United Nations

The world wasted an estimated 19% of the food produced globally in 2022, or about 1.05 billion metric tons, according to a new United Nations report.

Its official name is the “United Nations 28th Conference of the Parties on Climate Change,” or COP28 for short. Given the news from the two-week gathering in the desert near Dubai, however, a better name might be “Shifting Sands, Shifting Blame.”

The old maxim, “the more things change, the more things stay the same,” might ring true for some facets of our lives, but it’s not true for climate change.

Skyrocketing sugar prices left Ishaq Abdulraheem with few choices. Increasing the cost of bread would mean declining sales, so the Nigerian baker decided to cut his production by half.

Victor Tsvyk harvested 4,800 tons of wheat this month, but after Russia exited a wartime deal that allowed Ukraine to ship grain to the world, he has no idea where his produce will go, or how his beloved farm will survive.

When asked to describe war, Union General William T. Sherman noted that “war is cruelty, and you cannot refine it.” Later, Sherman did refine his dictum to the much shorter, impossible-to-forget: “War is hell.”

Food insecurity is on the rise. New data on global food security and nutrition indicate a significant increase in the number of people on this planet lacking access, at times, to enough food for an active and healthy life.

Stakeholders across the dairy value chain discussed challenges and opportunities during the recent 2023 Dairy Sustainability Alliance Spring Meeting.

A grassy lane rutted with tire tracks leads to Volodymyr Zaiets’ farm in southern Ukraine. He is careful, driving only within those shallow grooves — veering away might cost him his life in the field dotted with explosive mines.

The United Nations food agency is warning that a widespread locust infestation in several Afghan provinces is of “huge concern” and could possibly decimate a quarter of the wheat crop.

Prices on commodities and farmland were up sharply again during 2022, but some variables on the horizon could exert downward pressure, according to R.D. Schrader, president of Schrader Real Estate and Auction Company.

Agricultural advancements have provided the ability to meet the food demands of an ever-growing population, but challenges lie ahead.

Bringing a couple old newspaper articles with him to the podium to prove his point, Gov. Eric Holcomb told the Indiana Farm Bureau State Convention that Indiana’s story is the chronicle of agriculture in the state.

Journalism, like baseball, aging and bridesmaids, is often about the numbers. Sometimes big numbers are good, other times small numbers are better. Either way, numbers usually define our work, our families and our lives in more ways than we care to count.

A scientist friend recently noted that at today’s rate of consumption, the world is environmentally and economically sustainable for roughly 1 billion people. “That means with the world’s population of 8 billion,” he half-joked, “you’re a goner.”