Crypto News: Supply Lines: Food's weather extremes

From yet more extreme weather hurting crops and a deepening hunger crisis in Africa, to efforts to boost trade and farm tech, here's a roundup of the latest key food stories from around the world:

Weather Woes

This week offered a worrying reminder of how climate change is altering the weather — and threatening food supplies. Severe rains hit parts of Europe, Asia, the US and Africa, where the worst floods in decades across a swath of the continent's west and central regions are worsening a food-insecurity crisis.

Millions of people in Africa have been directly affected and vast amounts of farmland have been engulfed.

It's not just deluges shaking up agricultural markets. Sugar prices soared this week as traders digest the extent of crop damage from fires and searing heat in top producer Brazil. Parched fields in Russia and Ukraine are threatening plantings for next year's wheat harvest, and a lack of spring rain across Western Australia is expected to crimp the grain's production.

Elsewhere, heavy rain drenched Shanghai, while China's northeastern grain belt has been threatened by frost. There are also concerns that high precipitation may hamper growth and fuel crop diseases in the country.

More Trade?

India is considering relaxing curbs on overseas sales of non-basmati rice, days after scrapping a floor price for exports of a premium grade. Any further efforts to remove export hurdles would be good news for countries in West Africa and the Middle East that usually rely on imports.

At the same time, Indonesia cut an export levy on palm oil in a bid to boost shipments of the tropical commodity. That should help the biggest grower become more competitive than neighboring Malaysia, and may further pressure prices.

Tech on the Farm

Farmers shelling out $37 billion a year to drench fields in liquid weed killers are increasingly trying out a new model: use tech to use less.

Using AI-powered cameras, new sprayers can identify and target invasive plants while avoiding the cash crops. Using less weed killer through precision applications can help cut costs for growers, while also addressing environmental concerns.

—Agnieszka de Sousa in London

Feeding children | Bill Gates says world leaders must step up the fight against a worsening child nutrition crisis that's causing trillions of dollars in economic losses — and that gut bacteria investment and more productive cows can help. The billionaire philanthropist warned that more needs to be spent on health issues, especially with an ever-more damaging impact from climate change. The lack of healthy diets for children hurts their mental and physical capabilities later in life. Some $3 trillion in productivity is already lost each year globally due to malnutrition, the World Bank estimates. (Read the full interview here.)

Major cocoa traders have asked the EU to delay new environmental rules aimed at tackling deforestation amid mounting criticism.
Minerva's push to create a South American beef giant by acquiring more than a dozen rival facilities will go before Brazil's antitrust body next week.
Coffee drinking outside of homes has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels as consumers return to shops and offices, according to the National Coffee Association.
Whether it's zero-waste cooking or closed-loop cocktails, here are seven food entrepreneurs changing eco-conscious dining.
BHP expects its $10.6 billion potash mine in Canada to make money even with weakened fertilizer prices.
Miner Rio Tinto will develop seed farms in Australia under efforts to test the potential of biofuels to curb diesel consumption.
On this Next Africa podcast, reporter Mumbi Gitau explains what's behind rising coffee prices, and why it's not all good news for the region's farmers.

Tyson Foods misleads consumers into believing its beef products are reducing environmental harm and that the company is working towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, according to a lawsuit, as reported by Bloomberg Law.
Animal production and processing operate at the intersection of the natural and anthropogenic worlds. This brings heightened and persistent nature risks, according to BloombergNEF.
Run SPLC after an equity ticker on Bloomberg to show critical data about a company's suppliers, customers and peers.
Use the AHOY function to track global commodities trade flows.
See DSET CHOKE for a dataset to monitor shipping chokepoints.
For freight dashboards, see {BI RAIL}, {BI TRCK} and {BI SHIP} and {BI 3PLS}
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See BNEF for BloombergNEF's analysis of clean energy, advanced transport, digital industry, innovative materials, and commodities.

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