As global agriculture grapples with climate variability, land constraints, and the imperative for sustainable intensification, second-season or "safrinha" crops have emerged as a strategic solution. These crops, cultivated immediately after the main harvest, offer a pathway to enhance land productivity without expanding agricultural footprints.

A closer look at Turkey’s 2025 growing season reveals a troubling trend: persistent cold, lingering wet conditions, and rising agronomic volatility. These stressors have left their mark on multiple crops, but nowhere more critically than in Malatya, the country’s apricot heartland. Malatya accounts for nearly 80% of Turkey’s apricot production and dominates the global dried apricot export market.

As spring unfolds across Europe, a concerning pattern emerges: a significant absence of rainfall. In what meteorologists are identifying as the driest spring in over a century, northwestern Europe faces an acute water deficit, raising alarms throughout the agricultural sector.

Soil degradation is a mounting global crisis with direct consequences for food systems, ecosystem health, and climate stability. Earth.Org reports that the world is losing over 100 million hectares of healthy soil each year, equivalent to four football fields per second. If current degradation continues unchecked, up to 95% of the Earth's land surface could be degraded by 2050.

In April 2025, McDonald’s announced a major pivot in its global sourcing strategy: a strategic commitment to regenerative agriculture. Framed as both an environmental imperative and an operational necessity, this move signals a new phase in how multinational food corporations respond to the climate crisis.

In early 2025, a federal budget impasse froze over $3 trillion in discretionary funding, and while defense and healthcare headlines dominate the news cycle, one of the least discussed yet most impactful casualties is agricultural research. At least 57 USDA-funded projects were paused nationwide, affecting core programs in crop resilience, livestock health, and ag-environment interactions.

Across North America, March and April 2025 have brought anomalously high temperatures. In parts of Texas, daytime highs exceeded 91°F in late March — 7–11°F above average — prompting early planting activity but also crop stress reports. In contrast, regions like the Upper Midwest experienced cold fronts and flooding, creating a fragmented planting window. These extreme contrasts illustrate why spring is becoming harder to predict—and harder to manage.

Every spring, children around the world wake up on Easter morning excited to hunt for chocolate eggs and bunnies. In fact, an estimated 94% of people who celebrate the holiday do so with chocolate. But this year, behind the scenes, the cocoa industry is facing a crisis that could make these beloved treats harder to find, as well as significantly more expensive.

The newly implemented U.S. Reciprocal Tariff Policy, announced on April 2, 2025, then paused on April 9, 2025 for everyone except China, is poised to reshape not only global trade but also the contents — and cost — of the average American grocery basket. When this new policy begins, a baseline 10% tariff is applied to all imports entering the U.S., with significantly higher rates of up to 50% imposed on select countries.

For centuries, Sicily has been synonymous with Mediterranean staples like lemons, olives, and grapes. But over the past two decades, a quiet transformation has taken root across the island: mango cultivation. Once limited to tropical and subtropical latitudes, mangoes are now thriving in Sicily’s evolving climate.

In February through early March 2025, Tropical Cyclone Alfred delivered destructive winds and unprecedented rainfall to Far North Queensland, devastating the region’s sugarcane industry. Over this period, the cyclone system brought between 16 to 26 inches within just 48 hours, with some localized areas around Tully and Ingham recording over 28 inches of rain.

To assess the effectiveness of our platform, we conducted a five-year backtesting analysis of disruptions affecting three different commodity types to answer one key question: How well did Helios detect major disruptions affecting these commodities worldwide? Our analysis revealed that Helios successfully detected 91% of agricultural supply chain disruptions over the past five years.

Recent weather events have placed significant strain on corn production across the Midwest, particularly in the Corn Belt states of Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois. With climate now a primary driver of agricultural commodity prices, access to reliable data has never been more crucial. Helios is stepping up by offering free access to its platform for farmers across the U.S., ensuring they have the information they need to navigate increasingly volatile conditions.

Climate change is profoundly impacting our oceans, accelerating warming that disrupts marine ecosystems, weather patterns, and human societies. Recent studies reveal that ocean temperatures are now rising at 0.27 degrees Celsius per decade, a stark increase from 0.06 degrees per decade in the late 1980s.

Automation and AI are transforming industries worldwide, and agriculture is no exception. While these advancements promise to revolutionize farming, they also bring anxiety. A significant portion of the agricultural workforce—especially migrant workers—faces the risk of job loss as automation takes over repetitive and labor-intensive tasks. Studies estimate that over 30% of agricultural jobs could be automated by 2030, threatening livelihoods and communities that depend on these roles.

Our CEO, Francisco Martin-Rayo, announced our most recent product launch live at the NYSE! Connect with us to discover how we can help your teams forecast agricultural prices years in advance.

Every February 14th, millions of people exchange chocolates as a symbol of love and affection. But what if I told you that the future of this beloved tradition is at risk? Some experts predict that by 2050, rising temperatures could make large portions of these cocoa-growing regions unsuitable for farming.

The rising cost of avocados and tomatoes has become a pressing concern for consumers, retailers, and procurement leaders alike. These staple produce items, heavily imported from Mexico, have already seen significant price increases over the past year due to a combination of supply chain disruptions, adverse weather conditions, and strong consumer demand.

Helios has rolled out its latest updates to the Insights page, bringing a host of new features tailored to help procurement leaders manage climate risks with greater ease and precision. These updates are designed specifically for Points of Interest (POIs)—locations tied to individual commodities—providing actionable insights without overwhelming you with unnecessary complexity.