September 27, 2025

Spotlight Stories

Spotlight 1 – The Wall Street Journal details how farmers and industry groups slowed MAHA’s roll. Ready the story, here.

Spotlight 2 – The Royal Bank of Canada publishes a new report, “Unearthing Value: How nature can play a critical role in pro-growth agendas.” Check it out, here.

Spotlight 3 – ABC News tells the story of an Australian scientist that just won a peace prize for farmer-managed natural regeneration work in Niger. Take a read, here.

Industry Updates

Future leaders of Britain’s food and farming sector are being sought by McDonald’s, with applications now open for its 2026/27 Progressive Young Farmers scheme. The initiative offers a year-long industry placement to full-time undergraduates in the UK and Ireland who are keen to pursue careers in agriculture, food production, or the supply chain. Successful candidates will gain hands-on experience across the entire McDonald’s supply network, from the farm gate to the restaurant counter, while also learning how the wider business operates. [link]

A new Ceres report reveals four important takeaways for companies and financial institutions on the current opportunities and barriers to scaling sustainable and resilient agricultural practices in corporate supply chains. The new report, Cultivating Resilience: A Primer on Corporate Investment in Agricultural Supply Chains, shows many of the largest companies are already acting – working with farmers and ranchers to adopt more resilient practices. However, Ceres finds that more participation at greater scale is needed to transition the sector and reap the most benefits from action. Specifically, the analysis found that collaborative action is essential; lower barriers to entry would increase participation; streamlined accounting could help enable co-investment; and innovation can bring financial institutions to the table. [link]

The team of federal economists and researchers responsible for producing the U.S. government survey that measures hunger in America were put on indefinite paid leave Monday, according to the union that represents the workers. The move comes two days after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration abruptly canceled the report, which has been produced by the Agriculture Department every year since the mid-1990s. The food insecurity survey is used by policymakers to make funding decisions for food-assistance programs and to evaluate how well those programs work. [link]

A long-term field study conducted in Northeast China’s fertile black soil region has demonstrated that biochar can significantly improve soil health, stabilize microbial communities, and increase crop yields—but only when applied at the right rate. The research, published in Biochar, reveals that a one-time application of biochar at 31.5 metric tons per hectare led to higher soil organic matter stability, enhanced bacterial diversity, and a 7.11% increase in crop yield. In contrast, higher doses reduced microbial stability and negatively affected soil health. Black soils are among the world’s most productive agricultural lands, but decades of intensive farming have led to severe degradation, including organic matter loss and soil acidification. [link]

A research team led by Kansas State University recently examined soil from a Kansas cornfield that has not been tilled for 22 years, hoping to gain insight on soil carbon storage from certain land management practices. The team used synchrotron X-ray imaging at the Canadian Light Source in Saskatchewan and the Advanced Light Source in Berkeley, California. These instruments reveal the chemistry and structure of undisturbed soil grains. In soil plots that received manure or compost, total carbon levels were higher than in plots receiving synthetic fertilizer or no fertilizer. The team also observed higher “microbial carbon” in the compost and manure treatments (this term covers carbon in living microbes and in their remains, often called microbial necromass). The findings support a practical path: organic amendments can increase soil carbon and place carbon in harder-to-reach spots. [link]

Chinese buyers booked at least 10 cargoes of Argentine soybeans after Buenos Aires scrapped grain export taxes, dealing another setback to U.S. farmers already shut out of their top market and hit by low prices. Argentina’s temporary tax move boosts the competitiveness of its soybeans, prompting traders to secure cargoes for fourth-quarter inventories in China, a period usually dominated by U.S. shipments but now clouded by Washington’s trade war with Beijing. The shipments are quoted at a premium of $2.15-$2.30 per bushel to the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) November soybean contract, two traders with direct knowledge of the matter said. The deals are a fresh blow for U.S. farmers, who are missing out on billions of dollars of soybean sales to China halfway through their prime marketing season as unresolved trade talks freeze exports and rival South American suppliers led by Brazil step in to fill the gap. [link]

Tunisia’s Ministry of Agriculture has launched the Inclusive Smallholder Agriculture Development initiative in the North-West mountains of the country, a vital wheat belt in the area. The program, with a total cost of 120 million dinars ($41.45 million), is co-financed by the Tunisian government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). According to local media reports, the project will be implemented over eight years across the governorates of Béja, Jendouba, Siliana, Kef, and Bizerte. Interventions will focus on extending five drinking water supply systems, building 250 rainwater cisterns of 50 cubic meters equipped with solar pumps, and promoting agroforestry systems. [link]

The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) has officially designated the STAR Tool as the required soil health assessment for all state-funded conservation practices. The Saving Tomorrow’s Agriculture Resources tool is a free program built by producers. It helps farmers evaluate their in-field management practices with a scientific assessment and returns a certain star rating to the producer. The IDOA designation stems from the recently updated Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts Act and will entail such initiatives as the Partners-for-Conservation Cost-Share Program and the Illinois Healthy Soils Initiative. [link]

ADM has announced the expansion of its regenerative agriculture program, re:generations, to Hungary. In collaboration with Bayer, the program in Hungary aims to enroll 30,000 acres (approximately 12,000 hectares) of predominately sunflower seeds but also soybeans, for the 2025 harvest and to scale in subsequent years. Through the program, sunflower seed farmers will be provided with financial and technical support to implement qualifying regenerative agriculture practices, including: minimum tillage, cover crops, companion crops, 4R nutrient management, use of organic matter/manure, and crop rotation. [link]

HowGood and Kiss the Ground have announced the release of the Regenerative Agriculture Industry Map. Originally launched in 2019 by HowGood Chief Innovation Officer and regenerative farmer Ethan Soloviev, the mapping project has grown into one of the most comprehensive tools for tracking adoption of regenerative agriculture across industries and geographies. Updated research reveals unprecedented global adoption of regenerative agriculture, with 1,192 organizations across 49 countries now publicly aligning with the term—marking a more than fivefold increase since 2019. [link]

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released a new report assessing progress on 22 indicators under the Organization’s custodianship spanning six Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDGs 2 (Zero Hunger), 5 (Gender Equality), 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), 14 (Life Below Water), and 15 (life on Land). According to the report, the world is close to achieving one-quarter of the relevant targets, while another quarter remains far or very far from completion. For the remaining half, countries in general are moderately positioned to meet them. Of note, global food insecurity remains far above 2015 levels: about 28 percent of the global population – nearly 2.3 billion people – were moderately or severely food insecure in 2024 compared to 21.4 percent (1.6 billion) in 2015. [link]

In Case You Missed It…

Earlier this month, scientists at the University of California, Davis announced the development of wheat plants that stimulate production of their own fertilizer. See more, here.