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Senate Agriculture Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., is optimistic on the prospects for E15 and additional farmer aid to pass Congress. 

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman released a discussion draft of a new five-year farm bill Tuesday including a comprehensive reauthorization of farm and nutrition programs. While stakeholders praised the long-awaited progress, there were mixed reviews over the provisions both included and left out of the package.

A federal judge has vacated the U.S. Department of Agriculture's approval of pilot programs in five states that barred Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients from using their benefits to buy soda, candy, and other items, ruling that the agency exceeded its legal authority and bypassed required public notice procedures.

 As policy watchers await a draft farm bill from the Senate Agriculture Committee, lawmakers also need to focus on passing year-round E15, weighing in on California’s Proposition 12, and getting more economic aid into the hands of crop growers, American Farm Bureau Federation’s John Newton says. The Trump administration’s record-high biofuel-blending rules are a clear economic win for rural America, says Clean Fuels Alliance America CEO Donnell Rehagen.

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.

A fourth-generation farmer from western North Carolina is stoking the hopes of Democrats seeking to regain majority control of Congress next year. 

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. 

A New Mexico dog confirmed with a case of New World screwworm last week is no longer believed to have traveled to Mexico, New Mexico Agriculture Secretary Jeff Witte says. As Senate Agriculture Committee leaders prepare to release farm bill text, Vermont Sen. Peter Welch says lawmakers need to focus on the growing economic reality that farmers are spending more to produce crops than they're earning.