The August 1 global tariffs deadline by the United States has prompted Italy’s classic Chianti wineries try to carve out elsewhere. According to Aska News Italia on July 16, 2025, Consorzio Vino Chianti from Tuscany in west-central Italy intends to explore new markets.  The consortium says it won’t indulge in self-pity. This was in reference to the U.S. as Italy’s biggest wine...

Pakistan has set ex-mill sugar prices at 165 rupees ($0.58)/kg, amid tiff with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over import subsidy.  The IMF rejects the 55-rupee ($0.19)-per-kg import subsidy proposal for foreign sugar procurements at 249 rupees ($0.87)/kg.  According to the international body, slashing the import rate benefits only large industrial sugar consumers but not households.  Regarding which, families in mainly Islamabad are...

The United States on July 14, 2025 set 17.09% duty on select fresh tomatoes from Mexico, risking a pricing time bomb.  In the announcement, the Secretary of Commerce Goward Lutnick backed President Trump’s aim to end “unfair trade practices that undercut pricing.”  The decision follows a round of unsuccessful talks between the two sides, including shuffle diplomacy by Mexico.  Diplomacy...

On June 12, 2025, Francois Rossouw Jr. won the 2025 Agri Western Cape Santam Young Farmer of the Year award. The win evokes his remarkable management of table grape production on the 310-hectare family-run Mooigezicht Estates in Hex River Valley, South Africa. This at a time when seedless grapes, some of which the farm produces, lead South Africa’s table grape acreage.  The expertise...

Years of low trout catches in Seneca Lake, the crown jewel of upstate New York’s  Finger Lakes region are over, following restocking. This is barely three months after the larger state’s spring trout angling season began with up to 1.9 million fish reserves. But it is at the Finger Lakes area that current fishing fun seems to have lingered into summer. According...

Egypt is recording decent potato exports and cheaper domestic prices after per-hectare yields rebounded by 15% through 2025. The Minister of Agriculture & Land Reclamation Dr. Alaa Farouk linked the increases to changing weather and modern cultivation. This statement was from an interview quoted by El Watan News on July 13, 2025. During the interview with Lama Gabrial on the Extra News program, Dr. Farouk cited...

Live cattle futures in the United States surged on July 10, 2025 after the re-closure of the Mexico border over screwworm. Also up were the rates of choice bred Angus calves in opposition to backing down beef prices in the U.S. Concerning Angus markets, values for choice newly born calves with grain-fed sires have reportedly inflated to $1,000 per head. According to...

Grain growers in northern Italy’s Ferrara province are battling flamingos that are wading flooded paddies and trampling germinating risotto-making rice. According to the Associated Press on July 10, 2025, this province between Venice and Ravenna in northeast-central Italy is keeping night vigils. Farmer Enrico Fabbri recounted how some of his paddies suffered 90% losses from the heedless trampling by the birds. The...

The U.S.’ Ag secretary Brooke Rollins has again passed advisory against cattle crossings from Mexico over fresh screwworm larvae cases. This is happening just a few days after a two-month closure of cattle shipments from Mexico beginning May 11 ended on July 7, 2025. The Agriculture Secretary on July 9 announced the fresh closure after a herd newly turned positive...

On June 7, 2025, the U.S.’ President Donald Trump confirmed the August 1 tariff deadline for imports from South Africa, including for well-performing wine.   SA was one of 21 nations that got new tariff letters from the White House between July 7 and 9. Select other recipients included the Philippines, Brunei, Algeria, Libya, Iraq, Japan, South Korea and Sri Lanka....