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The House is wrapping up debate today on a sweeping, Democratic bill aimed at increasing U.S. competitiveness with China and other developing countries.

The Ocean Shipping Reform Act, a bill aimed at ending port bottlenecks for ag exports, was introduced in the Senate Thursday even as sponsors of a tougher House-passed version sought to ramp up pressure for its enactment.

Minority farmers and producers considered to be historically underserved by federal programs, including beginning farmers, received less than 4% of the payments provided by the Trump administration’s Market Facilitation Program, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Today’s the deadline for Canada to present the U.S. a plan for correcting 14 tariff rate quotas for American dairy products.

Members of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association voted Wednesday to specifically state their opposition to cash trade mandates, adding clarity to an explicit part of a bill being pushed by a bipartisan group of senators on Capitol Hill.

The House is set to debate tightening reporting requirements for foreign ownership in the U.S. ag sector. Amendments addressing that issue will be considered as part of a sweeping U.S. competitiveness bill that’s on the House floor starting today.

The Biden administration, together with U.S. shippers and the ag sector, are pressuring ocean carriers to stop turning down farm commodity shipments, but it may take Congress to force the issue.

The Commerce Department issued a preliminary finding Tuesday that imports of urea ammonium nitrate solutions (UAN) from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago were sold into the U.S. at below market prices, paving the way for anti-dumping duties and drawing the ire of farmers that need affordable fertilizer.

The fate of a key cattle market reform proposal is at stake as the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association kicks off its annual convention today in Houston.

The USDA will fund 60% of the cost of adding a new 25-acre container yard at the Port of Oakland, while also subsidizing ag exporters' shipping expenses, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the Biden administration wants to repeat the project elsewhere.