Food, in brief

UK dairy farms delivered 240 million fewer litres of milk than expected between May and August, said the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), a UK climate research group. [1]

That is about four days of the country's milk supply, and it was worth more than 83 million pounds. [1]

The UK had its hottest summer on record in 2026, with five intense heatwaves and drought declared. [1]

The heat dried out the grazing, stunted harvests and put livestock in England and Wales under heat strain. [1]

Many farmers have already started giving their cattle winter feed. [1]

Debbie Wilkins, a dairy and beef farmer in Gloucestershire, said costs pile up when cows are brought indoors, and the lost milk makes it worse. [1]

Tom Cantillon, an analyst at the ECIU, called milk an unforgiving product, because it cannot be stockpiled. [1]

He said a second bad year for grass has pushed farmers onto winter feed early, and feed prices will follow. [1]

The UK's milk for the whole of 2026 could still be close to a record, because farms produced extra earlier in the year. [1]

On Thursday Fonterra, the New Zealand co-operative that is the world's biggest dairy exporter, warned that El Nino could slow its milk growth late in the 2026/27 season. [2]

El Nino is a warming of the eastern Pacific that can bring droughts and typhoons, and the World Meteorological Organization says this one could be the strongest ever. [2]

Fonterra's profit more than doubled to NZ$2.61bn last year, helped by selling its Mainland Group to the French dairy company Lactalis. [2]

Why it matters. Watch whether El Nino brings drought to New Zealand late in the 2026/27 season, when Fonterra says its milk growth could slow. [2]

The Ghana Cocoa Board, COCOBOD, the state body that runs the country's cocoa trade, is trying to raise 16.3 billion cedis ($1.4bn) from local investors to buy the coming crop. [3] Its yearly loan from international banks collapsed in the 2023/24 season, and a deal where trading houses paid in advance fell through last season. [3] The new debt will be repaid from money for cocoa already sold ahead to foreign buyers. [3] Ghana's licensed cocoa buyers say COCOBOD still owes them about 4 billion cedis for last season's beans. [3]

Why it matters. Ghana and Ivory Coast are the world's two biggest cocoa producers, and Ivory Coast opened its season on 1 September while Ghana has not named a date. [3] Farmers and buyers blame the missing money for that delay, as they did for late payments to farmers last season. [3]

Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said on Monday that Uruguay will let Brazil use the part of Uruguay's China beef quota that it has not filled. [4] In January China set a quota for each big supplier and added a 55% tariff on beef above it. [4] Brazil had shipped 98.5% of its 1.1 million tonne quota by June, the trading firm StoneX said. [4] Brazil's beef exports are expected to fall 10% this year. [4]

Why it matters. The deal lets more Brazilian beef reach China without the extra 55% tax. Uruguay's foreign ministry had not replied to Reuters when Lula announced it. [4]

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has asked several big refiners to limit diesel exports of their own accord, three people told Reuters. [5] President Trump said on Tuesday he backed limiting exports, and Wright has called a ban a bad idea. [5] US diesel costs about $6.52 a gallon, and stocks are 13% below normal for the time of year. [5] Many US farmers are losing money as the harvest begins, with diesel leading the rise in costs. [6] One combine harvester can use 300 gallons of diesel, and farm diesel costs double last year's. [20]

Why it matters. The price lands in the weeks farmers such as Addie Yoder in Missouri run their combines, from mid-September to late October. [20] Oil companies warn that an export limit could force refineries to make less fuel of every kind. [5]

US farm groups asked President Trump to press China's leader, Xi Jinping, to drop China's 10% tax on US farm goods, ahead of trade talks between the two this week. [7] Traders say China is on pace to buy the 25 million tonnes of US soybeans a year it promised, but it has bought no US corn this season. [7] The groups also want Trump to keep fees on Chinese-built ships suspended, a pause that ends in November. [7]

Why it matters. The 10% tax makes US soybeans dearer than Brazil's, so private Chinese buyers stay away. [7] The port fees would come back in the middle of the US harvest. [7]

India's food regulator, FSSAI, told India's Supreme Court in a filing on Wednesday that a red warning will go on packets high in just one of salt, sugar or fat. [8] Its earlier plan warned only when two of the three were high. [8] Foods and drinks with artificial sweeteners must also say so on the front of the pack. [8] FSSAI said it will finish the rules in about four months, and companies then get a year to comply. [8]

Why it matters. India's packaged food industry is worth about $100bn, and Nestle, Unilever, Mondelez and Mars all sell into it. [8] For the first time, the regulator has given companies dates to work to. [8]

India's food regulator wants to stop shops near schools selling snacks high in fat, salt or sugar to schoolchildren. [9] It published the limits in August and is taking comments until 6 October. [9] Maharashtra, the state that includes Mumbai, goes further: no shop within 50 metres of a school may stock them. [9] Its inspectors found 133 shops breaking the rule and ordered 51 to stop trading. [9]

Why it matters. The number of overweight or obese Indian children aged 5 to 19 rose from 28 million in 2015 to 41 million in 2025. [9] Shopkeepers in the city of Bhubaneswar say their sales could fall by a third or more. [9]

General Mills, the US maker of Cheerios and Pillsbury, said on 23 September that its sales were flat in the three months to 30 August. [10] Its operating profit fell 11%. [10] The company cut its everyday prices last year to win back shoppers worn down by inflation. [10] It now sells cups and smaller boxes so the cheapest pack costs less. [10]

Why it matters. Its North American shop sales improved by about 2 percentage points on the quarter before. [10] It still expects profit to fall 8% to 13% this year, so the price cuts cost it money while it waits for buyers. [10]

Aldi, the discount grocer, said it is cutting US prices by about $86 million in total from 23 September to at least 3 November. [11] Honeycrisp apples fall to $1.99 a pound, 35% less than last year. [11] Aldi says nearly one in three products on its shelves now cost less than a year ago. [11] It plans to open 180 US stores this year. [11]

Why it matters. Bigger rivals such as Kroger and Albertsons have been closing stores. [11] Industry experts expect grocery prices to rise faster again later this year as transport costs climb. [11]

McDonald's chief executive said on Wednesday that visits to restaurants in its main markets will stay flat while prices stay high. [12] The company set out an $8.5bn plan over ten years to support the business owners who run its restaurants. [12] Required remodels and upgrades could cost the average US restaurant at least $1.2m. [12] The support includes rent relief but does not pay for the remodels. [12]

Why it matters. US visits to McDonald's have fallen every full month since March, according to the data firm Placer.ai. [12] The owners pay for the remodels up front, while the extra cash McDonald's expects, about $100,000 a year per restaurant, comes later. [12]

Campbell's and PepsiCo have told investors in their yearly reports that new rules on ultra-processed food could cut their sales and raise their costs. [13] Conagra and Kraft Heinz say they face lawsuits claiming some of their products are ultra-processed and harm health. [13] California's governor, Gavin Newsom, has until 30 September to sign or veto a state seal for food that is not ultra-processed. [13] That bill counts additives such as emulsifiers, colours and sweeteners. [13]

Why it matters. Texas will require warning labels on products with some ingredients, including artificial colours, from 1 January 2027, and PepsiCo names that law as a risk. [13] The US government's own plan to define ultra-processed food has shrunk from a rule to a paper. [13]

Whole Foods' chief executive, Jason Buechel, said on 14 September that US organic sales could pass $100bn soon, but supply is short. [14] Organic sales reached $76.6bn in 2025, up 6.8%. [14] Certified organic land fell 9% in 2025, to 7.2 million acres. [14] A farm must follow organic rules for three years before it can sell its crops as organic. [14]

Why it matters. Whole Foods already pulls back promotions because it cannot get enough organic food. [14] Most of the growth in organic beef came from imports from Australia and Uruguay. [14]

Chatham House, a London think tank, and the Forest Stewardship Council expect world biofuel output to rise nearly 70% by 2030. [15] Biofuels are made mostly from food crops like corn and sugar cane, and mixed into petrol and diesel. [15] Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, the US and the EU have proposed or set higher blends since the Iran war began. [15] If every proposal goes ahead, fuel crops need 36 million more hectares. [15]

Why it matters. That is roughly the size of Germany. [15] Sugar and corn prices have already risen about 20% since the war began, and the authors warn of more hunger later. [15]

A water company in Devon and Cornwall is asking people to report Asian hornets, after sightings in neighbouring Somerset. [16] By 3 September, Britain's National Bee Unit had recorded 167 of the hornets and 53 nests. [16] Hornet queens are blown across the Channel from France, and some hide under cargo. [16] The number trapped on Alderney, a Channel Island, almost halved from last year. [16]

Why it matters. Guernsey's government says it tries to keep hornet numbers as low as possible to protect honeybees. [16] A local group in Devon expects many more reports there within two or three years. [16]

Sound Agriculture, a US farm-biology company, launched INFLECT, a powder of helpful bacteria and a fungus coated onto corn seed. [17] It is made for fields fed with anhydrous ammonia, a common nitrogen fertiliser, or heavy manure, which can harm soil life. [17] The company says trials at 12 sites raised corn yields by about six bushels an acre. [17] Yields rose at 92% of the sites. [17]

Why it matters. Most US corn growers are as worried or more worried about farm costs than a year ago. [17] The yield figures come from the company's own trials. [17]

A study in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition scored 15 of China's food and nutrition policies against international best practice. [18] All three areas scored medium, between 62% and 69%. [18] The weakest score, 55.4%, was for keeping food companies' influence out of policy making. [18] Chinese shoppers want less sugar and more protein, but are careful with money. [18]

Why it matters. The study found the policies are in place, but the money and coordination to carry them out are weaker. [18]

Researchers in Taiwan used county disaster records from 2003 to 2022 to build models that predict when rain and cold damage melon crops. [19] The models predicted whether damage would happen with over 88% accuracy. [19] They found an average temperature of about 22.4C to be the line for growing melons. [19] Predicting how bad the damage would be worked best for cold spells. [19]

Why it matters. Three to four typhoons hit Taiwan in an average year. [19] The authors say missing weather data, not weak models, limits the forecasts. [19]