Trade

President Donald Trump made the biggest pitch for year-round E15 since his first term, calling on Congress to include the pro-ethanol measure in a nearly $88 billion legislative package to fund a raft of items, including the Iran war and $11 billion in financial aid for farmers. Members of Clean Fuels Alliance America gathered on Capitol Hill this week to stress the need to pass legislation to expand biomass-based diesel use in ocean-going vessels. 

Former officials at USDA who dealt with New World screwworm as it advanced closer to the U.S. push back against criticism of the Biden administration's efforts leveled by Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins. 

The Senate Agriculture Committee's five-year "farm bill 2.0" would bolster key farm and rural development initiatives while sidestepping the most controversial food and ag issues of the day. 

A new soybean crushing plant in Illinois will help reduce U.S. farmers' reliance on Chinese demand, attendees at Incobrasa's ribbon-cutting ceremony said on Monday. 

U.S. talks to end the war with Iran advanced over the weekend even as uncertainty hung over the status of trade flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Even in the best-case scenario for resuming key cargoes through the Strait of Hormuz, it will take time for disrupted energy and fertilizer markets to recover, says Corey Rosenbusch, president and CEO of The Fertilizer Institute.

A highly anticipated farm bill draft is in focus as senators kick off their last full legislative work week before a 10-day recess. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is in India this week for bilateral trade talks.

Key nitrogen fertilizer prices are falling as the world waits to see if a preliminary U.S.-Iran peace deal will hold. Even in the best-case scenario, it will take time to get facilities back up and fully running, says Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Alexis Maxwell. 

The Agriculture Department plans to relocate “much of” the Foreign Agricultural Service’s Washington D.C.-based workforce to Kansas City, Missouri, and Beltsville, Maryland, as part of its reorganization plan, the agency announced Wednesday.

The Agriculture Department is putting $105 million into 40 research projects aimed at better equipping the U.S. to combat the spread of New World screwworm, the agency says. The National Corn Growers Association and 15 state corn organizations are calling on USDA to fund research supporting the full value of corn as a driver of new market opportunities and farm revenue.

The European Union has adopted a regulation allowing streamlined approvals for gene-edited plants — a development that seed and biotech companies are lauding as a breakthrough on a continent known for its strict oversight of agricultural production.