Articles by Bill Tomson

August is shaping up to be a good month for U.S. sorghum sales to China. The latest data out of USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service shows Chinese companies contracted to buy 696,300 metric tons of the grain in the first week of the month.

Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to be in Des Moines, Iowa, today to formally launch the “Farmers & Ranchers for Trump” coalition. The event is set for this afternoon on the state fairgrounds. Pence also will speak at a town hall sponsored by Heritage Action, the political advocacy arm of the Heritage Foundation.

Joe Biden has finally ended the speculation with his pick of California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate. Her selection is being welcomed by environmentalists who believe she will be an aggressive ally on their issues.

Tuesday is another big day in the race for congressional seats critical to Congress. Republicans in Minnesota 7th District will pick a Republican challenger to House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson.

China’s purchasing spree of new crop soybeans from the U.S. is picking up steam as Chinese crushers take advantage of price deals and work to feed a growing livestock industry.

The game of chicken between the White House and congressional Democrats goes on. As promised, President Donald Trump issued executive orders over the weekend aimed at among other things restoring lapsed jobless benefits, suspending payroll taxes and stopping evictions.

Today’s the deadline that senior Trump administration officials had set for getting an agreement with Democrats on a new coronavirus relief package. But there is still no sign that a deal is anywhere close.

New data from USDA show that China has a long way to go to fulfill its “phase one” commitments, despite a surge in sales in recent weeks.

U.S. agricultural exports to China are up from a year ago but still far below the amounts needed to meet the pledges the Chinese made under the “phase one” trade agreement, according to new USDA data.