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Farmers are being hit from all sides with increased production costs, but two of the expenses responsible for the most volatility and uncertainty are fertilizers and pesticides.

President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats have two weeks before their next deadline to reach an agreement on his Build Back Better plan to expand social programs and attack climate change.

U.S. soybean exports picked up pace significantly in the first week of October, offering evidence that U.S. shipping of the 2021-22 marketing year crop is recovering from delays caused by damages to barges, elevators, ports and other infrastructure on the Mississippi River by Hurricane Ida more than a month ago.

The Biden administration needs to concentrate on negotiating to gain increased access to foreign markets for U.S. ag exporters – especially in Asia – or risk falling further behind in the international race to increase trade ties, according to a diverse panel of experts gathered Thursday by Farmers for Free Trade.

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday agreements by ports, dockworkers, railroads, trucking companies, labor unions and retailers to drastically expand their hours of operation to ease distribution bottlenecks.

Whether it's backlogs at ports delaying the arrival of containers from China, congestion at railroad hubs, or slowdowns at American manufacturing plants, farmers and ranchers are seeing rising prices and mounting delays for machinery, spare parts, packaging material, inputs and other supplies they need to bring in their crops and market their commodities.

Scientists who study the danger to humans and food production from zoonotic diseases, those that can jump from animals to humans, say there are ways to prevent the next global pandemic at a fraction of the cost of ending a massive outbreak.

Democrats on the House Ag Committee are appealing to their party leaders to protect agriculture spending when they slash the size of the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better bill.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai spoke Friday with her Chinese counterpart to explain U.S. concerns over outstanding issues from the “phase one” trade pact as well as Chinese “state-led, non-market policies and practices that harm American workers, farmers and businesses,” according to the Office of the USTR.

The U.S. is counting on an expensive campaign to protect nearby territories from African swine fever as well as international respect for the World Organization for Animal Health to protect American pork production and exports.