Food, in brief

Thirty days after extra foreign beef began arriving in the US, ground beef in shops had fallen about 2%, from $6.92 to $6.79 a pound, or 13 cents, says Farm Action, a farmers' campaign group. [1]

Over the same 30 days, the prices paid for two kinds of cows sold to make ground beef fell 12.2% and 13.9%, its study of US farm department figures found. [1]

The US government said in August it would let in an extra 300,000 tonnes of beef over 90 days without the usual import tax, to bring shop prices down. [2][3]

Only 37,486 tonnes of the first month's 100,000-tonne allowance came in by 28 September. [2]

James Mitchell, a farm economist at the University of Arkansas, estimates that only 8,054 to 21,936 tonnes of it was beef that would not have come anyway. [2]

The American Farm Bureau Federation, the biggest US farmers' group, checked 41 shops in 22 states, and ground beef did not change price in 30 of them. [2]

Glenn Brunkow, head of the Kansas Farm Bureau, says the import decision took $200 to $400 off the value of a cow worth about $2,000. [2]

The announcement came just before September to November, when most US calves are weaned and sold, and the cattle market fell at once, the BBC reported from Nebraska. [3]

In the official US price count, ground beef fell 0.8% in September but still costs 5.4% more than a year ago. [5]

A shopper in Utah told the BBC she now pays $8 a pound for ground beef and treats it almost as a luxury. [4]

Anna Kelly, a spokeswoman for Trump, says he is lowering beef prices while letting the US cattle herd grow, and his administration is not planning to end the imports early. [1][2]

Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, a cattle state, called the plan somewhat self-defeating and said the big meatpacking companies' part in prices should be examined. [2]

Why it matters. Watch whether the second and third months' allowances fill faster than the first, and whether the Trump administration uses its power to stop the imports early if shop prices do not fall. [2]

England's farm ministry, Defra, launched a 10-year plan on Wednesday to raise organically farmed land from about 3.4% to 10% by 2036. [7] France already farms 10.4% of its land organically. [6] UK shoppers spent 3.9bn pounds on organic food in 2025, but England's organic area has barely changed in a decade, so imports fill the gap. [7] The plan sets aside no new money, and grants from England's main farm payment scheme ran out in six hours in September. [6][7]

Why it matters. Organic groups say farmers will not switch without steady grants, so the 10% depends on money the plan does not promise. [6][7] England's government hopes schools and hospitals, which spend about 5bn pounds a year on food, will buy more organic. [7]

US prices rose 3.7% in the year to September, faster than forecast, official figures showed on Wednesday. [8][9] Food bought in shops was the exception: it fell 0.1% in the month and is up 1.8% in a year. [5] Eggs cost 20.6% less than a year ago, and fresh fruit 4.9% more. [5] Diesel and other fuels besides petrol rose 11.9% in September and are up 60.9% in a year. [5] FMI, the US food retailers' group, says record diesel prices are starting to work through to grocery supply chains and could push prices up in the months ahead. [5]

Why it matters. Shoppers get a short pause on food while the cost of trucking it keeps climbing. [5] The figures were the last before the US midterm elections next month. [8]

British pig prices rose a little in September but stayed 11% to 13% below a year earlier, while feed, fuel and borrowing costs rose. [10] Quality Meat Scotland, a farm body, worked out a loss of about 36 pounds on each pig from July to September. [10] Feed is at least 60% of the cost of raising a pig. [10] The official average price hides a wide spread: some contracts pay over 200p a kilo and others as little as 105p. [10]

Why it matters. Farmers on the cheapest contracts lose money on every pig they sell, and abattoirs are expected to work shorter weeks before Christmas. [10] Some English farmers cannot afford to send breeding sows to slaughter at these prices, so the herd stays too big. [10]

The Marine Conservation Society, a British ocean charity, downgraded European hake from green to amber on Wednesday, because stocks are falling and fishing is rising. [11] Coley caught around the UK dropped from amber to red, its worst rating. [11] Shoppers had been told to eat these fish instead of cod, whose stocks have fallen since 2015. [11] The charity's Good Fish Guide, updated twice a year, made 29 downgrades and 11 upgrades among 727 ratings. [11]

Why it matters. Most seafood eaten in the UK is five kinds: cod, haddock, salmon, tuna and prawns, so a swap moves pressure from one stock to the next. [11] UK Atlantic bluefin tuna got a new green rating after recovering under rules brought in more than 20 years ago. [11]

Fresh produce lost about $280m a month in shop sales after this summer's outbreak of Cyclospora, a stomach parasite, on lettuce, says the International Fresh Produce Association, a trade group for fruit and vegetable sellers. [12] Its head, Cathy Burns, says 6.5 million households stopped buying salad. [12] The outbreak was traced to shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico, and US health officials declared it over on 11 September. [12] The group has hired Penta, a crisis communications firm, to win shoppers back. [12]

Why it matters. Burns wants the US to stop delaying a rule that makes food firms record where produce came from, now put off to July 2028. [12] In the group's own survey, 68% named poor tracing as a key problem for the industry. [12]

The American Meat Producers Association, a lobby group formed in late 2025, launched a $30m advert campaign this year to keep state animal-welfare laws such as California's Proposition 12. [13] That law bars selling pork in California from breeding pigs given less than 24 square feet each. [13] A linked group began a $3m campaign last week against Ashley Hinson, a Republican Senate candidate in Iowa. [13] The National Pork Producers Council backs a bill to override such laws. [13] Neither side says who funds it. [13]

Why it matters. Large pig farms say the rules raise their costs, while some small farms say California gives them a market with better prices. [13] The pork council says California pork prices are up 20% since the law took effect in 2024. [13]

Two weeks after the US banned Canadian alcohol and whey, a milk by-product used in protein powder, US distillers say their own losses keep growing. [14] Most Canadian provinces stopped selling American alcohol early in the trade fight, and Kentucky bourbon sales to Canada fell from $43.7m in 2024 to $25m in 2025. [14] Canada was days from putting US drinks back on shelves when the ban came, says Tom Bard, a craft distiller. [14] Big Canadian brands such as Crown Royal avoid the ban by shipping whisky in bulk and bottling it in the US. [14]

Why it matters. Small Canadian distillers with no US bottling plant lose the US market, while the biggest brands keep theirs. [14] US craft distillers say the ban will not free any shelf space for American drinks. [14]

FGS Global, an advisory firm working in 31 markets, has bought The Russell Group, a Washington lobbying firm founded in 1985. [15] Its clients include Bayer, the seed and farm-chemical company, Cargill, the grain trader, and Growth Energy, an ethanol group, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks money in US politics. [15] The price was not disclosed. [15] At an event held by Syngenta, a seed and farm-chemical company, Val Dolcini, its head of public affairs, said less than 2% of Americans are closely connected to food production, so farm issues struggle to get heard. [16]

Why it matters. The midterm elections in three weeks will bring new members of the US Congress, and Dolcini says farm companies must introduce themselves again to each new member and their staff. [16]

The US Environmental Protection Agency plans to finish, in late November, its rules to protect more than 1,000 endangered species from fungicides, which kill crop moulds. [17] Similar plans for weedkillers and insect killers were finished in 2024 and 2025. [17] Labels now send farmers to a website whose maps say, month by month, where spraying is limited. [17] The agency changed its approach after meeting its endangered-species duties for under 5% of pesticide uses and facing more than 20 lawsuits. [17]

Why it matters. Farmers must check a map before they spray and earn points for steps such as cover crops that cut runoff. [17] A chemical-industry spokesman says the fungicide plan started out terrible and is now something the industry can live with. [17]

California's almond growers have cut the weight of pesticide ingredients they use by 61% in 20 years, a University of California farm adviser told a conference this week. [18] Over that time the risk to pollinators fell 39% and the risk to workers' skin almost 97%. [18] The Almond Board, paid for by a levy on every pound of almonds sold, has spent about $89m on research since 1973. [18] California is now moving its farms towards what it calls sustainable pest management, under a 2024 law, with state grants. [19]

Why it matters. It shows a large cut is possible in one big crop over two decades. [18] The state now wants the same shift on its other farms, and its next round of grants opens in summer 2027. [19]

University of Maryland scientists gave the Chesapeake Bay, the biggest US estuary, where rivers meet the sea, a C+ on Tuesday, their highest score in 40 years of checks. [20] Oxygen in the water scored an A, while water clarity got a D. [20] The six states around the bay missed their 2025 pollution targets and have set new ones for 2040. [20] Farms are expected to make 90% of the remaining cuts in nitrogen and phosphorus, which wash off fields into the water. [20]

Why it matters. The next round of clean-up falls mainly on farmers, helped by state and federal grants. [20] A September order from Trump removed a federal committee that had coordinated the work since 2009. [20]

The US Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers have proposed a narrower meaning of waters of the United States, the streams and wetlands federal water law protects. [21] Under it, a stream would mostly count only if it flows all year. [21] It follows a 2023 Supreme Court ruling, known as Sackett, that narrowed which wetlands are covered. [21] The American Farm Bureau Federation supports it, and public comments closed after 30 days. [21]

Why it matters. Farm groups say it makes clear where federal rules stop. [21] Environmental groups say streams and wetlands that dry up for part of the year would lose protection. [21]

The US Energy Department set up a process on Wednesday for fuel makers to claim the 45Z tax credit when their fuel is missing from the US government's table. [22] To claim it, a producer needs an official figure for the greenhouse gas its fuel causes over its whole life. [22] The credit is meant to boost fuels made from raw materials from the US, Mexico or Canada. [22] The Renewable Fuels Association, the US ethanol trade group, welcomed it. [22]

Why it matters. The ethanol group says it gives fuel makers more certainty. [22] It still wants the process changed to suit existing ethanol plants. [22]

Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy has bought an ethanol plant in Ord, Nebraska, that can make about 70 million gallons a year, from Pilot Travel Centers, a US truck-stop chain. [23] Ethanol is a fuel made from corn, and such plants also sell leftover grain as animal feed and corn oil. [23] The deal closed on 9 October and takes the company to about 230 million gallons a year. [23] It will keep the plant's workers and keep buying grain from local farmers. [23]

Why it matters. Corn growers around Ord keep a nearby buyer for their grain. [23]

Nestle, the Swiss maker of Nescafe and Maggi, will invest another $1bn in Mexico from 2028 to 2030, taking its total commitment to $2bn. [24] The first $1bn, announced last year, expanded its Maggi factory and its Nescafe plant in Veracruz. [24] Mexico brings in 4% of Nestle's sales, which were 89.49bn Swiss francs in 2025. [24] Nestle says the money will go to local farming and Mexican-grown raw materials. [24]

Why it matters. Nestle is spending in fast-growing countries while US shoppers cut back. [24] It says Nescafe will keep pushing farming that rebuilds soil among its Mexican suppliers. [24]

B&G Foods, a US maker of packaged food, is selling its B&M baked beans and Joan of Arc bean brands to McCall Farms, a vegetable canner. [25] It will use the money to pay down debt. [25] Its sales fell nearly 10% in the second quarter, to $383.3m. [25] Earlier this week it called off the sale of its Green Giant vegetable brand in Canada after competition regulators raised concerns. [25]

Why it matters. Once a busy buyer of brands, B&G is now selling them as shoppers spend less and bigger rivals compete harder. [25]

Monster Energy will launch a canned protein shake next year with 30 grams of protein and 160mg of caffeine. [26] Its first protein shake came out in 2014 and was dropped in 2017. [26] Mars is adding Cheez-It Protein to its 2027 snacks, along with M&M's Peanut Butter Cinnamon Roll and Twix Frosted Cookie. [27] Nearly half of adults are trying to eat more protein, Food Dive reports. [26]

Why it matters. Food firms are putting protein into treats people already buy, because shoppers trust brands they know. [27]

In a survey of 2,000 Americans by LEK Consulting, published on 5 October, 71% said familiar ingredients matter more to them than three years ago. [28] Those who care say they would pay 7% more on average for such food. [28] Taste still came first for 70% of people, and price for 64%. [28] Only 32% said they would pay extra because of ingredients or how food is made. [28]

Why it matters. Food makers are being told simpler recipes can pay for themselves. [28] In the same survey, taste and price still decide most of what people buy. [28]

Turkey breast costs 12% more and cranberry sauce 15% more than a year ago in US shops, says NIQ, a firm that tracks what shops sell. [29] Pie crust is 2% cheaper. [29] Nearly half of US shoppers, 47%, expect to spend more on Thanksgiving dinner. [29] To cope, 46% plan to buy more of the shops' own-brand food and 12% plan smaller portions. [29]

Why it matters. Shops' own brands, which cost less, stand to gain most from the holiday. [29]

Greece's food exports have more than doubled, from 4.5bn euros in 2014 to over 10bn euros, says Enterprise Greece, the Greek government's trade agency. [30] Another 10% growth is forecast for 2026. [30] Yoghurt, feta cheese, olive oil and olives lead the rise. [30] Kri Kri, a dairy firm from Serres, now sells 75% of its yoghurt abroad, and its profit for the first half of 2026 rose 87.6%. [30]

Why it matters. Greek food firms turned to selling abroad after the debt crisis that began in 2009 shrank sales at home. [30] EU protected-name labels, of which Greece has 283, help them charge more. [30]

Molagri, a Toronto start-up, has raised $5.8m to make sprays that target one kind of insect pest. [31] They are designed to be changed as pests become resistant, the way a flu jab is updated, says co-founder Zaky Hassan. [31] Its first targets include the navel orangeworm, a big pest of almonds and pistachios, and the codling moth in apples. [31] The technology is still at an early stage. [31]

Why it matters. Broad sprays also kill helpful insects, which a targeted spray is meant to spare. [31] Pests that survive a spray breed the next generation, which is why farmers keep needing new products. [31]

PerPlant, a Danish start-up, will have its AI crop camera fitted at the factory on new Valtra tractors in parts of Europe. [32] Valtra is a tractor brand owned by AGCO, a big US farm-machinery maker. [32] The camera scans crops as the tractor drives, so it can spray only weeds or vary fertiliser across a field. [32] PerPlant says farmers using it have cut what they spread by 40% to 87%. [32]

Why it matters. The company is betting its long-term value lies in the field data its cameras collect, which it plans to share with advisers and suppliers. [32]

OlsAro, a Swedish start-up breeding wheat that grows in salty soil, has raised 5m euros ($5.5m). [33] Salt affects about a tenth of the world's cropland. [33] Its wheat gave up to 41% more grain than a moderately salt-tolerant variety in salty fields in Bangladesh. [33] It plans to launch there in 2027 with Lal Teer, Bangladesh's largest private seed company. [33]

Why it matters. About a million hectares of Bangladesh's farmland is affected by salt, while demand for wheat grown there keeps rising. [33] The variety was bred without genetic modification, which avoids those rules. [33]

The AHDB, Britain's farm levy board, expects UK sheepmeat production to fall 2.4% in 2027, to 262,000 tonnes. [34] Britain's breeding flock is shrinking, and EU output fell 2% in the first half of 2026. [34] Lamb prices fell to about 705p a kilo in late August and recovered to 723.7p by 10 October. [34] The AHDB expects tight supply to keep prices firm through 2027, even as shoppers buy less. [34]

Why it matters. Sheep farmers can expect steadier prices. [34] The board warns that bluetongue and rising costs could still upset them. [34]

The Welsh government has paid most farmers 80% of their yearly support early, up from 70% in past years. [35] By 13 October, 90% of claimants under its new Sustainable Farming Scheme and 94% under the older Basic Payment Scheme had their advance. [35] The rest is due from mid-December. [35] It expects to settle all but the most complex claims by the end of March 2027. [35]

Why it matters. The early money is meant to ease cash pressure on farms in a costly year. [35]