GMO wheat is approved: Argentina is the world’s first country to approve the cultivation and consumption of a genetically engineered wheat variety. Still, Bioceres Crop Solutions, which developed the drought-tolerant HB4 variety, said it would not market the wheat until it also gains approval from Brazil, a major customer for Argentine wheat. (Bioceres)
Highest world food prices since February: The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said its Food Price Index rose for the fourth month in a row, due largely to higher prices for vegetable oils and cereal grains, to reach its highest level since February. (FAO)
Covid-19 spreads in Upper Midwest: High rates of new coronavirus infections “are the norm in most rural counties,” as Covid-19 spreads in the Upper Midwest, and more than 90 percent of rural counties in Wisconsin, South Dakota, and North Dakota are experiencing troubling levels of new infections. (Daily Yonder)
Mink vs. government in Poland: The country’s governing coalition almost collapsed in a dispute over legislation that would ban mink farming in Poland, the third-largest mink producer in the world. (New York Times)
Ratings slip for Republicans: Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia and GOP nominee Roger Marshall of Kansas are in races that lean Republican, and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is a likely winner in Mississippi, though all have recently seen their electoral prospects dim. Loeffler and Hyde-Smith are on the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Marshall hopes to succeed the committee’s chairman. (Sabato’s Crystal Ball)
Dairy signup to begin: Enrollment in the USDA’s Dairy Margin Coverage subsidy program for 2021 opens on Oct. 13 and runs through Dec. 11. This year, some 23,000 farms are in the program. (USDA)