FAO's State of the World's Forests 2026 calls forest and landscape restoration a cost-effective answer to hunger, climate and biodiversity loss, but says only 206.5 million hectares are under restoration today.
EnvironmentThe International Transport Forum warns that record-low water on the Rhine, Danube, Loire and Po is crippling inland shipping, a route that carries grain and fertiliser and 92 percent of US farm exports by river.
HealthWith rabies still endemic in parts of South Africa and dogs behind most human infections, FOUR PAWS and veterinarians used World Rabies Day on 28 September to call for dog vaccination and warn of the risk to cattle.
EnvironmentA Nature Cities study led from Oxford finds coal supplied about 76 percent of India's electricity as demand quadrupled in 2000-2020, and estimated urban PM2.5 deaths rose from 0.67 million to 0.87 million.
EnvironmentThe UN General Assembly declaration, adopted on 24 September, affirms that nations do not lose statehood if rising seas submerge their land, and calls for early warning, coastal protection and adaptation finance.
OrganicRed River Métis rancher Tyler Lee of Mossy Rock Cattle Company near Amaranth, Manitoba, moved to zero-till and legume-based regenerative practices in 2019; a hay field that once gave six bales produced about 190 last year.
CropsManitoba Agriculture's Kim Brown urges farmers to pull and bag waterhemp before harvest, since one plant averages 250,000 seeds and combines carry them across fields; local populations already resist three herbicide groups.
HealthThe FDA reported about 1,500 food recalls last year and about 950 through mid-September, yet a cyclospora outbreak traced to lettuce from Mexico sickened people in more than 20 states.
CropsEarly harvest reports in Maryland and Pennsylvania show corn yields of 180 to 220 bushels an acre, better than many growers expected after spring and summer rainfall ran at about half of normal.
CropsUSDA NASS put 1 September hop stocks at 105 million pounds, down from 116 million a year earlier and 136 million in 2024, with growers and dealers holding 86 million and brewers 19 million.
CropsPlains Cotton Growers met about 26 lawmakers and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to push for a completed farm bill, emergency help and drought assistance as low margins squeeze producers.
Market ManagementUSDA's Economic Research Service forecasts all food prices up 2.9 percent in 2026, grocery prices up 2.4 percent and restaurant prices up 3.5 percent, with beef, fresh vegetables and seafood rising faster and eggs falling sharply.
AgrotechValeouro Biotec and startup Symbiomics will co-develop biological crop inputs from genetically reprogrammed microbes, starting with a biofungicide for soybeans, corn, cotton and sugarcane; a new biofactory is due around 2029.
