Sourced from the world’s end, the expensive Chilean sea bass could get dearer after a federal judge backed a 2022 import ban.  Judge David Leibowitz of Florida on April 1, 2025 ruled against Southern Cross Seafoods from Texas which had lodged the anti-ban case in 2022.   The United States banned all shipments from a sustainable region near Chile following refusal by...

The European Union (EU) confirmed on March 28, 2025 that farm imports emanating from Ukraine will reduce from June 2025. Christophe Hansen, the EU’s agriculture commissioner, told AFP of significant agricultural import cuts when Ukraine renegotiates an expiring free trade deal. This is in reference to a temporary free trade deal drafted in 2022 at the dawn of war with Russia. A...

The peak harvest of Ojai Valley pixies in southern California is back, a time when the petite fruits paint groves orange.  For 2025, production by keynote growers is up while inns that stock specialty goodies are theming Lent offers with pixies.  Family producer supporter, Melissa’s Produce cites a bigger harvest than 2024’s of smaller fruits with a Brix of 18º. Guarding...

Gunning towards self-sufficiency, India is currently procuring Rabi (spring) crops directly from farmers at the Minimum Support Price or MSP.  A brief by the Union Minister of Agriculture Shivraj S. Chouhan on March 27, 2025 cited 100% purchases for certain legumes. These include masoor, urad and tur (pigeon peas) under this generous pricing plan.   The purchases extend a plan that the...

Trout angling in New York starts April 1, 2025 with largesse after the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) stocked interior waters with nearly 1.9 million fish.  The department cites a current brook, rainbow and brown trout stock of 1,873,980 across thousands of streams, ponds and lakes. Levels could augment in the coming three months as the DEC continuously stocks public...

Steady shipments with neither oversupply nor undersupply define 2025’s citrus campaign in South Africa, forecasts the Citrus Growers of Southern Africa (CGA). Growth in navel and Valencia orange volumes will buoy exports despite a 5% yearly retraction in lemons, the industry forecasts.  According to the CGA chairman Gerrit van der Merwe, the volume break even will enable the sector meet...

Despite a looming export ban of live sheep by sea and an upcoming anti-ban protest, Australia is predicting surging shipments.  The Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) predicted in mid-March 2025 of a 25% increase in yearly shipments for 2025 over 2024’s. MLA expects shipments to hit 542,000 head in 2025 and then 550,000 in 2026, up from 433,078 head in...

Morocco has extended an expiring wheat import subsidy program to end 2025 to help overcome drought-related domestic shortage.  The Maghreb nation’s National Interprofessional Office for Cereals and Legumes (ONICL) on March 18 stretched the current subsidies till December 31, 2025.  Although the country expects a harvest comeback later in the year, the grain crop failure in 2024 is still pertinent. 2024’s barley...

A recent price gallop to $0.20 a pound could not prevent sugar in its raw form from sliding -2.08% on March 24, 2025. Production revamp estimates in parts of Brazil and a strong dollar are behind this latest slide in New York.  After hugging $0.20 beginning March 17, the unrefined sweetener or sugar #11 fell to $0.19 a pound on the 24th. Also in...

Raw beans of cocoa rebounded March 24, 2025 but are still dragging inside $8,000 per tonne as price-related demand ebbs.  Since the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) announced a long forthcoming annual surplus of 142,000 tonnes in February 2025, trade has turned bearish. On the 24th however, some contracts in New York and London sharply resurged by over 4% on slowing exports from Ivory Coast. Intraday...