WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2016 - There are eight days left until
Election Day. While today is Halloween, Hillary Clinton got her scare on Friday
with the announcement that the FBI is looking into emails found on a laptop her
aide had used.
Much of the speculation over the weekend was on the potential impact of the
revelation on the presidential race, where Clinton has been maintaining a
relatively comfortable lead in the polls. But Democrats have to be alarmed at
the potential impact on Senate races as well. According to the polls, the battle
for control of the Senate is very much up in the air.
At least six Senate races still appear to be toss-ups, including incumbents
Richard Burr in North Carolina and Roy Blunt in Missouri and the open seat in
Indiana.
Vilsack looks to give Clinton final boost. Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack leaves Washington tomorrow to campaign for Clinton in Ohio and his home
state of Iowa.
Jump in GDP shows importance of trade, Vilsack says. Vilsack is using the
latest estimate of GDP growth to make the case for approval of the
Trans-Pacific Partnership. According
to the Commerce Department, accelerated exports of soybeans was a major
factor in the estimate that the economy grew by an annualized rate of 2.9
percent during the third quarter.
U.S. exports overall increased by 10 percent in the quarter, the biggest gain
since 2013, and according to the Commerce Department, that export growth was
mostly due to higher soybean sales.
Vilsack, speaking to reporters on Friday at the last USDA farmers market of the
year, said that agricultural sales accounted for 75 percent of the increase in
exports.
Vilsack noted that the surge comes as a strong U.S. dollar is making it more
difficult for U.S. producers to export. He said the report “shows the
capability of America's agricultural sector to increase overall growth and
prosperity across the country. American agriculture needs the good deal laid
out in the TPP agreement to bolster its position in the world economy.”
USDA’s chief economist, Rob Johansson says China increased its purchases of
U.S. soybeans as a result of delayed shipments from Brazil. USDA this month has
lowered its estimate of Brazilian soybean exports by a million metric tons, or
about 2 percent.
USDA mulls impact of Canada-EU deal. Meanwhile, Vilsack says he has asked
Johansson to look into the potential impact of the new Canadian-EU trade
agreement on U.S. farmers. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was
in Brussels yesterday to join EU leaders in signing the Comprehensive
Economic and Trade Agreement.
The trade deal would eliminate 98 percent of trade tariffs between the
partners.
White House pressed on China and biotech. Lawmakers worried that China is
backtracking on commitments to accelerate its approvals of new biotech products
are pushing the White House to take up the issue during joint meetings next
month.
A bipartisan group of 112 House members sent a letter on Friday to the White
House asking officials to press Chinese officials on the issue during the
upcoming Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade. A similar letter is expected
out of the Senate, possibly this week.
The latest concerns center on recent amendments to China’s biotech regulations
that effectively provides “less clarity and specificity around the approval
process,” the House members write. They say the changes run counter to
commitments that China made in September 2015 and again this June.
“Delayed approvals that limit access to innovative products and encumber trade
only serve to undermine the progress made to date and significantly dampens
innovation and trade affecting both the U.S. and Chinese economies.”
Down in Georgia, praying for rain. Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary
Black is scheduled to join Rep. Doug Collins this morning in northwest Georgia
to discuss the region’s severe drought and to pray for rain. Northern Georgia
and northeastern Alabama have recorded their driest 60 day period on record, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
In Alabama, where farmers have delayed winter wheat planting, 78 percent of the
topsoil is rated short to very short of moisture. In Georgia the figure is 73
percent.
It’s expected to be sunny in northern Georgia today with a high near 90.
By the numbers: 65 percent. That’s the share of U.S. mushrooms produced in
Pennsylvania, all of it near Philadelphia and most of in a single county,
Chester County. Most of the remaining U.S. production is in Texas and
California, said Peter Wilder, marketing director for Tojo Mushrooms, explaining
the business to people attending the USDA’s last-of-the-season farmers market
on Friday.
Visitors were served a side dish made with mushrooms, butter and parsley - mushroom
sauce a la vince.
He said it. “Certainly the hope and belief and continued work of this
administration is to try to get Congress to decide on TPP before this president
leaves office.” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on prospects for the
Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Bill Tomson contributed to this report.
#30
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