatchewan’s agriculture sector through work such as supporting crop breeding through sequencing, bioinformatics and data analytics services or technology development that facilitates commercialization of new products. [link]
Amsterdam is the latest city to back the citizen-led Plant Based Treaty, which acknowledges that food can't be ignored when it comes to dealing with the climate crisis. The non-binding Plant Based Treaty now has 26 municipalities pledging to take the matter seriously, including Los Angeles; Didim, Turkey; Kyotera, Uganda; Norwich, U.K., and 15 cities in India, where nearly four in 10 people identify as vegetarian, the highest rate in the world. The treaty is modelled after the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty – a global agreement to phase out oil and gas production. Among the Plant Based Treaty’s goals are halting deforestation attributed to animal agriculture, pushing for subsidies that incentivize a plant-based food system, and freeing up land to rewild and reforest the earth. [link]
A $25 million Ecotron project at the University of Idaho is nearly finished and expected to become operational by 2026. An Ecotron is a device that allows scientists to drill into the soil and obtain samples on the microbes, chemicals, minerals and elements present in the ground. There are 13 other Ecotron projects in the world, most of them in Europe, but none of them will go as deep as the one at the University of Idaho. Idaho researchers say most of the soil examination is done to a depth of about a foot, but not much further. Researchers say they expect to make a lot of new discoveries and ultimately find ways to improve soil conditions and help boost farming production. [link]
Brazil's soybean crop is estimated to be down 4% from last year, following a hot and dry growing season. Despite recent rainfall and a break in temperatures, analysts say that more precipitation is still required to recover soil moisture. [link]
The Biden-Harris Administration has released the President’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25), requesting $29.2 billion in discretionary budget authority for USDA, roughly $900 million less than the Administration’s FY24 request. Of note, the budget would increase funding for Conservation Technical Assistance (+8.5%) and the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (+77%) compared to the FY2023 enacted level. [link]
Tyson Foods, Inc. is closing a pork processing plant in Perry, Iowa. The closing is scheduled to happen on June 28, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice filed with the state of Iowa. The company has closed several plants during the past year. In March 2023, Tyson announced it would close its Van Buren, Ark., and Glen Allen, Va., poultry processing facilities. Five months later, the company announced an additional four plant closings, those in North Little Rock, Ark.; Corydon, Ind.; Dexter, Mo.; and Noel, Mo. The closings are part of the company’s efforts to right-size its supply chain as its beef, chicken and pork businesses struggle to address supply/demand imbalances, input cost inflation and shifts in consumer demand. [link]
The governments of Ecuador, India, Kenya, Laos, Philippines, Uruguay, and Vietnam have come together to launch a $379 million initiative to combat pollution from the use of pesticides and plastics in agriculture. Chemicals play a crucial role in farming, with nearly 4 billion tons of pesticides and 12 billion kg of agricultural plastics used every year, however these chemicals pose significant risks to human health and the environment. The Financing Agrochemical Reduction and Management Program – or FARM – led by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) with financial support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), seeks to change that by working with banks and policy-makers to reorient policy and financial resources towards farmers to help them adopt low- and non-chemical alternatives to toxic agrochemicals and facilitate a transition towards better practices. [link]
The European Commission is finalizing a series of legislative proposals that would severely weaken environmental requirements for farmers — flying in the face of advice by its top scientists that agriculture must become more sustainable or it will be decimated by climate change. The proposals would end a requirement to set aside land to promote biodiversity, making it and other measures — such as minimizing tillage to prevent soil erosion — voluntary. The dramatic policy reversal by Ursula von der Leyen’s Commission comes at the urging of national governments desperate to quell protests by farmers who have taken to the streets around Europe, and in Brussels, to vent their fury at the environmental red tape they say is destroying their livelihoods. [link]
Nebraska has submitted its plan to reduce greenhouse gases, financed by a $3 million federal Climate Pollution Reduction Grant. The 76-page “Priority Climate Action Plan,” is part of an effort, via the federal Inflation Reduction Act, to finance state plans and then provide $4.6 billion in competitive grants to implement the state plans. Its priority measures include promoting energy efficiency at nonresidential facilities, incentives for home energy upgrades, incentives for irrigation conversion from diesel to electric, funding for solar projects and regenerative agriculture projects, and incentives for precision agriculture and the use of biochar, among other pursuits. [link]
Ceres Global Ag Corp. has chosen Lavie Bio Ltd. as a supplier in its sustainability programs with grain producers, working to integrate Lavie Bio's bioinoculant, Yalos, into its regenerative agriculture initiatives across the U.S. and Canada. Lavie Bio Ltd. is a subsidiary of Evogene Ltd. and is a leading ag biologicals company that develops microbiome-based, computational-driven bio-stimulant and bio-pesticide novel products. Ceres Global Ag Corp. is a global agricultural, energy and industrial products merchandising and supply chain company. [link]
Scientists are learning more about what sources of meat could serve as more sustainable alternatives to beef, pork and chicken. The answer? Pythons, which produce large slabs of white meat similar to a chicken filet. Python meat could offer a form of meat much less carbon intensive than the current options, according to researchers who studied farms in Southeast Asia for two species of pythons -- reticulated and Burmese -- for 12 months. Farmed python meat may offer a more sustainable alternative to other farmed meat because they can reproduce rapidly, even when food is not abundantly available, according to a study published in Scientific Reports this week. [link]
Planet and Bayer are partnering to shape the future of farming with resilient supply chains and enhanced product development. Combining Planet's satellite imagery products with Bayer's crop and data science expertise, field managers will be able to evaluate field progression on a near real-time basis, making sure growers have the right seed in the right place at the right time. Bayer's business partners will now be able to look at Planet's data feeds across four continents and hundreds of thousands of acres of crop land to evaluate global supply chain readiness. [link]
Global conglomerate, Unilever, has partnered with UK nature intelligence firm, NatureMetrics, to harness environmental DNA (eDNA) technologies in a bid to drive regenerative farming practices across its supply chain. NatureMetrics will provide eDNA sampling technology to measure changes in bacterial and fungal diversity in soil, as well as insect diversity, across thousands of hectares in four key locations of Unilever's supply chain in Argentina, Canada, the UK, and Europe. The data gathered, along with other biodiversity metrics, will inform the assessment of the impact of regenerative farming practices implemented by one of the world's largest consumer goods companies. [link]
The EU-backed food innovation community, EIT Food, and Foodvalley, have unveiled a €30 million (US$32.8 million) Regenerative Innovation Portfolio to leverage regenerative agriculture’s potential in Europe. The move is expected to foster greater collaboration across sectors and value chains to help farmers transition to regenerative agriculture practices, leading to its acceleration and scale-up. The Portfolio — established as a Food Innovation Hub Europe Initiative — will use the cash injection to launch and support landscape initiatives, ecosystem development and inter-landscape learning. It will also help participants apply for external funding. [link]
In Case You Missed It…
Earlier this month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it was establishing a new office to expand engagement opportunities with agricultural and rural communities. Read more, here.