Food, in brief

US officials confirmed New World screwworm in Arizona for the first time on 28 October. [1]

Screwworm is a fly whose young, called maggots, eat the living flesh of animals. [1][2]

The case was a dog with an infested wound, in Cochise County on the Mexican border. [2]

The fly now has confirmed cases in 3 US states: Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. [2]

The Arizona case and rising numbers could complicate the Nogales plan, AgDaily reports. [2]

The closures hurt ranchers and feedlots on both sides of the border. [3]

The next test is whether Nogales opens to Mexican cattle on 30 November. [2]

New World screwworm, a flesh-eating fly, is spreading north in the US, with 19 cases in October against 3 in September, just as cattle crossings from Mexico reopen one by one. [2][3]

The US is releasing about 100 million sterile flies a week to stop it breeding, and a dog in Arizona shows the fly has reached a third state anyway. [2]

Animals moving inside the 20-kilometre zone face limits and inspections. [1][2]

Whether screwworm is breeding in Arizona, or the dog was a single case.

Officials are trapping flies inside a 20-kilometre zone and watching animals there to find out. [1][2]

Whether the Nogales crossing opens to Mexican cattle on 30 November.

The USDA says it depends on animal health holding, and AgDaily reports the Arizona case could complicate it. [2][3]

Three border crossings have reopened to Mexican cattle since August, the latest at Columbus, New Mexico, on 26 October after nearly two years shut.

The USDA, the US agriculture department, will buy up to $472.5 million of US-grown food. [4]

The food goes to food banks and other programmes that feed people in need. [4]

It includes milk, cheese, lentils, almonds, rice and catfish, says Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. [4]

Dairy gets $165.5 million, pork $41 million, rice $21 million and chicken $20 million. [6]

The buying uses Section 32, a power from a US law passed in 1935. [5]

The USDA calls it one of its most direct tools when farm markets are tight. [4]

US rice growers asked for the rice purchase, saying prices still fall short of their costs. [6]

They blame large stocks of rice and cheaper foreign rice for pulling prices down. [6]

A round total like $472.5 million sounds like a rescue for farmers, but each crop's share is much smaller: US rice gets $21 million of it. [6]

Dairy gets $165.5 million of the USDA's food purchase, the largest share named so far. [6]

The food the USDA buys goes to the charitable food network and other food programmes. [4]

They say prices still do not cover their costs, with large stocks and cheaper foreign rice in the market. [6]

The USDA will buy up to $472.5 million of US milk, cheese, lentils, almonds, rice and catfish for food banks and other food programmes.

A drought in Papua New Guinea is affecting as many as 8 million people. [27]

Papua New Guinea, a Pacific country, is normally one of the world's wettest places. [27]

Many people there grow their own food and depend on rain alone, a weather official says. [27]

Family food gardens have shrivelled, and many rivers and creeks have dried up. [27]

Some highland families eat one meal a day, says the aid group CARE International. [27]

A hailstorm in Enga province this month buried sweet potato crops under ice. [27]

The weather service blames El Nino, a Pacific swing that has moved the rain away. [27]

The wet season starts in November, but El Nino may cut it short. [27]

Two months of rain is not enough to grow crops, a weather official says. [27]

Prime Minister James Marape told provinces to prepare for a long dry season. [27]

Some eat one meal a day as their food gardens dry out. [27]

How many people in Papua New Guinea are short of food.

About 8 million people are affected by the drought, and a coalition of churches, unions and businesses says Papua New Guinea's government still needs to carry out proper assessments. [27]

The Congressional Budget Office, which works out what US laws cost, priced the Senate farm bill. [14]

From October 2027, US states must pay part of SNAP, food aid for poorer households. [14]

That share will cost states $1.1 billion a year, the office estimates. [14]

The US Senate's bill would delay it by one year, to October 2028. [14]

The delay and other changes would save states about $5.2 billion, the office says. [14]

Jim Costa, a California Democrat, wants to lead his party on the House farm committee. [15]

Costa said: "I will keep fighting to reverse the cost shift to states." [15]

In his district, more than 3 in 10 households rely on SNAP, he says. [15]

This cost-share fight is the biggest block to a new farm bill, Agri-Pulse reports. [14]

From October 2027 they must pay part of SNAP, about $1.1 billion a year, the Congressional Budget Office estimates. [14]

22 House Republicans, led by Texas congressman August Pfluger, wrote to Speaker Mike Johnson. [13]

They object to E15 rules in a farm bill now moving through the US Senate. [13]

E15 is petrol with more ethanol in it, and US ethanol is made from corn. [13]

The ethanol industry's top goal is to sell E15 all year round across the US. [13]

The letter says the bill's terms would push refineries to make less fuel. [13]

Lawmakers return on 9 November and want a farm bill before 3 January. [13]

A deal on who pays for SNAP would open the door to talks on E15. [13]

Whether the US Congress passes a farm bill before 3 January.

Lawmakers return on 9 November, and the fight over who pays for SNAP blocks other deals, including E15. [13][14]

US Halloween candy sales fell 6.7% in the month to 17 October, NielsenIQ data show. [7]

Hershey, maker of Reese's and Kisses, warned that dearer fuel may make shoppers buy less. [7]

In September, candy, gum and mint sales at US convenience stores fell nearly 5%. [8]

Hershey expects 35% of its seasonal sales this week, with Halloween on Saturday. [7]

"We need consumers to show up," said Hershey chief executive Kirk Tanner. [7]

A LendingTree survey found 35% of Halloween shoppers expect to skip candy. [7]

Sales of reduced-sugar candies are up 66% on a year ago, Spins data show. [9]

Shops now start Halloween displays in July and run them to 2 November. [9]

The season now rests on the last days before Saturday, when shoppers buy big packs. [7]

Whether US Halloween candy sales recover by Saturday.

The 6.7% fall runs only to 17 October, and Hershey expects 35% of its seasonal sales in the final week. [7]

A chocolate bar costs 397% more than a generation ago, the American Sugar Alliance says. [10]

The alliance speaks for US sugar beet and sugar cane growers, processors and refiners. [10]

It says the sugar in that bar still costs only a few cents. [10]

Its survey does not show how much cocoa, wages or packaging added. [10]

The growers blame cheap, subsidised foreign sugar for pulling their own prices down. [10]

Hawaii stopped growing sugar cane in 2016, Texas in 2024, and California sugar beet in 2025. [10]

US sugar is already protected by import limits and price-support loans. [10]

Critics say those rules keep US sugar dearer than sugar on world markets. [10]

What pushed a chocolate bar's price up 397%.

The sugar growers' survey does not split the rise between cocoa, wages, packaging and profit. [10]

US wheat sold abroad had its biggest week of the marketing year, USDA figures show. [11]

The marketing year is wheat's trading year, which began on 1 June. [11]

Buyers ordered 849,800 tons in the week to 22 October. [11]

The Philippines bought 226,300 tons and South Korea 154,000 tons. [11]

Both countries use US wheat for flour and for animal feed. [11]

A recent fall in the wheat price helped bring the buyers in. [11]

Wheat exports so far this year are 423.2 million bushels, against 598.9 million for 2025/26. [11]

There is talk of China buying US wheat, but such talk has come before. [12]

The USDA's next crop estimate comes out on 10 November. [11]

They ordered 226,300 and 154,000 tons in one week after the US wheat price fell. [11]

US wheat had its best week abroad of the year, with 849,800 tons ordered, led by the Philippines and South Korea.

Albertsons is suing Kroger for more than $9 billion over their failed merger. [16]

In 2024 Kroger, the biggest US grocery chain, offered $24.6 billion for rival Albertsons. [16]

Two courts blocked the deal, agreeing it would cut competition in parts of the US. [16]

Kroger had planned to sell 579 stores to C&S, a food distributor. [16]

Court papers show Kroger bosses could share $400 million if the deal hit profit goals. [16]

Albertsons says that pay plan made Kroger hold on to its more profitable stores. [16]

Kroger says regulators would have blocked the deal anyway. [16]

A judge will now decide which account holds. [16]

Whether a judge believes Kroger's pay plan killed its Albertsons deal.

Albertsons points to a $400 million bonus pool; Kroger says regulators would have blocked the deal anyway. [16]

US bank lending to farms, leaving out land loans, fell 25% in the third quarter. [26]

It dropped from $75.33 billion to $56.47 billion. [26]

Banks made 11.1% more loans, but each was 32.5% smaller on average. [26]

Operating loans, which pay day-to-day farm costs, fell 29.2%. [26]

Farm machinery loans now run for 29.3 months on average, down from 53.9. [26]

Farmdoc Daily, at the University of Illinois, read the figures from a US Federal Reserve survey. [26]

Interest averaged 6.77%, down from 7.11% a year ago but far above 3.26% in 2020. [26]

Farm loan interest averaged 6.77% in the third quarter, against 3.26% in 2020. [26]

31 US states have joined a federal break on farm diesel, says Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. [25]

On Thursday she asked the remaining governors to join before the harvest ends. [25]

Dyed diesel is fuel meant for off-road use, such as on farms. [25]

President Trump's 5 October order lets it be used on roads, without the federal fuel tax. [25]

That tax is 24.4 cents a gallon. [25]

The USDA expects more than $640 million in federal and state savings. [25]

The break covers farmers, ranchers and truck drivers through the harvest. [25]

They can run dyed diesel on roads without the 24.4-cent federal tax during harvest. [25]

Danone, maker of Oikos and Activia yogurts, named Francois Lacombe to run it in the US. [17]

Lacombe had turned around Danone's business in Spain. [17]

People taking weight-loss drugs have been buying its protein-rich yogurts. [17]

Danone could not make enough in the US, so it expanded plants in Texas and Ohio. [17]

The new capacity then disrupted its supply chain and hurt customer service, its finance chief said. [17]

Finance chief Juergen Esser said Danone wants 2027 to look very different. [17]

Aon, an insurance broker, and SAGE, an AI farm-risk firm, will offer field-by-field crop insurance. [24]

US federal crop insurance prices risk by the average of each county. [24]

So some farmers pay premiums that do not fit their own land and soil. [24]

SAGE judges each field from satellites, farm machine data and soil data. [24]

It will be offered on corn and soybeans in 15 states for the 2027 crop. [24]

SAGE co-founder Robert Bonnie was once a senior official at the USDA. [24]

Michigan farmers using cover crops and no-till may pay less in a 2027 pilot. [24]

Planet A Foods, a German food start-up, launched a powder to replace cocoa. [18]

It can replace all the cocoa powder in cakes, fillings, drinks and puddings, the firm says. [18]

It has 69 grams of fibre per 100 grams, against about 37 in cocoa powder. [18]

People on weight-loss drugs eat 15-20% fewer calories, the firm says. [18]

Its sunflower-seed chocolate, ChoViva, is already in more than 230 products in 12 countries. [18]

Cocoa prices soared in December 2024 and have fallen back only somewhat. [19]

Win-Win, a British rival, expects real chocolate to become a premium treat. [19]

Why a new food goes after one group of buyers first

A new food cannot beat the old one everywhere at once

So its makers pick one group of buyers where its edge is biggest

That is where the old food is dearest, hardest to copy, or least noticed

It wins there first, and only then tries to reach wider

A new food does not have to beat the old one for everybody. It has to beat it for one group of buyers today.

Two newcomers, opposite ends: one starts where beef is dearest, the other where buyers want meat cheaper.

Aleph Farms starts with sirloin, where plant copies struggle and a high price is already normal.

Mottainai goes the other way: it replaces half the chicken in a dish to cut the cost by 18%.

It targets cakes, fillings and drinks, where cocoa is hidden, and people on weight-loss drugs who want more fibre.

Its boss expects real chocolate to become a luxury and wants everything else.

A slice can stay a slice. If the cost never comes down, the new food stays a small, premium extra.

Most shoppers never see this choice being made. The makers decide which buyers come first, and everyone else meets the product years later, at a lower price, if it lasts.

Cocoa prices that have fallen back only somewhat send food firms looking for cheaper powders. [18][19]

How much of the world's cocoa comes from West Africa.

Planet A says Ghana and Ivory Coast grow about 60%; Win-Win's boss says two West African countries grow 75%. The two firms give different figures. [18][19]

The Bezos Earth Fund gave Aleph Farms and Mottainai Food Tech S$1 million each. [23]

Aleph Farms, from Israel, grows beef from animal cells instead of raising whole cattle. [23]

It will start with costly cuts like sirloin, where plant-based copies struggle. [23]

Aleph is cleared in Singapore and plans restaurant launches in the first half of 2027. [23]

Mottainai, from Singapore, ferments okara, the soy pulp left from making tofu. [23]

Replacing half the chicken or pork with it cuts the cost by 18%, the firm says. [23]

Both firms now face the same test: making it at a price buyers will pay. [23]

Aleph Farms starts with sirloin, where plant copies struggle and a high price is already normal.

Royal Canin, Mars's pet food maker, and its wheat supplier Roquette will share farm costs. [21]

The money helps farmers switch to regenerative farming, which aims to rebuild the soil. [21]

The switch needs money up front for new machines and cover crops. [21]

Farmers usually pay that themselves, or join one company's scheme. [21]

The plan covers more than 60 farms and 4,700 hectares of wheat in France. [21]

Soil Capital, a farm data firm, will measure and check the results for both companies. [21]

Farmers get 70% of the carbon credits the changes earn. [21]

Both firms want other buyers to copy the model. [21]

On more than 60 French wheat farms, farmers will keep 70% of the carbon credits their new methods earn, with two buyers sharing the cost of the switch.

Nestle, the world's biggest consumer goods firm, will measure wildlife on farms in Europe. [20]

It is working with BirdLife Europe on a project lasting 3.5 years. [20]

Europe's farmland birds fell by 58% between 1980 and 2024, a Europe-wide bird count found. [20]

Intensive farming is cited as the main cause. [20]

Bird numbers are used because they follow changes in insects and the wider land. [20]

The project will test whether regenerative methods actually help wildlife. [20]