December 20, 2025

Spotlight Stories

Spotlight 1 – Farm Progress details how West Texas farmers are fighting for survival as their groundwater runs low. Ready the story, here.

Spotlight 2 – The Cool Down flashes a warning signal on one crop that may become impossible to grow in the next five years. Check it out, here.

Spotlight 3 – Reuters offers an exposé on the Canadian farmers producing record crops despite varying drought and flood conditions. Take a read, here.

Industry Updates

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in the UK announced the launch of the Farming for Sustainability - Innovation Scheme. The scheme, which is part of the Sustainable Agriculture Program, is designed to support farmers in identifying and implementing innovative solutions that enhance environmental performance, boost productivity and help to future-proof the agriculture industry against emerging challenges. It aims to expand access to innovation support through three elements – Innovation Visits, Innovation Farms and Innovation Partnerships, providing an important support mechanism to address barriers to the implementation of new innovations. [link]

Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. (NC-12) and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) have introduced the Enabling Farmer, Food worker, Environmental, and Climate Targets through Innovative, Values-aligned, and Equitable (EFFECTIVE) Food Procurement Act, aimed at leveraging the USDA’s purchasing power to build equity and sustainability in the Department’s food purchases. The EFFECTIVE Food Procurement Act updates USDA food purchasing processes to: Increase support and market opportunities for small-scale and socially disadvantaged farmers; Expand healthy food choices; Address climate change and agriculture sustainability; and Set targets for the USDA to purchase sustainable, equitably procured products. The bill also establishes a $25 million pilot program to create a values-aligned USDA purchasing process and support market access for small-scale and underserved producers. [link]

Sucden and Mars, Inc. have announced the launch of a five-year collaboration (2025-2029) aimed at advancing low-carbon, climate-resilient cocoa production in participating farms in the Dominican Republic and Ecuador. The project aims to bring together innovation, science-based reductions and farmer-centered approaches to drive meaningful greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions across participating farms in the cocoa supply chain. The program activities will encourage farmers to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices such as use of improved planting materials, low carbon fertilizers, aerobic composting, and agroforestry practices that are aimed at helping enhance productivity and soil health, reduce GHG emissions, and increase yields for cocoa farmers. [link]

Giorgi Mushroom Company, a leader in fresh produce innovation since 1928, announced a landmark investment in Modern Soils, previously a wholly owned subsidiary of Modern Mushroom Farms. Modern Soils is a regenerative agriculture company pioneering sustainable soil solutions, transforming mushroom compost, an abundant byproduct of mushroom cultivation, into high-performance, eco-friendly products, including premium potting soils, land remediation blends, sustainable crop substrates, and peat-free casing for mushroom farms. By replacing traditional peat, Modern Soils is reshaping the soil industry and setting a new benchmark for low-impact growth. [link]

Lineage Provisions, Foria Wellness, and Terrain are teaming up with Kiss the Ground, a leading voice in the Regenerative Movement, to help their customers support farmers and healthy soil through round-ups—a simple way to turn everyday purchases into powerful action. Through a new “Round Up for Regeneration” promotion, customers are invited to round up their totals at checkout, with 100% of donations directly supporting Kiss the Ground’s work—including farmer grants, education programs, and award-winning storytelling. In 2025, Kiss the Ground awarded 215 grants totaling $500K to support farmers and ranchers with equipment, supplies, and regenerative agriculture training—impacting 73,000 acres across the U.S. Kiss the Ground is now amplifying their stories through daily content that reaches 2M people every month. [link]

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has approved eight projects led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) worth nearly $60 million designed to help seven countries improve their management of agricultural landscapes, promote climate-friendly and biodiversity-positive livestock production, and restore forest, coastal, and marine ecosystems. The projects will leverage approximately $429 million in co-financing and will improve the management of 305,000 hectares of protected areas on land and sea. They will also restore 314,000 hectares of landscapes, improve the management of 1.2 million hectares of productive land, and mitigate 84.5 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, benefitting over 1 million people across four continents. [link]

U.S. Senator Adam Schiff has introduced a new bill to allocate over $500M in federal R&D funding and create a national strategy for alternative proteins. The bill calls on the U.S. government to develop a national protein diversification strategy and deploy more than $500M in R&D funding for plant-based, fermentation-derived and cell-cultivated foods. The Producing Real Opportunities for Technology and Entrepreneurs Investing in Nutrition (PROTEIN) Act will seek federal support for alternative proteins over the next five years to “strengthen national security, improve supply chain resilience, and lower the risk of bioterrorism”. [link]

In an effort to improve the state’s soil health, the Oklahoma Conservation Commission is paying up to $40,000 to farmers and ranchers to employ regenerative agriculture techniques. The Soil Health Implementation Program (SHIP) uses state funds to reimburse rural and urban producers, guiding them through a three-year conservation plan. The program is intended to enhance agricultural land and increase water and nutrient holding capacity. The commission plans to use data collected from the program in a statewide soil health database for other conservation efforts. [link]

In Case You Missed It…

At the beginning of this year, a new study published in Nature showed that the presence of trees encourages the proliferation of beneficial soil microorganisms, helping to counter the detrimental effects commonly associated with conventional farming practices. See more, here.