Supermarkets are stocking up on everything from sugar to frozen meat before they get more pricey, girding for what some executives anticipate will be some of the highest price increases in recent memory. (FOX Business)

Researchers in Austria may have found an unlikely solution to the problem of plastic pollution: cows, and the microbes found inside their stomachs. (CNN)

With high commodity prices bringing in more revenue, farms are finally in a position to make needed expansion and upgrades to bins and buildings. But prices for steel and lumber are giving folks second thoughts. (Farm Progress)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported whole-hog prices were up earlier this year, pushing prices to a seven-year high. But U.S. hog farmers say they’re now competing with a recovering Chinese hog industry while also handling regional droughts affecting feed production and meatpacking plant slowdowns. (Marketplace)  

When water is as scarce as it has been, farmers and ranchers are forced to make difficult decisions to maximize the resources they have. In California, where the federal government has scaled back on water allocations, growers have paid sizable premiums to buy supplemental water. They also have been forced to leave large parts of their land unplanted or let crops die. (Wall Street Journal)

Strained trade relations between China and Australia have prompted Chinese importers to buy more U.S. beef, making room for Brazil to increase exports to the United States, trade data show. (Nasdaq)