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Congressional Republicans are gearing up for high-stakes negotiations to finalize a sweeping package of tax cuts before Christmas that could provide significant relief to farmers and ranchers.

A Department of Agriculture report details changes in farm program payment recipients over a 24-year period, and analysts wonder if it could wedge its way into the farm bill conversation.

The World Trade Organization will convene this Sunday in Buenos Aires for its eleventh ministerial meeting and the U.S. will be taking a clear message on agriculture: The group that includes every major trading country needs to find a new path forward to improve global trade.

Canadian beef and pork exporters have long relied on their U.S. neighbors as solid trading partners, but that relationship has grown increasingly rocky during the contentious renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The uncertainty surrounding the talks and the future of U.S.-Canadian trade has the northern producers looking to Asia, and they like what they see.

The good news is that "the U.S. economy is less dependent on oil than it was in the early 2000s", but "additional research is needed."