Each week, Food Tank is rounding up a few news stories that inspire excitement, infuriation, or curiosity.
Ambition in NDCs Grows
A review of the latest Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs 3.0) finds that more countries are integrating food and agriculture systems in their climate action plans.
The analysis, conducted by WWF and Climate Focus, finds that 97 percent of the new NDCs include some measures tied to food and agriculture—up from 93 percent in the previous round. The most progress has been made on the production side, with nearly 90 percent of countries focusing on sustainable agriculture, healthy soils, and climate-smart farming. There is also a growing recognition of the climate solutions needed to address emissions tied to the storage, processing, and transportation of food.
But some gaps still need to be addressed: Although mentions of food loss and waste have increased, they only appear in 28 percent of NDCs. Sustainable healthy diets also need more attention, with 26 percent of countries acknowledging the role that consumption habits play in climate action.
U.S. Farm Production Costs to Hit Record Highs in 2027
The U.S. Department of Agriculture warns that production costs will continue to rise for major commodity crops next year.
Fertilizer costs have pushed expenses higher for U.S. farmers in 2026. And while producers are expected to see relief in fuel and fertilizer prices in 2027 as Iran and U.S. negotiations unfold, other input costs are a concern.
The higher prices for seeds, chemicals, repairs, labor, machinery, and cash rent expenses will drive this economic pressure heading into the next year, according to Faith Parum, an American Farm Bureau Federation economist.
Expenses have been on the rise for decades now. The Federation’s analysis shows that since 2005, total production costs have more than doubled for crops including soybeans, corn, wheat, and rice.
Global Seed Vault Celebrates a Milestone
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault celebrated a milestone in June, when new additions brought their total collection to 1.4 million seed samples.
Crop Trust, one of the co-managers of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, calls the collection “the foundation for the agriculture of tomorrow.”
The seed vault received 15,000 samples from genebanks around the world this month—nearly twice as many samples as they received in February. The new seed samples represent a wide variety of crops including okra, pearl millet, and sorghum from Africa; cucumber, tomato, and winged bean from Asia; oats, buckwheat, and melon from Europe; and lima bean, groundnut, and sesame from the Americas.
Niger and Burkina Faso were among the countries to send samples for the very first time. Álvaro Toledo, Deputy Secretary of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, says these first-time deposits “show how countries can move from safeguarding diversity locally with farming communities to contributing to a global system that benefits all.”
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Photo courtesy of Randy Fath, Unsplash
