Food, in brief

On 13 October Vince Chhabria, a US federal judge in California, ordered the USDA, the US government's farm and food department, to stop closing offices and moving staff while a lawsuit goes on. [1][2]

Unions of federal workers brought the case, with nonprofit groups and local governments. [2][4]

The US Congress's budget law says the USDA may not spend money on reorganising or moving offices unless both houses' budget committees approve. [1]

The judge wrote that the USDA "has almost certainly been violating those restrictions." [1]

He said his ruling is not about whether the plan is good policy, only about whether the money may be spent on it. [4]

The order bars closing any lab of the Agricultural Research Service, the USDA's science arm, including the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland, its largest research campus. [1][3]

It also freezes office closures and moves at the Forest Service, which planned to move its headquarters from Washington, DC, to Salt Lake City, Utah, and shut 23 research sites. [1][4]

At the Food and Nutrition Administration, which runs SNAP food aid for 38 million people a month, the moves could affect up to 870 of about 1,200 staff. [1]

In a staff survey, 81% of SNAP workers and 90% of workers on programmes such as WIC, food aid for mothers and babies, said they would likely not move. [1]

The USDA sent reassignment letters to 725 staff in late August and says 64% accepted, though that does not show how many will really move. [2]

The limits were due to end on 30 September, but a stopgap spending law extended them to 11 December. [1]

The USDA says it is reviewing the ruling, and its deputy secretary Stephen Vaden has said it could appeal. [4][5]

Separately, the USDA told Missouri senator Josh Hawley that none of the state's Farm Service Agency offices, where farmers sign up for aid, will close or go part-time. [6]

Why it matters. Watch the spending bill the US Congress must pass by 11 December, and whether it keeps the ban on paying for the USDA's moves. [3]

Kayem Foods, a meat company in Chelsea, Massachusetts, is recalling about 1,584,361 pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry. [7] The hot dogs, bacon, sausages, turkey breasts and hams were made between 31 March and 7 October. [7][8] They went to shops and restaurants across the US and to Hong Kong. [7] A shop complained on 1 October that a delivery arrived warm, and the company found that a warehouse cooler had not stayed cold enough. [7] No illness has been confirmed. [7]

Why it matters. Ready-to-eat meat is eaten without being cooked again, so keeping it cold is what stops germs growing in it. The USDA's meat inspectors say some packs may still be in home fridges and freezers. [7]

Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration, the food-safety agency of the Indian state that includes Mumbai, has named officials of Reliance and of Blinkit in a probe. [9] Reliance is billionaire Mukesh Ambani's business group, and Blinkit is a fast grocery-delivery app. [9] The agency says big warehouses handed expired and rejected food to disposal firms, which passed it to unlicensed yards. [9] The yards picked out packs that still looked fresh, and brokers sold them on to shops. [9] On Thursday it suspended five licences. [9]

Why it matters. These companies sell food to millions of households in India, so a leak at their warehouses can reach many kitchens. [9] Neither Reliance nor Blinkit had answered Reuters. [9]

Pakistan has stopped trade with Iran at its two official crossings, Gabd-Rimdan and Taftan, Dawn, a Pakistani newspaper, reported on Saturday. [10] Hundreds of lorries carrying rice, fresh fruit, cooking gas and other goods are stuck on both sides. [10] Officials in both countries call the closure temporary, and give security, smuggling or technical problems as the reason. [10] Pakistan's sales through the Gabd-Rimdan route, above all rice, had been rising for months. [10]

Why it matters. A business group in Quetta told traders to stop placing new orders with Iran. [10] Traders warn of big losses and of shortages of cooking gas in Karachi. [10]

US lawmakers from both main parties have put forward the Homegrown Fertilizer Act. [11] It would give grants and cheap loans through the USDA to build more fertiliser plants and storage in the US. [11] Eric Sorensen, an Illinois congressman who backs it, says the loans would not go to the four biggest fertiliser makers. [11] He wants it added to the farm bill, the large law that sets US farm policy, which is expected on the House floor next week. [11]

Why it matters. Sorensen says the US makes little of its own fertiliser, and that more small makers would bring the price down for farmers. [11] If it goes into the farm bill, it passes or fails with that much larger law.

The Securing Agriculture's Workforce Act, a bill to change how US farms hire workers, now has 60 co-sponsors from both main parties. [12] Its sponsor, G.T. Thompson, chairs the House farm committee, but it has not had a vote. [12] John Hollay heads the National Council of Agricultural Employers, a group for farms that hire workers. [12] He hopes it passes before the year ends, and says supporters see the year-end spending bill as one way to carry it. [12]

Why it matters. Hollay warns that without it, smaller farms could close and the US would buy more of its fruit and vegetables abroad. [12] He says the Trump administration's border crackdown has changed the debate. [12]

The AHDB, Britain's farm levy board, expects milk output in Great Britain to fall 2.2% in the 2026-27 milk year, a drop of 284 million litres. [13] Supply was 4.4% lower in August than a year earlier, its lowest point so far. [13] Five heatwaves stressed cows, the drought left little grass, and some dairies ran schemes asking farmers to send less. [13] The milking herd was 1.57 million cows in July, the lowest on record. [13]

Why it matters. Feed bought in to replace lost grass pushes up the cost of each litre, while most dairies have held their price for November. [13] High beef prices make selling cows more tempting, so the herd may shrink further. [13]

The AHDB forecasts UK beef output of 904,000 tonnes in 2026, 1% more than last year, because animals are heavier even though fewer are slaughtered. [14] It expects output to fall 0.8% in 2027, to 896,000 tonnes, as herds keep shrinking. [14] Bluetongue, a virus disease of sheep and cattle, has been confirmed on 3,370 UK farms this season. [14] In AHDB's likely case it means 14,000 fewer calves born in 2027. [14]

Why it matters. Tight supply keeps cattle prices high, but shoppers buy less beef at today's shop prices, which holds back further rises. [14] The calves lost to bluetongue would not show up in beef supply until 2029. [14]

Aphids, gout fly and leafhoppers are turning up in young cereal crops on British farms, Farmers Weekly reports. [15] At Rothamsted, a crop research station, more than half of trapped aphids had wings, against a ten-year average of 12.9%. [15] Nearly 40% carried virus. [15] An AHDB tool says barley yellow dwarf virus, which aphids spread, could cost about 90 pounds a hectare in wheat sown on 5 October. [15] Farmers paid 45 pounds a hectare for not using insecticide must now choose. [15]

Why it matters. The payment is part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive, England's scheme that pays farmers for work that helps nature. [15] Those who spray must tell the Rural Payments Agency, which may cut their payment. [15]

Scientists at the Centre for Sustainable Cropping, a long-running research farm near Dundee in Scotland, compared spring barley grown after field beans with barley grown after barley. [16] Barley after beans needed on average 22kg less nitrogen fertiliser per hectare. [16] Its harm to the environment was about 25% lower. [16] In four of five years it also gave 1.2 tonnes more grain per hectare, but in the dry year of 2022 it gave less. [16]

Why it matters. Spring barley feeds Scotland's brewers, distillers and livestock farms. [16] The researchers say weather and how well the beans grew decide how big the gain is. [16]

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN body for nuclear science, is running a five-year project with Queen's University Belfast on breeding farm animals that make less methane. [17] The agency says animals that make more methane from the same feed usually turn less of that feed into meat and milk. [17] Queen's will study the microbes in the rumen, the first part of a cow's stomach. [17] The project will use nuclear-based lab tools. [17]

Why it matters. Professor Sharon Huws, who leads the Queen's team, says no farmer will cut methane unless it pays, so the aim is animals that are both cleaner and more profitable. [17] She says some small farms are already being sold when rules force them to keep fewer animals. [17]

Northern Ireland is offering free genetic tests for every cow until the end of 2027, through a 16.6 million pound scheme called Sustainable Ruminant Genetics. [18] More than 6,000 farmers have signed up. [18] Samples come from the plastic ear tags every calf gets soon after birth. [18] John Edgar, who farms 120 cows in County Tyrone, used to choose which cows to breed from by their milk. [18] Tests showed some quieter cows he would have passed over carry useful traits. [18]

Why it matters. The scheme aims for cows that give more milk, reach slaughter weight sooner and do less harm to the environment. [18] A vet in County Fermanagh says resistance to bovine TB is partly passed on in the genes, which breeding could use. [18]

The Non-GMO Project, a US group known for its butterfly seal on foods made without genetically engineered crops, launched a Non-UPF Verified label this year. [19] It marks foods it judges free of the signs of ultra-processing, looking at both the ingredients and how much they were processed. [19] More than 300 products have been verified, including Simple Mills, a baking brand. [19] During a trial it changed its first strict sugar rules, because some lightly processed foods use sweeteners. [19]

Why it matters. There is still no agreed definition of ultra-processed food, and several groups and regulators have put forward their own. [19] Its chief executive, Megan Westgate, hopes this label becomes the standard. [19]

Beyond Meat, a US maker of plant-based meat, has launched a sparkling protein drink with 160 milligrams of caffeine from coffee beans. [20] Each drink also has 20 grams of protein and 5 grams of fibre, and it is sold on the company's own website. [20] The company began selling drinks this year and dropped the word Meat from its name. [20] It now competes with Monster, the energy-drink company, which recently launched a caffeinated protein shake. [20]

Why it matters. Plant-based meat has struggled while shoppers seek out protein, Food Dive reports. [20] Beyond's bosses hope the drinks bring in buyers for its meat-free products too. [20]

Primient, a US corn-processing company, says it is widening its work on regenerative farming, which aims to rebuild soil and protect water. [21] It has teamed up with Sustainea, a maker of plant-based materials, on 1,000 acres in Lafayette, Indiana. [21] Since 2018 it has backed such methods across thousands of acres in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. [21] It links farmers with university researchers to test what works on each farm. [21]

Why it matters. Brad Morrison, who buys corn for Primient, says farmers keep these methods only if they make money. [21] The company says the aim is more corn and more profit as well as better soil. [21]