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The USDA Monday cut its forecast for U.S. soybean yields and production in its monthly crop report, catching the market by surprise and sending futures prices higher.

It’s a big week around the nation’s capital with hearings scheduled examining several issues important to agriculture, including rail service delays and a proposal to require companies to track the greenhouse gas emissions in their supply chains.

India, an international ag trading powerhouse that often comes into friction with the U.S. over tariff and nontariff barriers, is the only Indo-Pacific Economic Framework country out of 14 not participating in the pact’s trade pillar after a major summit held in Los Angeles this week, according to government officials.

In a potential new milestone in agricultural biotechnology, a gene-edited tomato that’s high in antioxidants believed to fight cancer and heart disease, has cleared a key hurdle.

The Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved USDA adviser Doug McKalip to be the chief agricultural negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, sending the nomination to the full Senate for final approval.

USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service is still planning to resume publishing its weekly export sales report on Sept. 15, but that report will be much larger than normal because it will contain four weeks of data that haven’t been published because of problems installing a new reporting system, according to USDA officials.

The Senate is back in session after the August recess, and there’s a full slate of committee activity today.

The leaders of some of the largest ag, energy, rural and food nonprofit organizations have faced unprecedented challenges over the last few years, and some have been compensated handsomely for their troubles.

Some ag shippers are still using the Port of Oakland to send wine, walnuts, fruits, vegetables, hay and rice to foreign buyers, but many other exporters are also looking for alternatives to the key — but troubled — West Coast shipping point.