Alaska's pollock trawlers catch about 300,000 salmon a year while Yukon villages may not fish for Chinook, and trawling becomes an election fight

The rest of the day

13 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

1. 02

   The Indus swallows farmland near Layyah

   The Indus, Pakistan's biggest river, destroyed Basti Kanjal, a village of more than 500 houses near the city of Layyah, in this year's floods. [11] Since June about 5,000 acres of farmland have been lost, and news reports put the number of people forced from home at 100,000. [11] A professor at Quaid-i-Azam University, writing in Dawn, says 38 years of satellite pictures show the river being pushed east by a canal, a barrage and earth flood banks. [11] A barrage is a low dam that turns river water into canals.

   Why it matters — The river is now 200 metres from its old channel by Layyah, and the city's flood bank ends 3.5km before the river's new edge. [11] If it keeps moving, it could flow around Taunsa Barrage, whose canals water millions of acres of farms. [11]

2. 03

   Ethiopia plants 47 billion trees on its farmland

   Ethiopians have planted more than 47 billion tree seedlings in seven years, aiming for 50 billion by 2030. [9] Over the last century most of the country's forests were cut for farms, grazing and fuel, so rain now washes the topsoil away. [9] That damage costs Ethiopia an estimated $4.3 billion a year in smaller harvests and lost income. [9] In August, 26.6 million people planted 800 million seedlings in one day, Ethiopia's government says. [9]

   Before the trees1,800 lb an acre

   Now3,200 lb an acre

   Why it matters — A 2026 study of 44,500 seedlings in southern Ethiopia found about 80% had survived. [9] One farmer's barley rose from about 1,800 to 3,200 pounds an acre after he planted trees and grass. [9] An Ethiopian restoration ecologist says the campaign counts trees planted more than trees kept alive; a government adviser disputes that. [9]

3. 04

   Barry Callebaut's new plan fails to lift its shares

   Barry Callebaut, the world's biggest supplier of cocoa and chocolate to food companies, said last month it would also sell fillings and other ingredients. [5] Its share price fell further, to 1,035 Swiss francs, after a slide that began in February. [5] Cocoa prices are below their record of early 2025 but jumped in late August and again in early October. [6] Ghana and Ivory Coast grow over half the world's cocoa, and ING says climate damage there is lasting. [6]

   Why it matters — Big chocolate brands raised prices in 2024 and 2025, and in 2026 they reached the limit of what shoppers would pay, ING says. [6] It says cheaper chocolate could use more cocoa substitutes, while expensive brands keep real cocoa. [6]

4. 05

   US farmers read the fine print of a China deal

   The American Farm Bureau Federation, the biggest US farmers' group, published on 8 October what is known about the US-China '30-for-30' trade framework. [7] China's commerce ministry says about 90% of the farm goods it covers will lose the extra import taxes added during the trade fight. [7] It is not a promise to buy anything, and it does not name whole soybeans. [7] China had still booked 11.1 million tonnes of US soybeans by 1 October, against none a year earlier. [7]

   Why it matters — US corn export sales are running 34% behind last year, a StoneX economist says. [7] Even after the cut, Australian and New Zealand farm goods could still pay less tax in China, because those countries have free-trade deals with it. [7]

5. 06

   Kenyan farmers' losses turn into an illness

   Doctors in Nyeri, in Kenya's central highlands, say unreliable rain is damaging farmers' mental health. [13] Josephine Kihu has grown coffee for 30 years and now pays someone to water her trees because the rain is too light. [13] Charles Ndung'u lost 40 goats in three months to a dry spell and a livestock disease. [13] Kahindo Gacago, a psychologist at Outspan Hospital, says about a third of his patients are farmers hit by repeated losses. [13]

   Why it matters — Ndung'u sells goats to pay his children's school fees, so a dead herd also means missed schooling. [13] Gacago wants farmer support schemes to include mental health and better access to irrigation. [13]

6. 07

   Virginia shuts an oyster river over Salmonella

   Virginia closed part of the Little Wicomico River to oyster and clam harvesting on 9 October. [8] Health officials linked shellfish from there to an outbreak of Salmonella, a food-poisoning germ, that has made at least five people ill in Pennsylvania. [8] The state's oyster season had opened only eight days earlier, and the closure runs until 7 November. [8] A second closure covers part of Lower Machodoc Creek until 29 October. [8]

   Why it matters — Virginia's public oyster grounds produce about 250,000 bushels a year, and the state spends $4 million to $10 million a year keeping those reefs alive. [8] Crabs and fish can still be caught in the closed water while the shellfish are tested. [8]

7. 08

   Solar panels and peppers share fields in Spain

   In Murcia, in south-east Spain, researchers grow peppers, grapes and dragon fruit under solar panels, which is called agrivoltaics. [12] They found water-stressed peppers grew better under the panels than well-watered ones. [12] In southern Italy, Amazon and Apple buy power from such projects totalling more than 150 megawatts. [12] France requires these farms to keep at least 90% of normal crop yields, and Italy requires 70% of the land to stay in farming. [12]

   • Large projects86%
   • Everything else14%

   Why it matters — About 86% of Italy's 775 million euros of public money for these projects went to large ones, a 2025 review found. [12] Fabrizio Garbarino, who leads an Italian farmers' union, says data-centre developers are chasing farmers for their land. [12]

8. 09

   A billionaire buys up a corner of Somerset

   Koos Bekker, a South African billionaire who chairs the tech company Naspers, has bought more than 2,700 acres around Bruton and Castle Cary in Somerset, England, the Guardian found. [10] His company runs the Newt, an 800-pound-a-night hotel with its own farms, and has bought pubs, a deli and farmhouses nearby. [10] Villagers have started a petition against pesticide spraying on its farmland. [10] Farmers suspect its new boreholes have dried up stretches of the River Brue. [10]

   Why it matters — Land next to one village used to be an organic farm and no longer is, a neighbour says. [10] The Newt says it employs more than 650 people who are from or live in the area. [10]

9. 10

   Europe's forest law is weeks away

   From 30 December, large companies selling in the EU must comply with the EU Deforestation Regulation, a law meant to keep goods from newly cleared forest off its market. [14] Smaller firms follow on 30 June 2027, after two earlier delays. [14] Global Witness, a campaign group, says Mondelez, the maker of Toblerone, lobbied the US government to weaken it; Mondelez says it supports the law's aims. [14] The US ambassador to the EU calls it textbook overregulation. [14]

   Why it matters — Chocolate makers Barry Callebaut and Ferrero back the law. [14] A lawyer at the firm Browne Jacobson says a third delay cannot be ruled out, but a December start is more likely. [14]

10. 11

    Footballers pick apples in Japan's apple city

    Two players from Blancdieu Hirosaki FC, a fifth-tier football club, work in apple orchards between matches and training. [15] Hirosaki, in northern Japan, grows more apples than any other Japanese city. [15] Its apple businesses fell from 4,045 in 2020 to 3,464 in 2025, and the average farm worker is in their sixties. [15] Since 2025 the city has run seminars to bring people from sports clubs and other groups into farming. [15]

    20204,045

    20253,464

    Why it matters — Midfielder Shota Shimogami, 25, works about four hours on weekday afternoons after practice. [15] Orchard owners also get to show their apples to the club's fans. [15]

11. 12

    Some reefs hold more fish than expected

    Scientists who checked nearly 1,700 coral reefs found more than a dozen with far more fish than expected, which they call bright spots. [17] One is off Muluk, a village in Papua New Guinea, where elders close part of the reef to fishing every few years. [17] Their new review of more than 70 studies finds three things in common: a local fix, people able to adapt, and the right to manage their own waters. [17]

    Why it matters — Papua New Guinea's constitution gives coastal villages the right to manage their sea, so Muluk can keep outside fishers away. [17] On the Bering Sea, the rules for the trawlers are set by a council whose members are appointed. [1]

12. 13

    Detroit's food scraps go back to a farm

    Scrap Soils, a small Detroit company, collects food scraps from more than 70 homes and businesses each week and takes them to Sanctuary Farms to be made into compost. [18] Pickup for a home starts at $15 a month. [18] Food left to rot in a landfill gives off methane, a gas that warms the planet quickly. [18] Detroit opened its first city drop-off site for food scraps in the past year, and hundreds of residents signed up. [18]

    Why it matters — A 2023 count found 400 city-backed food-scrap programmes in the US, far fewer than ordinary rubbish services. [18] Detroit plans more drop-off bins as part of a plan to keep 15% of its waste out of landfill. [18]

13. 14

    Smoked fish recalled in six US states

    Krasnyi Oktyabr, a Brooklyn wholesaler, is recalling packs of Starfish Seafood Trio, cold-smoked salmon, halibut and trout made in Latvia. [16] New York State's farm department found the fish may carry Listeria, a germ that can cause serious illness. [16] The packs were sold in New York, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts and North and South Carolina. [16] Nobody has reported being ill. [16]

    Why it matters — Listeria can take up to 70 days to cause symptoms, and pregnant women, babies and older people are most at risk. [16]