March 21, 2026

Spotlight Stories

Spotlight 1 – Mexico News Daily explains how an era of tariffs is reshaping Mexico’s agriculture industry. Ready the story, here.

Spotlight 2 – Civil Eats says that the Persian Gulf oil crisis is a food crisis. Check it out, here.

Spotlight 3 – World Economic Forum calls natural capital the next great frontier for climate investing. Take a read, here.

Industry Updates

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) is inviting farmers, agricultural partners and members of the public to participate in the Tennessee Agricultural Enhancement Program (TAEP) Listening Tour, a series of public meetings designed to gather input on the future of one of the state’s most impactful agricultural programs. As TAEP continues to evolve to meet the needs of modern agriculture, TDA is hosting listening sessions across the state to hear directly from producers and stakeholders about what is working, what could be improved and what opportunities exist for the future. Farmers, agricultural organizations and community members are encouraged to attend and share their experiences and suggestions on how TAEP can best serve Tennessee agriculture. [link]

A farm in the Scottish Borders is demonstrating the potential of agroforestry through a large-scale tree planting project designed to support both agriculture and the environment. The initiative, led by the Tweed Forum charitable trust at Neidpath Farms near Peebles, has seen more than 1,700 native trees planted across farmland as part of the wider Destination Tweed River restoration initiative. The planting has been supported by the Woodland Trust and forms part of a wider program that aims to establish 300,000 trees across the upper catchment of the River Tweed. [link]

The 2025 Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll, conducted by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, surveyed 945 farmers and found that they are increasingly concerned about soil compaction and that their views on management approaches are changing over time. Farm equipment such as tractors, combines, grain carts and self-propelled sprayers have become larger and heavier in recent years, and concern about soil compaction and its impacts on crop yields has increased apace. In terms of concerns, 80% of respondents agreed that they are concerned about the impact of soil compaction on the land they farm, up from 70% in 2013. Similarly, 81% agreed that they are concerned about the impact of heavy agricultural machinery on soil health, an increase from 75% in 2013. [link]

Workers at a critical beef-processing plant owned by JBS went on strike Monday, stifling production at a time when prices for the protein are at record highs. The Greeley, Colo., plant is one of the largest of its type in the U.S. It can slaughter about 6,000 cattle a day, and accounts for roughly 5% of America’s beef-processing capacity. The strike among unionized workers is the largest at a meat plant in decades. It also comes as meat companies are losing billions of dollars annually producing beef. The smallest cattle herd in 75 years has driven up the cost of purchasing cattle from ranchers, squeezing meatpackers’ profits. [link]

Agribusiness giant Archer-Daniels-Midland is partnering with a national nonprofit to support farm resiliency in Illinois and five other Midwest states. The funding comes as Illinois farmers continue to navigate the economic impacts of the Trump administration’s tariffs. Soybean farmers in particular have seen negative impacts on their profits amid rising costs for fertilizer, seed, pesticides and equipment, according to the Illinois Soybean Association. ADM is investing half a million dollars in a program with American Farmland Trust, a nonprofit focused on protecting farmland. The initiative aims to help farmers coordinate succession planning, provide tools to improve soil health and give financial assistance. [link]

The Bank of Montreal (BMO) announced the offering of a Euro 500 million Green Bond. The bond proceeds will be used to finance or refinance renewable energy, sustainable food and agriculture, and green building projects, as outlined in BMO’s Sustainable Bond Framework. The Framework defines eligible assets across eleven green, four social, and three transition categories. Each category contributes to advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals and solving global challenges across sustainability and economic empowerment. The offering is expected to settle on March 24, 2026. BMO will report publicly on the use of the Green Bond proceeds within one year of issuance and annually thereafter in its Annual Sustainable Bonds Impact Report. [link]

Michigan farmers are invited to share their insights on cover crops in the National Cover Crop Survey being conducted by the Conservation Technology Information Center, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), and the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA). The anonymous survey takes about 15 minutes to complete, asking farmers for their insight on whether they use cover crops, formerly used them, or have never planted covers. Farmers who complete the survey can enter a drawing to win one of three $100 Visa gift cards. Data from previous surveys informed SARE’s report Cover Crop Economics, which addresses how and when cover crops improve profitability. The 2025-26 National Cover Crop Survey is open until March 31. [link]

A team led by Penn State researchers recently demonstrated that the use of a novel soil additive might be effective at reducing phosphorus runoff on agricultural fields. The additive — RhizoSorb, a patented soil-fertilizer product designed to greatly increase phosphorus fertilizer efficiency — was born from research in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. Applied with fertilizer, it reduces phosphorus runoff, saves farmers money by leaving more fertilizer in the fields for crops, lowers greenhouse gas emissions and enhances crop uptake. The researchers found that adding RhizoSorb to fields before applications of poultry litter reduced water-extractable phosphorus — the phosphorus most likely to run off in rainwater — by 26% to 53%. They recently published their findings in Agricultural and Environmental Letters. [link]

Syngenta recently announced it is building a new $130 million (£100 million) world-leading research center for agricultural bioscience at its existing R&D hub in Jealott’s Hill, UK. The Biological Sciences Technology and Research Center (BioSTaR) will deliver the latest advances in biological sciences, molecular and analytical research, and digital innovation to shape the future of sustainable agriculture. Syngenta’s planned BioSTaR facility at Jealott’s Hill will unite about 300 scientists in a purpose-built environment to accelerate discovery and product development through cutting-edge AI, bioscience, and digital research. Expected to be fully operational by 2028, the center will boost the UK’s role in agricultural innovation by enabling the design of next-generation crop protection solutions, anticipating resistance, and developing products responsive to environmental signals such as temperature and soil quality. [link]

U.S. President Donald Trump has invited farmers and biofuel producers to an agriculture event at the White House next week, as his administration moves to finalize new biofuel blending quotas. The administration is preparing to finalize long-delayed biofuel blending quotas for 2026 and 2027 by the end of the month, a decision with sweeping implications across the U.S. energy and agricultural sectors. It is unclear whether the event, first reported by CBS News, will coincide with the final rule being released. [link]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced the launch of a new competitive grants program aimed at rapidly addressing emerging and re-emerging pest and disease threats across the nation’s food and agricultural systems. The grants program, Rapid Response to Emerging and Re-emerging Pest and Disease Events Across Food and Agricultural Systems, is designed to deploy timely, science-based solutions to protect agricultural productivity, ecosystem health and food security, USDA NIFA said. The program is part of NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), designed to improve plant and animal production and sustainability, and human and environmental health. These grants are available to eligible colleges, universities and other research organizations. With a maximum award of $500,000 and a grant duration of 12 to 24 months, the program supports grants for research, Extension or integrated projects. [link]

The Maryland Department of Agriculture announced that the sign-up period for its Small Acreage Cover Crop Program is now open, running from March 16 through April 24, 2026. This program provides grants to help small farms and urban growers plant cover crops on their production areas to build healthy soils, improve crop yields, protect local water quality, improve climate resilience, and provide other environmental benefits. It is for urban and small-scale producers who do not qualify for the traditional cover crop program. Operations that plant less than ten (10) acres of qualifying cover crops—including cereal grains or cover crop seed mixes—are encouraged to apply for the grants. Financial assistance for this program is capped at $1,500 per grower, per year. [link]

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announced $8.7 million in grants to support the implementation of voluntary conservation practices on farms and ranches across eight states from the Midwest to western grasslands. The grants will generate $6.4 million in matching contributions for a total conservation impact of $15.1 million. The grants were awarded through the Conservation Partners Program, a partnership between NFWF and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), The J.M. Smucker Co., PepsiCo, and General Mills. Associated projects will hire or support field professionals to provide training to private landowners, equipping them with the tools needed to conserve, maintain, and restore natural resources on their lands, implement sound management practices, and access financial assistance through Farm Bill conservation programs. Projects will also provide training to producers about regenerative agriculture systems and how they can adopt these practices to benefit their land and way of life. [link]

The director of the University of Missouri’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture says that the yield benefits of cover crops are real but take time. Rob Myers says it takes three to five years for farmers to see yield benefits of using cover crops, with soybean yields ultimately seeing a 3%-5% increase and corn yields seeing a smaller increase. Myers says farmers typically use cover crops to improve soil health, but cover crops also provide resiliency during droughts, weed suppression, nutrient management and environmental benefits. [link]

Unilever, the maker of Dove deodorant and Hellmann’s mayonnaise, is in talks to separate its food business and combine it with spice maker McCormick. The major strategy shift by Unilever would continue a trend of consumer conglomerates streamlining their businesses and would leave U.K.-based Unilever focused on beauty, personal-care and home products. McCormick has a market value of around $14.8 billion. Unilever’s is close to $140 billion and its food business, which also houses brands including Knorr bouillons and seasoning, could be worth tens of billions of dollars. [link]

In Case You Missed It…

Earlier this month, Iowa Public Radio reported that corn growers in the Midwest were testing whether they can use less nitrogen fertilizer and still maintain yields through on-farm research trials being led by Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI). See more, here.