Today's Agriculture Pulse
Corn‑based biopolymer ‘plantymer’ promises sustainable plastic alternative
Scientists from China and the Netherlands have created a corn‑protein biopolymer called “plantymer” using a spider‑silk‑inspired process. The material, derived from the protein zein, offers silk‑like rigidity and strong moisture and oxygen barriers, and it degrades up to 80% within a month in simulated soil.
Also developing:
Robotic Security Dogs Now on the Job to Protect Crops
Bayer has rolled out Asylon’s DroneDog robotic security dogs across its 8,000‑acre Hawaiian operations, supplementing human patrols with AI‑driven surveillance. The autonomous units carry thermal and electro‑optical cameras with 20× zoom, cloud‑linked AI classifiers, and a rapid‑recharge DogHouse. Real‑time video streams feed Bayer’s on‑site and remote security centers, allowing instant threat assessment and response. Early results have prompted expansion to additional Bayer sites in Hawaii and California, citing improved monitoring, lower costs, and reduced environmental impact.
Food Waste Began to Decline 4 Years After the Pandemic, Refed Finds
The Refed U.S. Food Waste Report shows surplus food generation fell 2.2% in 2024 to about 70 million tons, ending a post‑pandemic rise. Residential waste contributed a 950,000‑ton reduction, translating to a 3.7% drop in per‑capita waste. Funding for waste‑reduction solutions grew...
"This Is a Practical Solution to a Big Pain Point in Many Vertical Farms"
SpectraGrow and Harvest Today unveiled the SLIM Lift System, a retractable LED lighting solution for high‑density vertical farms. The motorized lift retracts linear LED bars to the ceiling, clearing space for planting, harvesting and maintenance, and can support up to...
Malaysia: Hydroponics Helps to Sustain Vegetables Amidst Hot Spell
A hydroponic farming initiative in Padang Raja, Malaysia, installed tube wells costing about RM2,000 (≈$440) to secure water during the current hot spell. The system delivers a continuous 24‑hour water flow, allowing mini cucumbers to mature in just three weeks...
USDA Freezes Vertical Farming Loans over Soaring Defaults
The USDA’s Rural Business‑Cooperative Service has extended its freeze on federal loan guarantees for vertical farms and other controlled environment agriculture (CEA) projects through Dec. 31, 2026. A portfolio review showed 40% of CEA loans are delinquent, prompting concerns over underwriting quality...
Laying the Groundwork for an India-Sweden Medicinal Plant Collaboration
A March meeting at Christ University in Bengaluru brought together Indian academic and agricultural stakeholders with Sweden’s Swedish Herbal Institute (SHI) to launch a collaborative effort on medicinal‑plant cultivation. The partnership will train Indian farmers in Good Agricultural and Collection...
The DIY Soil Mixture For A Better Berry Harvest
Home gardeners can boost berry yields by mixing equal parts peat moss, composted cow manure, and pine bark mulch. This DIY blend balances water retention, drainage, nutrients, and acidity, creating ideal conditions for shallow‑rooted berries like blueberries and strawberries. After...
Can Africa Avoid Asia's Palm Oil Pitfalls?
African nations are seeking to slash palm‑oil imports—about half of current consumption—by expanding domestic production. Smallholders, who grow roughly 70% of the continent’s oil palm, average six tonnes per hectare, far below the 20‑plus tonnes achieved on Asian commercial estates....
U.S. Progress on Drone Spraying Offers a Roadmap for Canada
In this episode, Amber Bell interviews Dr. Steve Lee of Auburn University about recent U.S. research on drone pesticide application. Key findings include that flying drones just five feet higher and using 200‑micron droplets instead of 300‑micron can cut downwind...
How a UNILAG Student Won Red Bull Basement with a Livestock Tracker that Detects Illness Early
Jesutofunmi Oniyide, a final‑year Mechatronics student at UNILAG, won the Red Bull Basement Nigeria 2024 competition out of more than 3,000 entrants with his Vital‑Tag, an IoT collar that monitors livestock temperature, heart rate, and jaw movement. The device transmits...
Greenhouse Modernization and Emission Reduction in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan’s Turkestan region, which supplies 72% of the nation’s greenhouse vegetables, is shifting away from coal heating toward cleaner energy and air‑filtration systems. The area hosts 3,366 greenhouse units across 1,006.7 ha, with 1,223 units (551.8 ha) still coal‑fired. Filtration upgrades cost...
Nunhems Invests €40 Million in Next Generation Seed Processing facilitieS
BASF’s vegetable‑seed division, Nunhems, announced a €40 million (≈$44 million) investment to modernize and expand its seed‑processing hub in Nunhem, the Netherlands. Construction will start in Q2 2026 and finish by the end of 2028, adding roughly 6,000 m² to the existing 20,000 m² footprint....
Drought Engulfs 60% Of U.S. As Farmers Begin Spring Planting
A NOAA report shows that 60% of the contiguous United States is in drought as the 2026 growing season begins. The southern belt faces severe to exceptional dryness, threatening sugarcane, rice, peanuts and fruit trees, while the Great Plains wheat...
Nestlé Partners with Soil Capital for Four-Year European Regenerative Agriculture Initiative
Nestlé has signed a four‑year agreement with Soil Capital to roll out regenerative agriculture practices across France, Belgium and the United Kingdom. The program will reach roughly 230 farmers managing about 13,000 ha of wheat, corn, barley and sugar beet. Soil...
DMEGC Solar Launches Enhanced Greenhouse Module Range with G12RT Cell Technology
DMEGC Solar, a Tier 1 solar module maker, unveiled its new Greenhouse module line built on G12RT cell technology, replacing the earlier M10RT platform. The G12RT series delivers a wide transparency range of 2 % to 50 %, letting growers balance crop lighting...
Gotham Greens Names Craig Stevenson as New CEO, Founder Viraj Puri Becomes Executive Chairman
Gotham Greens announced a leadership overhaul as founder Viraj Puri shifts from CEO to Executive Chairman and veteran Craig Stevenson assumes the chief executive role. Stevenson arrives from Lundberg Family Farms and brings senior CPG experience from Procter & Gamble,...
Maize Prices Crash Below MSP in Telangana; Farmers Want State Govt to Procure Produce
Maize prices in Telangana have fallen to ₹1,600‑₹1,800 per quintal, well under the government‑set minimum support price (MSP) of ₹2,400. Farmers allege a loss of roughly ₹641 per quintal and are demanding that the state open procurement centres to buy...
Across Africa, Farmers Are Adopting Regenerative Agricultural Practices that Support Food Sovereignty Amid Global Instability
Geopolitical tensions have driven up fertilizer costs, prompting African farmers to seek alternatives that bolster food sovereignty. Across Kenya, Burkina Faso and Mali, family producers are adopting regenerative agriculture, especially green‑manure cover crops, to restore soil health and cut input expenses....
How "Medium Rare" Nodules Feed Nitrogen Success | Soybean School
In this Soybean School episode, Bernard Toble visits Snowglin Farms to discuss soybean inoculation with Lallemont Plant Care experts Nikki Burnett and Joe Vink. They explain why inoculants—living rhizobia microbes—are essential for nitrogen fixation, especially in new or stressed fields,...
Is Coffee Ready for the EUDR?
The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) will take effect on 30 December 2026, forcing coffee exporters to prove that their beans are free of recent deforestation. Over the past two years, the sector has accelerated geo‑referencing, farm mapping and traceability investments, with Rainforest...
Robots Harvest 2000 Broccoli per Hour, Human‑Free
These #Robots Harvest 2000 Broccolis an Hour—No Humans Needed by @lukas_m_ziegler #AgriTech #TechForGood #Innovation #Tech #Technology https://t.co/4phAABcjoc
Europe Is on the Cusp of Approving Gene Editing of Crops. Many Other Countries May Follow Soon.
European Parliament is set to vote in spring 2024 on allowing gene‑edited crops in the EU, ending three decades of stringent opposition to crop biotechnology. Industry leaders, such as Cibus CEO Peter Beetham, say regulators now view the technology’s risks...
Australia Secures Fertiliser From Indonesia to Meet Crop Needs
Australia will buy 250,000 tonnes of urea from Indonesia’s Pupuk Indonesia Holding, covering about 20% of its winter‑crop fertilizer shortfall caused by the war‑driven disruption of shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. The deal, facilitated by both governments, is aimed at...
Agrovoltaic Systems Can Save Water, Generating Energy and Making Tomato Cultivation More Sustainable at the Same Time
Researchers from the University of Seville and the Polytechnic University of Madrid demonstrated that tomatoes can be cultivated under photovoltaic panels while generating solar power, creating a dual‑use agrovoltaic system. By pairing regulated deficit irrigation with the shade of solar...
Experts Train on New World Screwworm Identification and Response
The Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology held an important training workshop focused on New World Screwworm identification and response. Experts from @OklahomaAg and @USDA_ARS shared valuable insights surrounding this serious issue to help keep us informed and prepared. https://t.co/6eSJgrmDbx
Will ‘Product of the USA’ Give Cattle Ranchers a Boost?
On National Agriculture Day, USDA announced a revamped “Product of the USA” label that now requires meat, poultry and egg products to be raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States. The change comes as U.S. cattle herds hit a...
Gene Discovery Opens New Path for Disease-Resistant Rice Breeding
Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and partner universities have cloned a broad‑spectrum bacterial blight resistance gene, Xa48, in the indica rice variety Shuangkezao. Xa48 encodes an NLR immune receptor that directly detects the XopG effector, triggering degradation of...
Patagonia & Rodale Institute to Transition an Entire California County to Regenerative Agriculture
Patagonia’s Holdfast Collective is committing $1.55 million to the Rodale Institute’s Regenerate Ventura program, targeting a county‑wide shift to regenerative agriculture in Ventura County, California. The initiative already has 10,000 acres and 57 farms in the pipeline, with roughly 40% owned...
Planting Green Into Cover Crops Is Cutting Input Costs for Central Illinois Farmer
Central Illinois farmer Derek Martin has embraced “planting green,” sowing cereal rye into standing cover crops before planting corn or soybeans. The practice lets him reduce seed‑treatment, fertilizer and weed‑control chemical purchases while improving soil health. By increasing rye biomass...
Fuel, Fertiliser, Freight – What the F Is Going On?
The Rural Press Club of Queensland is hosting a lunch on May 1, 2026 to examine severe disruptions in fuel, fertiliser and freight supply chains caused by the Middle East conflict, the Russia‑Ukraine war, and a fire at one of...
Brazil Soy Demand for Biodiesel May Rise by 72pc
Brazil's soybean demand for biodiesel could surge 72% to 74 million tonnes by 2035, driven by a planned increase in the biodiesel blending mandate from 15% to 24%. The soybean oil share of biodiesel feedstock, about 70%, would push oil demand...
Caterpillar Acquires Monarch Tractor Assets After CEO’s Software Pivot Fails
Caterpillar completed the purchase of Monarch Tractor’s assets after the California startup’s attempt to pivot to a software‑licensing model fell apart. The deal, announced in April, comes with no disclosed price but follows a series of layoffs, lawsuits and the...
AgriFood Signals: Nestlé & Soil Capital Regen Partnership, Unilever Buys Grüns, John Deere Lawsuit
Nestlé announced a partnership with Soil Capital to embed regenerative farming practices across its European sourcing, while Unilever acquired U.S. greens‑supplement brand Grüns to broaden its wellness portfolio. In a separate legal development, John Deere settled a right‑to‑repair lawsuit for...
Hershey Leans on Cocoa Sourcing Resilience to Blunt Price Shocks
Hershey is bolstering its cocoa supply chain by diversifying origins beyond the Ivory Coast and Ghana to include Ecuador and Brazil, while using sophisticated hedging tools to lock in prices. The company couples these financial safeguards with farmer‑focused programs like...
Initiative Aims to Update Farming Data Landscape
Thailand’s National Statistical Office, together with the Ministry of Agriculture, has launched the One Data initiative to unify the country’s fragmented agricultural statistics. The project will integrate data from twelve agencies into a single, standardised platform, beginning with a focus...
Behind Klim’s New Tool to Turn Regenerative Agriculture Into a Financial Instrument
Klim has launched a financial modeling platform that translates regenerative agriculture practices into concrete profit‑and‑loss impacts for agrifood companies. The tool builds discounted cash‑flow scenarios to compare enterprise value with and without regenerative interventions, covering revenue, cost, risk and regulatory...
Early Corn Hybrids Avoid Late‑season Losses and Delays
I was asked how much yield we give up with early 🌽 hybrids. This is why we do it. I don’t like harvest past mid-October it gets cold and wet and I start making more compaction… and the...
Mars Steps up Push for Net Zero Cocoa at Scale
Mars, Inc. has teamed with ingredients supplier ofi on a five‑year net‑zero cocoa program in Ecuador, targeting climate‑smart regenerative farming across key growing regions. Phase one will transition more than 960 farmers and 9,000 hectares from monoculture to multistrata agroforestry,...
Fieldwork Robotics Signs Collaboration Agreement with Dynium
Fieldwork Robotics has entered a collaboration agreement with UK‑based Dynium, a maker of autonomous polytunnel vehicles. The deal lets Fieldwork mount its modular harvesting robots on Dynium’s high‑torque e‑hub platforms, expanding terrain capability and payload. Growers gain more navigation options,...
Minimal N+S Boosts Wheat Yield via Residue Cycling
Our relay wheat is greener than our solid wheat we have as a 💩 mngmt safety plan (in case we can’t make it till late fall. I break down how we intentionally break down 🌽 residue to nutrient cycle it. ...
Cultivated Meat Now Has a Naming Problem
The EU will prohibit cultivated and plant‑based products from using traditional meat terms such as beef, chicken, pork or steak, limiting them to generic descriptors like burger, sausage and nuggets after a three‑year transition. Aleph Farms, a leading cell‑based meat...
Rethinking Wild Oat Control as Herbicide Resistance Climbs | Wheat School
In this Wheat School episode, agronomist Troy Basaraba discusses the escalating problem of herbicide‑resistant wild oats in wheat, noting that roughly 75% of Manitoba fields now show resistance to one or more herbicide groups. He explains that resistance arises from...
Agrivoltaics Maintain or Enhance Forage Quality, Study Finds
University of Minnesota researchers evaluated grasses and legumes grown under two agrivoltaic solar arrays and a control pasture to assess biomass and nutritional value for dairy cattle. The 30 kW site produced near‑control yields (8,968 kg/ha) while the 50 kW site yielded less...
India Advances Regenerative Cotton Adoption as Industry Seeks Traceability
India is accelerating regenerative cotton adoption, with roughly 5,000 smallholder farmers in Maharashtra now certified under the Regenerative Cotton Standard. The certification provides end‑to‑end traceability, meeting growing demands from international fashion brands for transparent, sustainable sourcing. Independent audits report strong...
Lack of Land Casts Doubt on Govt’s Sugarcane Plantation Mandate
Indonesia’s agriculture ministry announced a mandate requiring sugar refiners that rely on imported raw sugar to establish domestic sugarcane plantations. The move aims to narrow the gap between the country’s 6.7 million‑tonne annual demand and the 2.67 million tonnes currently produced, a...
Jon Trask on How Dimitra Is Bridging the Gap Between AI and Smallholder Farming
Jon Trask, CEO of Dimitra, says the company’s mobile‑first platform, AI engine, and blockchain tools are delivering plot‑level agronomic advice to smallholder farms across Africa, Latin America and Asia. The solution works offline and leverages cooperative‑led “digital champions” to onboard...
US Patent for Solar Foods’ Air-Based Protein Production Opens Door for Scaling
Solar Foods has obtained a U.S. patent covering its proprietary gas‑fermentation process that converts carbon dioxide, hydrogen and water into the animal‑free protein Solein. The protection strengthens the Finnish firm’s IP moat as it moves from a pilot plant to...
Smarter, Integrated Pest Management of Canola with Boyd Mori | Pests & Predators, Ep 35
In this episode, Dr. Boyd Morey of the University of Alberta discusses integrated pest management (IPM) for canola, focusing on the role of seed treatments, foliar insecticides, and natural predators such as ground beetles and spiders. He highlights recent research...
Fendt Brings Low-RPM Efficiency and Operator Simplicity to 500 Vario Gen4 Tractors
In this episode, Bernard Tobin chats with Blake Bullinger at the Commodity Classic about Fendt's new 500 Vario Gen4 tractors, which feature the Agco PowerCore 5.0 engine delivering 134–174 hp and a low‑RPM (≈1,400 rpm) high‑torque concept. The tractors use Fendt’s VarioDrive...
Caterpillar Acquires Monarch Tractor, Adding $251M VC‑Backed AI Platform to Its Portfolio
Caterpillar Inc. announced the acquisition of Monarch Tractor, a California startup that raised roughly $251 million to develop electric and autonomous off‑road vehicles. The deal, disclosed in mid‑April, gives the heavy‑equipment maker access to Monarch’s MK‑V “data platform on wheels” without...