News chronological

AXIOS (Erica Pandey) - America's next grocery shock is brewing Sun Aug 30 13:35:07 2026

America's grocery squeeze has thus far been most painfully felt in a few expensive categories, like beef, coffee and chocolate. - Now, the forces pushing up food prices are starting to pile up: expensive grain, soaring fertilizer and fuel, plus unpredictable weather and raging wars. Why it matters: The next grocery price shock could hit much harder — and much wider. The big picture: Your grocery store is fed by a vast global supply chain, and pressures are building all along it. - The Iran and Russia-Ukraine wars have driven up diesel prices , making it more expensive to operate farm equipment for harvesting and to truck food from suppliers to stores. - The war in Iran has also disrupted fertilizer supply and price, as a large share…

America's grocery squeeze has thus far been most painfully felt in a few expensive categories, like beef, coffee and chocolate. - Now, the forces pushing up food prices are starting to pile up: expensive grain, soaring fertilizer and fuel, plus unpredictable weather and raging wars. Why it matters: The next grocery price shock could hit much harder — and much wider. The big picture: Your grocery store is fed by a vast global supply chain, and pressures are building all along it. - The Iran and Russia-Ukraine wars have driven up diesel prices , making it more expensive to operate farm equipment for harvesting and to truck food from suppliers to stores. - The war in Iran has also disrupted fertilizer supply and price, as a large share…Open

AXIOS (Nathan Bomey) - Farmers growing increasingly desperate amid rising energy and fertilizer prices Sat May 16 11:44:11 2026

Farmers across the Midwest are entering planting season under mounting financial pressure, as the Iran conflict drives up diesel and fertilizer prices — deepening an agricultural downturn that some say is the worst since the crisis of the 1980s. Why it matters: Rising fuel and fertilizer costs threaten to push more family farms out of business, drive up food prices and further strain rural economies already battered by trade disruptions, inflation and extreme weather. The big picture: Mark Mueller — a northeast Iowa farmer and president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association — tells Axios that the current landscape is more challenging than at any time since the 1980s farm crisis , when interest rates soared and exports plunged,…

Farmers across the Midwest are entering planting season under mounting financial pressure, as the Iran conflict drives up diesel and fertilizer prices — deepening an agricultural downturn that some say is the worst since the crisis of the 1980s. Why it matters: Rising fuel and fertilizer costs threaten to push more family farms out of business, drive up food prices and further strain rural economies already battered by trade disruptions, inflation and extreme weather. The big picture: Mark Mueller — a northeast Iowa farmer and president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association — tells Axios that the current landscape is more challenging than at any time since the 1980s farm crisis , when interest rates soared and exports plunged,…Open

NYTIMES (Kevin Draper) - Crop Undercount Raises Questions About Reliability of U.S.D.A. Data Thu Apr 30 15:52:13 2026

Corn estimates were off by 4.5 million acres last year. A lack of survey responses, not job cuts, led to the miss, the Agriculture Department said.

NPR (Frank Morris) - War with Iran disrupts fertilizer exports as U.S. farmers prepare for planting season Thu Mar 26 04:30:56 2026

Gulf states are major fertilizer producers, and the war with Iran has triggered a 25% price hike just as struggling U.S. farmers are planting corn.

NYTIMES (Jacey Fortin and Tim Gruber) - Where Corn and Soybeans Rule, the ‘Oat Mafia’ Fights for Turf Fri Mar 6 18:23:03 2026

Farmers in the Upper Midwest are investing in homegrown oats. It’s good for the land. But can it work as a cash crop?

AXIOS (Jason Lalljee) - How Iran's Strait of Hormuz shutdown could hit the global economy Thu Mar 5 01:13:01 2026

The U.S. and Israel's war with Iran is likely to impact people around the world as tensions escalate around the Strait of Hormuz , a waterway on Iran's southern coast, where traffic has ground to a halt . Why it matters: Trade disruptions along this key waterway on Iran's southern coast that handles 25% of the world's maritime oil trade and 20% of liquefied natural gas shipments will likely produce a domino effect across the global economy. - About 33% of the world's fertilizers, including sulfur and ammonia, travel through the strait, according to the trade analysis firm Kpler . • It's a key route for alumimum and sugar as well. - Blocked access to the strait will likely impact the price of some products, including clothing,…

The U.S. and Israel's war with Iran is likely to impact people around the world as tensions escalate around the Strait of Hormuz , a waterway on Iran's southern coast, where traffic has ground to a halt . Why it matters: Trade disruptions along this key waterway on Iran's southern coast that handles 25% of the world's maritime oil trade and 20% of liquefied natural gas shipments will likely produce a domino effect across the global economy. - About 33% of the world's fertilizers, including sulfur and ammonia, travel through the strait, according to the trade analysis firm Kpler . • It's a key route for alumimum and sugar as well. - Blocked access to the strait will likely impact the price of some products, including clothing,…Open

NYTIMES (John Eligon, Yvonne Mooka and Joao Silva) - Botswana’s ‘Corn Lady’ Finds Fame With Food Stands Wed Feb 18 17:07:59 2026

Tshephiso Marumo has had success selling traditional village food in Botswana. But as she has risen, she has become more outspoken, inviting backlash.