Lucas Cuni-Mertz is associate editor of Baking & Snack. He covers the latest product, ingredient and equipment trends in the baking and snack industries and joined the magazine in 2021. Cuni-Mertz graduated from the University of Missouri – Kansas City with a degree in communication studies and political science.
Connect with Lucas on LinkedIn.
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US — It was a bumpy ride for the global grain industry in 2024.
An already unstable geopolitical situation worsened with military conflicts expanding in Ukraine and the Middle East. Transporting grain efficiently was a challenge, in part because of those wars. And several of the world’s largest agribusiness companies saw profits tumble in a suboptimal economic climate for global agriculture.
The establishment in both Europe and the United States saw a conservative backlash against their liberal policies, leading to political unrest in countries such as France and the return of Donald Trump to the US presidency after a four-year absence. The result will likely be a continued trend toward protectionist policies that will impact the global grain trade in the coming years as well a reduced emphasis on “green” environmental policies that had become prevalent during the past four years.
The following are World Grain’s top 10 stories for 2024.KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US — The Grain Majors listed in Sosland Publishing Co.’s 2025 Grain & Milling Annual comprise the top North American multiple facility grain companies and cooperatives based on total corporate grain capacity.
To qualify for the complete list, which runs to 103, companies must have two or more facilities and total storage capacity of 6 million bushels. See who made the Top 15.