Agriculture, Food & Beverage

Kankakee – November 04, 2026 -- Kensing, LLC has developed a prototype light cream cheese in which its sunflower-derived Sunvasterol EST makes up 6.7% of the formulation, with one 25 g serving delivering about 1 g of plant sterols. The company will let visitors taste the product at Fi Europe, held November 17-19 in Frankfurt at booth #30H38.

Two daily servings reach the sterol intake range tied to a 7-10% LDL cut

Two servings a day provide 1.5-2.4 g of plant sterols, the intake range Kensing associates with a 7-10% reduction in LDL cholesterol over two to three weeks. EFSA-approved health claims for plant sterols apply at daily intakes of 1.5-3.0 g.

Boise, Idaho – November 04, 2026 -- NNB Nutrition spent three years and $2.5 million developing the patented stevia Reb M9 now anchoring its SweetVantage sweetener blend, one of several launches the company showed at SupplySide Global 2026 in Las Vegas on October 28-30.

At Booth #5952 at Mandalay Bay, the company met formulators, brand owners and media across four areas: natural sweeteners, dipeptide performance ingredients, ultra-pure creatine and fermentation-derived actives. Dustin Elliott, Chief Brand Officer of NNB Nutrition USA, said more brands are entering functional food and want "low-dose, high-potency" ingredients alongside clean labels.

BEIJING – November 05, 2026 -- Kuqa City Bostan Walnut Professional Cooperative in China's Xinjiang region buys 7,000 to 8,000 metric tons of dried walnuts a year and serves around 30,000 farming households, while it opens talks with overseas clients on exports, according to China Daily.

Cooperative sources from 2,800 growers in one township

Akwusitang township holds 1,600 hectares of walnut orchards and yields more than 10,000 tons of dried walnuts. Kuqa as a whole has more than 20,000 hectares of orchards. The cooperative's purchasing scope now covers surrounding townships, and it serves more than 2,800 local growers in Akwusitang alone.

SEOUL – November 04, 2026 -- CJ BIO will launch NewtriSolution, a web-based animal nutrition consulting platform that bundles five tools across feed design, profitability and analysis, at EuroTier 2026. The platform targets raw-material variability, price volatility and tightening environmental requirements.

NewtriSolution links ingredient evaluation, feed formulation, precision nutrition and profitability assessment. CJ BIO says it lets customers look beyond least-cost formulation and weigh ingredient value, animal performance, environmental impact and economic outcomes together.

FeedXplorer and REQ cover formulation, carbon footprint and pig amino acid needs

FeedXplorer pairs a Least Cost Simulator for cost-effective formulations with a Carbon Emission Simulator. The simulator estimates ingredient-related carbon footprints from origin and transportation data.

West Lafayette – November 03, 2026 -- The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer rose to 126 in October from 123 in September, as the Index of Current Conditions gained 16 points and the Farm Capital Investment Index climbed from 39 to 55, its strongest reading in nearly a year.

The Index of Future Expectations fell 2 points, with high input costs remaining producers' biggest concern. The survey of 400 U.S. farmers ran Oct. 12-16.

Farm financial and investment indexes improve, but large purchases stay on hold

The Farm Financial Performance Index rose from 90 to 94. Only 20% of respondents said now is a good time to invest in machinery and buildings, so most producers still hesitate on large outlays.

The improvement coincided with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's distribution of Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage payments. The survey did not ask respondents about the effect of those payments.

San Francisco – November 03, 2026 -- Seso, which describes itself as the largest H-2A agency in the U.S. based on Department of Labor data, has relaunched its agricultural workforce platform with a suite of AI features that automate hiring, onboarding, payroll and H-2A compliance paperwork for farm employers.

Seso also says it operates one of the largest payroll platforms for U.S. agriculture. The new tools run on the same system customers already use for visa operations, onboarding and payroll.

Rootly assistant answers workforce queries and edits records after approval

The centerpiece is Rootly, an AI assistant that answers questions about an employer's workers, contracts and compliance status, drawing on that employer's records and linking to the underlying records or regulations. It can explain H-2A, I-9 and E-Verify requirements, pull reports or exports, and draft workflows from a short description.

Berlin – November 03, 2026 -- German livestock farming emits 1.18 million tonnes of methane a year, the second-highest total in European animal husbandry, according to an analysis by Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), the University of Oxford and the Changing Markets Foundation. Germany also ranks third in Europe for ammonia emissions, at 443,800 tonnes.

Weser-Ems emits more than twice the ammonia of Schleswig-Holstein

The study looks at methane and ammonia together to locate regions where both burdens overlap. Weser-Ems in Lower Saxony is the key German hotspot. The region emits 74,600 tonnes of agricultural ammonia a year, against 34,190 tonnes in Schleswig-Holstein.

Livestock methane in Weser-Ems reaches 149,170 tonnes, roughly half as much again as in Schleswig-Holstein (102,490 tonnes), the region with Germany's second-highest output. Cattle account for about 84 percent of Weser-Ems methane emissions.

WIESBADEN – November 03, 2026 -- German dietary supplement production reached a record 241,000 tonnes in 2025, up 48.4% from 162,000 tonnes in 2019, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

Output rose 1.6% from roughly 237,000 tonnes in 2024.

Production value climbs 12.6% to above EUR 2.08 billion

The value of supplements produced rose from about EUR 1.85 billion in 2024 to just over EUR 2.08 billion in 2025, a 12.6% increase. Value growth outpaced volume growth of 1.6% over the same period. Against 2019, production value more than doubled, up 137.6%.

Number of producers rises to 72, up from 52 in 2019

A record 72 companies manufactured supplements in 2025, compared with 64 a year earlier and 52 in 2019. That is 20 more producers than in 2019.

Wiesbaden – November 03, 2026 -- German producers made 7.42 billion liters of sugary soft drinks in 2025, 4.1% less than the almost 7.74 billion liters of 2024, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Output of calorie-reduced light drinks and mineral water rose over the same period, as the federal government plans to introduce a levy on sugary beverages.

Light cola and lemonade output rises 5.1% to 1.61 billion liters

Producers made 1.61 billion liters of calorie-reduced cola and lemonade in 2025, up from 1.53 billion liters in 2024. Per capita production of light drinks rose from just over 18 liters to just over 19 liters. Sugary drinks still clearly outweigh light products by volume. Per capita output of sugary drinks fell from almost 93 liters to about 89 liters.

The sugary category covers regular cola, lemonade, fruit spritzers, flavored waters, vitamin and energy drinks and other soft drinks such as fizzy sodas.

Oakland – November 02, 2026 -- Fair Trade USA has received a $600,000 grant from the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation (PJMF) to build an AI-powered tool that gives farmers climate, market and outcome data for investment planning. The funding runs from September 2026 through September 2027.

Platform merges certification records with open source climate data

The tool combines Fair Trade USA's certification records, audit findings and Community Development Fund investments with open source climate data. It also draws on documents, images, voice recordings and stories submitted by producers. Fair Trade USA says producer data is often fragmented across internal systems and rarely reaches farmers in an actionable form.

The system is designed to return seasonal climate outlooks, market signals, agronomic guidance and prioritized actions. Fair Trade USA's on-the-ground staff will support delivery.