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A large crowd gathered at this year’s Iowa Agriculture Leaders banquet in Des Moines Tuesday night to see Bill Northey, Iowa’s long-time Secretary of Agriculture, finally sworn in for his new USDA post.

Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran, a former chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and the current chairman of Appropriations, says he will retire April 1, citing health reasons.

The U.S., Canada and Mexico announced progress today at the conclusion of the seventh round of North American Free Trade Agreement talks in Mexico City, but it was the U.S. plan to levy steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that took center stage.

The Trump administration this week finalizes hefty steel and aluminum tariffs that have farm groups bracing from retaliatory trade actions, and the president also is pushing forward to address complaints by refiners about the cost of complying with federal biofuel mandates.

Cotton growers will get a new round of ginning cost-share payments to tide them over until new farm bill assistance kicks in.

The Senate today cleared the way for Gregg Doud to be the next chief agricultural negotiator for the Office of the United States Trade Representative, bringing key new manpower to the agency as it renegotiates the North American Free Trade Agreement and chases new free trade agreements in Asia.

President Trump’s search for a way to address refiners’ complaints about the Renewable Fuel Standard remained at an impasse following a meeting with biofuel and refining industry executives where the idea of a temporary cap on ethanol credits was quickly rejected by producers.

President Donald Trump announced today that the U.S. will be hitting steel and aluminum imports from China and other countries with tariffs, elevating an already high level of concern that China will retaliate and U.S. ag exports will be caught in the crossfire.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue took center stage at the Commodity Classic today, offering a forceful defense of his support for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), while trying to settle down concerned corn growers who are counting on the Trump administration’s support.