March 29, 2025
Spotlight Stories
Spotlight 1 – CGIAR writes about sustainable farming and its ability to cultivate a water-wise future. Read the story, here.
Spotlight 2 – The Spirits Business looks into how top spirits brands are embracing regenerative farming. Check it out, here.
Spotlight 3 – AP News says that Earth’s storage of water in soil, lakes, and rivers is dwindling…and it’s especially bad for farming. Take a read, here.
Industry Updates
A new University of Michigan study suggests cover crop mixtures improve farmland soil health while reducing carbon emissions better than traditional single-species cover crops. The study, to be published in the April issue of the journal Soil Biology and Biochemistry, researched soil collected from 10 farms with varying field conditions in Lenawee, Tuscola and Monroe counties. Researchers planted a legume and grass cover crop compared to the more traditionally planted cereal rye and found that the mixture increased nitrogen content in the soil more than cereal rye planted on its own. [link]
Michigan potato growers have an opportunity to get free soil testing done on their fields. Michigan State University and the Michigan Potato Industry Commission are working on a new research project that aims to identify which management practices are most effective at building soil health in potato-based cropping systems, while also looking to assess which aspects of soil health drive yield and quality of potatoes. Any row-crop farmer with potatoes in the rotation in Michigan is eligible to participate. Once enrolled, a member of the research team will visit fields and sample soils prior to planting and 60 days after planting in 2025. Results will be shared back through a report and an optional consultation. [link]
Following recent tariffs on agricultural goods by China, along with trade uncertainty with the United States and ongoing animal disease outbreaks, the government of Canada has announced new supports for Canadian farmers via its AgriStability program. AgriStability offers affordable, whole farm protection to support producers when challenges are beyond their capacity to manage. The additional proposed supports include increasing the compensation rate from 80% to 90% and doubling the current payment cap to $6 million for the 2025 program year. To get money to producers faster, the Government of Canada has also provided provincial and territorial governments with the option to proactively enter into an agreement to issue interim payments at a higher payment rate and initiate Targeted Advance Payments in the event of tariffs, or for the hog sector in the event of African Swine Fever. [link]
The European Living Lab project, entitled ‘Soilcrates`, is about to kick off with a call for farmers across Ireland’s mid-west who are keen to learn more about the initiative. The Living Lab project – Soilcrates – is part of the EU mission, ‘A soil deal for Europe’, and involves clusters of farmers from the three communities and beyond, who come together alongside academic partners to help develop, test, and explore farming practices to improve soil health, in real-life farm environments. The overall aim of the project is to be farmer led, driven by the needs of the farmers, taking on board their challenges as well as their knowledge and expertise, and contributing to more resilient and biodiverse farms all round. [link]
Agrifood corporates McCain Foods, McDonald’s, and Waitrose & Partners will participate in a new regenerative farming pilot launched by King Charles III’s Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) nonprofit. “Routes to Regen” will provide support for UK farmers transitioning to regenerative agriculture practices. Financial institutions Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, Barclays, Aon, and Tokio Marine Kiln will work together with those agrifood corporates on the project. Participating farmers will be able to access financial, technical, and “peer-to-peer” support such as events where they can swap knowledge with other farmers. [link]
The National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating Desertification (NCVC) in Saudi Arabia has launched the Agroforestry Action Plan Development Project, aiming to enhance environmental sustainability, social development, and economic growth. The project focuses on assessing the current state of agroforestry, applying global best practices, and encouraging investment to ensure sustainable forest management. It contributes to the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 by promoting sustainable environmental practices and combating desertification. As part of the project, NCVC will activate its memorandum of understanding signed in December 2024 with the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), to boost research collaboration and apply advanced agroforestry techniques. [link]
ADM and Mitsubishi Corporation ("MC") have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to form a strategic alliance to explore potential areas of future collaboration across the agriculture value chain. Together, ADM and MC are committed to creating value and driving solutions that will help shape the future of the global agriculture value chain. The companies note that in recent years, the importance of secure and resilient food and agriculture supply chains has come into sharper focus, driven both by short-term dislocations as well as structural demand shifts powered by global population growth, economic development, and increasing consumer preference for sustainably sourced products. It has thus become essential to adopt a comprehensive and cross-industrial approach, connecting multiple businesses in different segments to address these challenges. [link]
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he would significantly cut the size of the department he leads, reshaping the nation’s health agencies and closing regional offices. As part of the reorganization, Kennedy is creating a new subdivision called the Administration for a Healthy America, combining offices in HHS that address addiction, toxic substances and occupational safety among others into one focused on chronic-disease prevention programs and health resources for low-income Americans. The announcement said that broader cuts wouldn’t affect the FDA’s inspectors or drug, medical device or food reviewers. Many FDA probationary workers in the medical devices division were rehired a week after they were cut last month. [link]
Google recently announced a spate of sustainability-focused partnerships, covering a broad distribution of land area around the world. The tech giant said it is backing a range of projects across the globe, including developing innovative irrigation systems to support California’s dairy industry; boosting water infrastructure like irrigation canals and storage reservoirs in Chile’s Maipo Basin; backing an irrigation efficiency pilot project in Changhua, Taiwan; and using artificial intelligence to improve irrigation systems on potato farms in the Seine River basin in France. The quartet of water preservation and sustainable farming projects build on Google’s target to restore 120% of the volume of freshwater consumed across its offices and data centers, on average, by 2030. [link]
A new University of Houston study of hemp microbes can potentially assist scientists in creating special mixtures of microbes to make hemp plants produce more CBD or have better-quality fibers. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports from the Nature Publishing Group and examined microbiomes living in and around the roots (rhizosphere) and on the leaves (phyllosphere) of four types of hemp plants. The research indicates that hemp cultivation can be improved by better understanding these distinct microbial communities, which impact growth, nutrient absorption, stress resilience, synthesis and more. This could help decrease the need for chemical inputs and allow growers to use more sustainable agricultural practices. [link]
In Case You Missed It…
Earlier this month, AgFunder reported that global agrifoodtech funding reached $16 billion in 2024, a 4% decline relative to 2023. See more, here.