Predicting how much grain a farmer will have at the end of the season informs loans, the logistics for companies to transport grain out of the farms, crop insurance, and a farmer’s basic economic well-being. The current “gold standard,” according to the University of Illinois’s press release, is the USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, or WASDE. 

Namibia President Hage Geingob vowed Monday to push ahead with land redistribution, echoing the government of neighbouring South Africa, where the issue has become a fierce political battleground. 

New Zealand-based kiwifruit grower Seeka has warned that it may have found the vine disease in an orchard it is developing in the Australian territory of Victoria.

Fighting fall armyworm requires global efforts as the pest could spread to more countries, warn scientists.

Within the past two years, fall armyworm has spread to 44 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, threatening the food security of about 200 million people who depend on maize as a staple food crop, experts say.

A trade spat between China and the US that thrust the trade of soybeans into the political limelight may yet have an impact on the global corn market, as exporters struggling for storage space sell more corn into an oversupplied arena.