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After another union voted not to ratify a contract with rail carriers last week, more than 300 local, state and national trade associations urged the Biden administration to work to avert a strike during the nation’s holiday season.

Russia announced on Saturday that it was suspending its involvement in the agreement that has allowed Ukraine to ship grain and other commodities from its Black Sea ports. The UN estimates the Black Sea deal has saved 100 million people globally from extreme poverty.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Friday dismissed a dire forecast of Mexico slashing corn imports from the U.S. because of a scheduled Mexican ban on genetically modified corn. 

Drought continues to spread across the country this fall, and it’s starting to raise concerns about winter wheat crops.

Executives with oilseed giant Bunge say the growing global demand for biofuels will continue to support the soybean sector for some time.

Despite some improvement from a week ago, record-low water levels are continuing to hinder grain transportation on the Mississippi River, leaving farmers with fewer alternatives for getting their crops onto barges to export.

Mexico has not publicly ruled on genetically modified plant traits in the four years since President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took power, but the country’s health regulator Cofepris has been quietly approving and rejecting traits with an apparent bias against glyphosate-resistant corn seeds, according to U.S. government and industry sources.

Ukrainian farmers are doing their best to keep farming and producing food in their war-torn country, but the outlook is growing increasingly bleak. At least that’s the perspective from Indiana farmer Kip Tom, who toured farms, cities and the port of Odesa last week as part of a humanitarian effort.

USDA is awarding $64 million to 185 grants through its Local Agriculture Market Program’s Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Programs and Regional Food System Partnerships to expand the availability of locally grown agricultural products and expand regional food systems.

Tyson Foods has agreed to pay $10.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Washington state alleging price-fixing in the broiler chicken industry.