Mental health is a critical aspect in various fields of work, yet the agricultural industry tends to overlook its significance and the negative consequences of neglecting mental well-being. Recently, an interview conducted by Agri-Pulse brought together NAWG CEO Chandler Goule, American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall, Jeanette Jeffery with HomePorts, and Rural Minds CEO Jeff Winton to discuss the state of mental health in rural areas and the agricultural sector. Rural communities and agriculturalists face a distinct array of challenges that contribute to higher rates of mental health issues.

USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) has developed an interactive tool to explore trends in U.S. and international wheat markets. Now available on the ERS website, the Wheat Data Visualization tool works on all types of devices with many mobile-friendly options. The tool provides graphic overviews of the wide array of data ERS publishes each month in the Wheat Data product—a resource that includes statistics on the five classes of wheat: hard red winter, hard red spring, soft red winter, white, and durum, all by year and by quarter.

Nestle USA, Inc. is investing in regenerative agriculture practices across its DiGiorno pizza brand supply chain in an effort to reduce the company’s overall carbon footprint. According to Nestle, nearly two thirds of the company’s carbon emissions come from ingredient sourcing, which is largely based in agricultural practices. The company’s investment will impact more than 100,000 acres of wheat-producing farmland, which is nearly double the amount of acreage that is used to grow the wheat sourced for DiGiorno products.

Amid this year’s volatile markets and relatively slow demand, U.S. soft white wheat (SW) has provided many customers with buying opportunities, positioning itself as one of the most competitive classes of U.S. wheat. In recent months, dryness in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) this spring dominated market news and discussions about quality. As harvest ramps up across the SW growing region, more information is expected to become available regarding SW production, yield, and quality. In the meantime, this article will recap the current soft white wheat situation and provide background on supply factors as harvest progresses in the PNW.

It’s about to be hotter and drier. After weathering through La Niña, Associate Professor David Ubilava from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences explains how El Niño could have wide economic impacts. The World Meteorological Organization has declared the onset of the first El Niño event in seven years. It estimates 90 percent probability the climatic phenomenon, involving an unusual warming of the Pacific Ocean, will develop through 2023, and be of moderate strength.

Russia has suspended a wartime deal designed to move grain from Ukraine to parts of the world where millions are going hungry. The Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the U.N. and Turkey, has allowed 32.9 million metric tons (36.2 million tons) of food to be exported from Ukraine since August, more than half to developing countries, according to the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul.

A deal allowing Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea will expire at the end of Monday after Russia said it will suspend its participation. The deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July, aimed to alleviate a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain blocked by the Russia-Ukraine conflict to be exported safely. Ukraine is a major producer of grains and oilseeds and the interruption to its exports at the outbreak of war pushed global food prices to record highs.