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House GOP leaders were facing heavy pressure from farm groups and their allies in Congress on Sunday to add economic assistance for row crop producers to a year-end stopgap spending bill. House Democrats will pick a ranking member for the House Agriculture Committee on Monday.

Negotiations over a package of market relief assistance for farmers reached an impasse Saturday after Democratic leaders rejected the latest GOP proposal, and several major farm groups called on lawmakers to oppose a stopgap spending bill if the economic aid is omitted.

Red Trail Energy, an ethanol plant on a North Dakota carbon capture site, is one step closer to being purchased by biofuel company Gevo following a vote by its equity holders approving the transaction.

Lawmakers continue what’s described as “intense negotiations” over what’s going to be included with a one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill. It’s not clear yet that GOP leaders will agree to add a package of market relief for farmers.

Seventy-seven Nobel laureates in medicine, economics, physics and chemistry are urging senators not to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. 

USDA has rolled out a plan to test the nation’s milk supply for avian flu, which has swept through a large portion of the nation’s dairy herd since March.

President-elect Donald Trump is bringing China hawk Peter Navarro back to the White House as a top trade adviser, adding to a trade team that features a mix of Wall Street veterans and protectionist policy specialists. In other words, the trade team for Trump’s second term looks a lot like the first. 

Democrats on the House Ag Committee are starting to line up behind the candidates seeking to be the panel’s ranking member. Reps. Angie Craig, D-Minn., and Jim Costa, D-Calif., are challenging Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., for the minority’s top spot.

The federal government and states have made progress in their efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, particularly when it comes to reducing sediment loads in the watershed. But nitrogen and phosphorus reduction goals are still below goals set for the end of 2025, a likely topic of discussion for when officials meet later this month to discuss the bay’s future.

The House on Tuesday passed a bill that would reauthorize a slate of conservation grant programs that fund Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts, assistance for producers that lose livestock to endangered predators, and wetlands conservation projects.