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The new 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans – influenced by the Make America Healthy Again movement – signal a major shift toward minimally processed, whole foods with stricter limits on added sugars and refined carbohydrates. While dairy and animal-based proteins and fats stand to benefit from the more favorable recommendations, sugar, refined grains, and processed meats face headwinds. The guidelines also reinforce fruits, vegetables, and whole grains as dietary staples in an overall push for products typically located in the perimeter of grocery stores, not center aisles.
The guidelines may directly influence institutional food purchases and influence public perception, though the near-term impact on consumer spending is uncertain. If paired with additional government programs and incentives, they could trigger long-term changes in agricultural production and food supply chains.
Affordability and access to fresh foods remain key challenges to the guidelines' broad implementation, especially with reduced Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding and rising food costs. Effective change to the American diet will depend on collaboration between government, industry, and consumers to balance health priorities with cost and convenience. Food processors had already been innovating to reformulate products and make greater health claims, aimed at defending category relevance and capturing price premiums. The new guidelines will reinforce these ongoing efforts.
Brazil is pivotal player in global agricultural commodity markets. This report, prepared by our São Paulo-based team of analysts, highlights the factors that will influence each of the major sectors of Brazilian agribusiness in 2026. Against a macro backdrop of high interest rates, a looming presidential election, and a complex global trade environment, each individual sector of Brazilian agribusiness faces its own distinct set of challenges and opportunities in 2026.
India expects talks on a long-sought trade deal with the European Union to conclude this month, Trade Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Thursday, in what would be New Delhi's largest agreement as it seeks new markets amid US tariff pressures, reported Reuters.
The deal, under discussion for years, is seen as a chance for both sides to deepen economic ties and cut reliance on China and Russia. Bilateral trade between India and the EU totalled 120 billion euros ($140 billion) in 2024, making the bloc India's biggest trading partner.
Agrawal said the two sides were "very close" to finalising the pact and were exploring whether it could be wrapped up before leaders meet in New Delhi this month.
He said talks on a US trade pact were continuing and a deal would be reached when both sides were ready. Negotiations collapsed last year after a breakdown in communication between the two governments.
The president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will visit India on January 25–27 and co-chair an India–EU summit on January 27, India's foreign ministry said.
The European Commission, which is negotiating on behalf of the EU's 27 members, also expressed cautious optimism in remarks to EU envoys late on Wednesday, according to sources familiar with the discussion.
The main sticking point is over cars and steel, they said. The EU wants India to cut sharply import duties on EU cars that can exceed 100%, while India is concerned that its steel exports to the EU will be limited by the EU's carbon border levy and safeguards lowering overall EU steel imports.
If concluded, the deal would open India's vast and heavily protected consumer market of more than 1.4 billion people to European goods and could reshape global trade flows as protectionism rises and a U.S.-India pact remains stalled.
Both sides have been pushing to close a broad agreement after von der Leyen and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to fast-tr
ack negotiations in an effort to close a deal in 2025. Talks, relaunched in 2022, gained momentum after US President Donald Trump imposed tariff hikes on trading partners including India.
Brussels has recently signed deals with Mexico and Indonesia and stepped up talks with India, while New Delhi has reached agreements with Britain, Oman and New Zealand. Some in Brussels see the India deal as welcome, although less ambitious than its other free trade agreements, in terms of scope and the extent of tariff cuts.
Agriculture off the table
Some sensitive agricultural items have been excluded from negotiations, an Indian trade ministry official said.
India will not open its agriculture or dairy sectors in any trade pact, officials have said, citing the need to protect millions of subsistence farmers.
The EU is pushing for steep tariff cuts on cars, medical devices, wine, spirits and meat, along with stronger intellectual property rules. India is seeking duty-free access for labour-intensive goods and quicker recognition of its autos and electronics sectors.
Beyond goods, the agreement is expected to expand services trade, investment and cooperation in digital trade, intellectual property and green technologies, as well as spur European investment in Indian manufacturing, renewable energy and infrastructure.
Challenges remain over regulatory alignment and the protection of sensitive sectors. The EU also insists that trade partners adhere to international standards on labour and the environment, with commitments to the Paris climate change agreement still to be settled.
The US farm economy is in severe distress in early 2026, with farmers facing a third straight year of low crop prices (corn ~$4.10/bushel, soybeans ~$10.20/bushel), high production costs (up ~3% for 2026), and tightening credit from cautious banks. Abundant grain supplies and lost exports to China due to trade tariffs have deepened the pain, leaving most row-crop operations unprofitable (break-even requires ~$5.03 for corn and ~$12.80 for soybeans).The crisis is rippling across rural America: tractor sales down ~10%, combine sales down 35%, equipment makers like Deere, AGCO, and CNH laying off thousands, meatpacking plant closures, and surging Chapter 12 farm bankruptcies (up 36% in the first nine months of 2025). Farmers are delaying maintenance, pushing older machinery to its limits (causing more fires), and facing tough decisions about planting or exiting.Recovery depends on fragile factors: resolving trade wars, renewed Chinese buying, better biofuels policy, or poor weather in rival producers. Rural communities face broader fallout, including potential cuts to schools, hospitals, Medicaid, and family assistance. Economists warn this is no longer just a farm crisis but a growing threat to rural America's economic and social stability, with no clear profit opportunity in sight.
World Farming Agriculture and Commodity news - 12th January 2026
Japan took the lead with 22% of companies achieving what CDP defined as "climate leadership", followed by the UK with 17%, the European Union with 16%, and China and Southeast Asia at 8%, it said in a report, co-authored with consultants Oliver Wyman.
As the world's only independent environmental disclosure system, CDP assesses over 10,000 companies on their awareness of environmental issues, management practices, transparency and performance.
It also looks at whether targets have been signed off by the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), a leading independent standard setter - something that had helped the Japanese firms outperform, CDP Chief Executive Sherry Madera said.
Now in their second year, the rankings showed that global companies were still prioritising sustainability, despite geopolitical and economic uncertainty and a recent wave of climate regulatory rollbacks in the U.S. and Europe, she said.
Companies were also assessed on climate, water and forest performance, which covers emissions and climate strategy, water use and risk management, and deforestation risks in key commodities, such as palm oil, soy, timber and cattle.
The report found that all of the top-performing companies on climate and most of those leading on the topics of water and forest tied executive pay to environmental goals.
“Maybe companies are becoming quieter when celebrating their wins in the market, but they are still working towards sustainability, and year-on-year, leaders in the Corporate Health Check are the ones who link their executive pay to climate leadership and that trend has solidified," said Madera.
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