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President-elect Joe Biden names former United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power to run the U.S. Agency for International Development, a position Biden says will be elevated in importance under his administration.

New faces will head key departments as the Biden administration takes office Jan. 20, and their actions on regulations affecting agriculture and rural America may differ sharply from the last four years.

The action may scare some potential investors away from doing new business with Cuban buyers, but it won’t have a direct impact on U.S. agricultural exports to the island nation.

The estimate for corn ending stocks is down again in the latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, released Tuesday.

An unlikely pair of senators – Democrat Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Republican Jerry Moran of Kansas – is urging U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to avoid letting his investigations into imports of blueberries and other produce from Mexico disrupt trade flows that are already strained because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

USDA officials tell Agri-Pulse they are working “amicably” with the Biden transition team, which is paving the way for the incoming administration next week. On the international front, the transition team has been pressing USDA for details on the impacts of the “phase one” trade deal with China.

U.S. soybean export sales are unusually strong in January for both the current 2020-21 marketing year and the upcoming 2021-22 marketing year, boosted by China’s efforts to both feed its growing swine herd and replenish stocks.

U.S. soybean future prices are on the rise amid continued Chinese demand and concerns of tight global supplies, putting markets in a “rationing” mode, according to a Cargill executive.

Tom Vilsack is expected to have little trouble getting confirmed to another term as agriculture secretary. It's a good thing, because he'll have a lot to do the minute he walks in the door, starting with implementation of the COVID package just enacted.

With a deal in place between the newly independent UK and the European Union, American ag groups are anxious to see the U.S. complete its own free trade agreement with the British as the Biden administration prepares to take the reins in ongoing talks.