April 28, 2025

Hemp Acreage on the Rise

U.S. industrial hemp production rose sharply in 2024, with total crop value reaching $445 million, a 40 percent increase over the previous year, according to the latest National Hemp Report. Planted acreage expanded to nearly 45,300 acres, up 64 percent from 2023. Harvested acreage climbed 60 percent to just under 32,700 acres. The growth reflects both increased planting and higher yields, which rose from 669 to 1,757 pounds per acre. Floral hemp led the surge, with production more than doubling to 20.8 million pounds, a 159 percent jump year over year. It accounted for 87 percent of the total value of hemp grown in the open, cementing its position as the industry’s economic driver. Seed hemp also posted notable gains. Its value rose nearly 500 percent to $16.9 million, the largest percentage increase among hemp categories. The report signals renewed momentum in the hemp sector, following several years of market fluctuation after legalization under the 2018 Farm Bill.

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PepsiCo “Accelerating” Transition to Natural Snack Ingredients

PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said the snacking giant will be “accelerating” its transition to natural ingredients amid increasing consumer demand and pressure from the White House to remove artificial colors from foods. Laguarta said during PepsiCo’s first-quarter earnings call with analysts on Thursday that the Cheetos and Doritos maker plans to have transitioned “all the portfolio into natural colors or at least provide the consumer with natural color options” in the next “couple years.” Still, he underscored that PepsiCo’s chips, puffs and other snacks are safe, and the company stands by the existing science. “Every consumer will have the opportunity to choose what they prefer,” he said. The comments come two days after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the department wants food companies to voluntarily remove or replace commonly used synthetic colors before the end of 2026.

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Land O’ Lakes CEO says Trump Policies are “Real Concern” in Rural America

America urgently needs immigration reform to support US farmers, Land O’ Lakes CEO Beth Ford said Thursday. Farmers want to support US President Donald Trump’s economic agenda, but there is “real concern” over possible labor shortages and lost profits. “What needs to be recognized is the necessity that [farmers] have labor available,” Ford said. “Immigration reform, broadly, is critical.” Farmers “invest in this country,” adding that the industry is over represented in the military. “At the same time, there’s real concern. The first thing they talk to me about is labor, immigration, [and] the lack of available labor for their farms.” Immigrants make up roughly half of America’s farm laborers, said Ford, who chairs the Business Roundtable’s immigration committee Commodity prices have slid in recent years and many farmers don’t turn a profit. With Trump’s tariffs now threatening exports, Ford said she is most worried about 2026, and how duties will reshape the trade landscape.

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Archer Midland Daniels Closing SC Soybean Processing Plant

Archer Daniels Midland said it will permanently close its soybean processing plant in Kershaw, South Carolina, later this spring as part of its cost-cutting plan announced earlier this year, according to Reuters. The Kershaw plant is the smallest of more than a dozen dedicated soy processing facilities operated by ADM in the U.S., with the capacity to crush 50K bushels per day. ADM has been cutting jobs and downsizing some operations since announcing in February that it planned to cut costs by $500M-$700M over 3-5 years. The Kershaw plant would be the first U.S. soybean processing plant to close following a multi-year, industry-wide expansion amid soaring vegetable oil demand from biofuels makers, but the biofuel sector recently has been cutting production due to uncertainty over U.S. biofuels policy and the potential for a worsening trade war.

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Researchers Seeking Environmental Solutions through Cover Cropping

Oklahoma State University multi-disciplinary scientists are teaming up to research how cover crops can improve the environmental impacts of cattle foraging. “We need to find new approaches to beef cattle production systems that are economically beneficial to producers, and ideally, would have an environmental benefit as well,” said Andrew Foote, associate professor in the OSU Department of Animal and Food Sciences. “The industry is making great progress with improving methane emissions from beef cattle, but we are lacking in improvement with nitrogen emissions.” Fertilizing crops and cattle foraging on harvested cropland cause methane and nitrogen emissions. “That’s why we came up with this research project to look at using legume cover crops in the summer to fix nitrogen in the soil to minimize the amount of fertilizer producers need to put down for planting wheat in the fall,” Foote said.

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Egg Production Down Year-over-Year

U.S. egg production totaled 8.63 billion in March 2025, a 7% drop from the same month last year. That figure includes 7.35 billion table eggs and 1.28 billion hatching eggs — with 1.18 billion from broiler-type hens and 104 million from egg-type hens. The average number of laying hens in March was 351 million, down 8% year-over-year. Despite the smaller flock, productivity slightly improved: hens produced 2,458 eggs per 100 layers, up from March 2024. As of April 1, the U.S. layer count remained at 351 million, split among 287 million producing table eggs, 60.4 million producing broiler-type hatching eggs, and 4 million producing egg-type hatching eggs. The daily lay rate averaged 79.1 eggs per 100 layers, a slight dip from a year earlier. Meanwhile, 60.7 million egg-type chicks hatched in March — up 11% from March 2024.

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