Firms from China operating farms stateside (U.S.) are growing circumspect amid ongoing solar exodus over foreign land ownership regulations. Fox Baltimore reported on July 17, 2025 that Utah’s governor Spencer Cox pointedly tracked a land sale blockage by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China. Spencer’s comments echo oriental land ownership trends in a 2023 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture...
A shrimp and mackerel monsoon bridges demand in Kerala, India
High demand for shrimp in Kerala, southwest India has coincided with a bountiful fishing monsoon in 2025. Despite increasing catches, the season is still young and is favoring solid pricing of pelagic fish, including mackerel. According to the Kerala Kaumudi on July 17, 2025, the shrimp-rich Chellanam harbor near the capital, Kochi, teems with fishers. Following a purse seine ban, costs of...
Chianti wineries from Italy target South America, Asia & Africa over tariffs
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...
Sugar subsidy amid price crisis earns Pakistan IMF rebuff
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...
Tomatoes from Mexico get 17.09% tariffs -and a price tag
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...
Mooigezicht Estates “optimistic regarding the production of seedless table grapes in South Africa”
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...
Lake trout on the rebound in Seneca, NY, after restocking
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...
Potato yields in Egypt up 15%, taming prices & spurring exports
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...
Bred calves, Mexico border closure push U.S.’ cattle values except beef
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...
Rice and Risotto in Italy impacted by flamingos
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...