Trade

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The U.S. will be losing one of its staunchest advocates in China for U.S. beef, ethanol and other farm goods in early October. That’s when Ambassador Terry Branstad says he is stepping down from being the top U.S. representative in Beijing.

The U.S. and Brazil have agreed to revive for 90 days the expired tariff rate quota that allows some U.S. ethanol to flow to the South American country duty free, the two countries said in a joint statement Friday night.

U.S. soybean exports are moving quickly out of U.S. ports, spurred on by larger than normal Chinese purchases as the new marketing year begins.

Next year’s crop of meetings is in jeopardy, and organizations are taking a nervous look at their balance sheets and what they'll be able to pay their top executives.

President Donald Trump has relied on USDA's special spending authority to help farmers overcome slumping commodity prices, and Democratic nominee Joe Biden is promising a large boost in conservation spending to help producers cope with hard times.

President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden responded to a survey by American Farm Bureau Federation with sharply different policy priorities on issues vital to farmers, from farm programs to farm labor rules.

U.S. wheat farmers continue to benefit from the ties between Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and U.S. President Donald Trump, which have only strengthened since the two first met at the White House last year.

Union leaders are looking to Joe Biden to lead the way for new protections for employees in the ag and food sector, including overtime for farmworkers.

U.S. and Brazilian negotiators continue to haggle over U.S. access to Brazil’s ethanol market, but lawmakers like House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., are losing patience as the talks drag on.

China has been ramping up its corn and soybean purchases in recent weeks, but USDA's latest trade data show Chinese imports through July this year are still below 2018 levels and are far from the pace needed to meet goals set in the “phase one” trade pact.