Arabica coffee futures in New York on early April 23, 2025 rose to a 2 1/2-week high adrift a strengthening Brazil’s currency. Nasdaq reports that Arabica beans for May and July deliveries notched 2.96% and 3.22% respectively on the 23rd in daily advances. Meanwhile, Robusta at the International Coffee Exchange (ICE) futures benchmark retreated because it does not depend on Brazil’s currency. ...
Tuna canneries in American Samoa hail reopening of protected Pacific fisheries
An Executive Order by the U.S. President Donald Trump on April 17, 2025 to reopen protected Pacific fisheries is drawing mixed takes. However, for canneries that process the well-priced tuna in American Samoa, the order comes as a windfall. The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument last allowed fishing within 50 miles of its waters before 2009. In 2009, President George W....
Sugar taxes in Kenya, Pakistan could elevate retail pricing
New taxes on sugar in Kenya and Pakistan for generating developmental and governmental revenue, respectively, might strengthen retail pricing. In Pakistan, the governmental retail price was at 164 rupees ($0.60) a kg in March 2025, up 13% year-on-year. As of mid-April 2025, Kenya’s ex-factory sugar sold at 107 shillings ($0.82) a kg while retail hugged 134 shillings ($1.03). Both countries now expect the rates...
Tomato prices in the U.S. could hike when Mexico pact ends
A 2019 U.S.-Mexico agreement to suspend investigations on tomato dumping is ending July 14, 2025, rendering market prices uncertain. The U.S. Department of Commerce has decided not to renew the pact and instead slap imports a 20.9% duty. Since Mexico provides 70% of tomatoes in the U.S.’ market cheaply, the termination could raise prices this summer. The expiring Tomato Suspension Agreement [TSA] goes back to...
Spain confronts olive groves’ takeover by solar
Farmers in the southwestern Spain olive heartland of Andalusia are denouncing plans to install eight solar power projects here. This is happening at a time when olive oil rates are back to earth after experiencing highs through 2024. But keen to reap the 3,000 sunlight hours that this Mediterranean area receives yearly, industrialists could cost the region’s olive sector millions of euro. Olive oil...
The Punjab cotton redemption plan targets 28,000 more hectares
The government of Indian Punjab is revamping cotton cultivation to at least half the acreage it once boasted before 2019. This at a time when India’s cotton prices to the major market of the United States are low amid uptick exports. According to Punjab’s agriculture minister Gurmet Singh Khudian on April 19, 2025, the 2025-26 target is 125,000 hectares (ha). Currently, the cotton...
The Trial of a Superchemical: Inside Bayer’s Billion-Dollar Battle Over the Soul of Modern Farming
On a quiet morning in March 2025, a jury in Georgia delivered a thunderclap verdict: $2.1 billion in damages against Bayer AG, the German pharmaceutical and agrochemical giant, over claims that its flagship weedkiller, Roundup, had caused cancer in a longtime user. It wasn’t the first verdict. It likely won’t be the last. But it felt different — not only...
Coffee value addition in Ethiopia gaining via foreign investments
As Ethiopia navigates a possible 10% tariff by its biggest coffee market, the United States, value addition in the country is improving. According to the Ethiopian Herald, foreign investors have pooled $10 million since 2022 towards export value addition. The investments could expand the marginal export share of value added coffee, currently at 1% of the total. It all starts with...
Easter eggs in the United States too pricey for rite of spring
A drop in wholesale prices has not stopped eggs to remain expensive at American grocers, downsizing Easter rites. Holiday weekend demand could keep retail rates at $6.23 for a large dozen and spoil seasonal fun. One fun tradition is “dye Easter eggs,”where folks use natural ingredients or food grade chemicals to color hard-boiled eggs. A survey reveals that 94% of families will continue the...
Salmon fisheries in California reopen for recreational harvest only
California has reopened its lucrative salmon fisheries after a 36-month hiatus but kept commercial fisheries shut. The state’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife (CDFW) on April 15, 2025 outlined limited openings for the sporting harvest. This limitation follows recommendations by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) that ocean stock are still recovering from adverse climate. Similar suggestions led to the belated 2025 start of...