Trade discussions between the US and China may have significant impacts to agriculture. Agricultural markets across the Southeast are continuing to react to last week's summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, where trade and agricultural purchases were major topics of discussion. Following the meetings in Beijing, reports indicated China may expand purchases of US agricultural products as part of broader efforts to stabilize trade relations after last year's tariff escalation disrupted export markets and commodity prices. That is especially important for Southeastern agriculture because commodities like cotton, peanuts, poultry, soybeans, and timber products all depend heavily on international demand and export movement. Market analysts say cotton producers in Georgia and Alabama are watching particularly closely since export sales remain one of the biggest drivers of cotton prices. Peanut growers are also monitoring negotiations because trade stability can influence global commodity movement and overall market confidence heading into harvest planning later this year. While no major new tariff rollbacks have been formally announced yet, agricultural groups are looking for signs that China could increase long-term purchasing commitments for American farm products in the coming months. Growers across the Southeast remain cautious, however, because many trade uncertainties that impacted commodity prices over the past two years remain unresolved. /audio Audio Reporting by Josh McGill for Southeast AgNet.

Southeastern States Continue To Watch Trade Discussions Between The US and China

Trade discussions between the US and China may have significant impacts to agriculture. Agricultural markets across the Southeast are continuing to react to last week’s summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, where trade and agricultural purchases were major topics of discussion. Following the meetings in Beijing, reports indicated China may expand purchases of US agricultural products as …

peanuts

Improvements and World Buyers of Peanuts

USDA’s Ag Statistics Service along with the Foreign Agriculture Service has announced the latest buying of peanuts for the past three months. That is January through March. The peanut industry is worried that they had lost part of their export market because it was down 25 percent for the last year and now, we are looking now at improvements in …

citrus fruits

How Citrus Fruits Spread Across the World and Reached America

Citrus fruits are now a major part of agriculture across the United States, especially in states like Florida, California, Arizona, and Texas. But the history of oranges, lemons, limes, and other citrus fruits stretches back thousands of years to ancient civilizations and early global trade routes. According to agricultural historians, the exact origin of citrus fruits cannot be precisely identified. …

Central America

Central America Growing Exports Market For US Pork and Beef

Central America is expected to continue to be a growing market for U.S. Pork and Beef according to Ricardo Zúniga, featured speaker at the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Spring Conference in Oklahoma City last week. Zúniga, focused on the role that the Dominican Republic – Central America Free Trade Agreement will play in these exports. “The most important story …

American Peanut Council

American Peanut Council Targets New Export Markets

The American Peanut Council serves to promote peanuts abroad for American peanut farmers. They do pay membership through the American Peanut Council, which also gets some special grant money through the Market Access Program from USDA. A rigorous selection process has been underway for them to pick out some new markets to expand excess of export of peanuts. They recently assessed the market …

Central America

USMEF Releases Study of Red Meat Exports Increases Domestic Feed Demand

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) released a study highlighting how red meat exports provided increased value to corn and soybean producers in 2025. According to USMEF, “Nationally, U.S. beef and pork exports accounted for $2.18 billion in market value to corn producers in 2025, $375 million to distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), and $1 billion to soybean producers, …

Dairy

Milk and Dairy Product Futures Spurred By Demand

Butter and non-fat dry milk prices started the year in a deep slump, resulting in milk checks that didn’t even cover costs. According to dairy economists at CoBank, June Class IV milk futures have climbed nearly $7 per hundred since New Year’s, trading over $22, they say, an unprecedented move in just five months. Further, analysts at CoBank point to two very different reasons. …

fertilizer

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Announces Actions Regarding Fertilizer

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins held a press conference this past Tuesday to announce actions the USDA has taken to address fertilizer production. “The Blue Point project in Louisiana within 45 days and thanks to the quick movements of General Butch Graham with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with Adam Tell, we should see permitting wrapped up on this project …

Trade discussions between the US and China may have significant impacts to agriculture. Agricultural markets across the Southeast are continuing to react to last week's summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, where trade and agricultural purchases were major topics of discussion. Following the meetings in Beijing, reports indicated China may expand purchases of US agricultural products as part of broader efforts to stabilize trade relations after last year's tariff escalation disrupted export markets and commodity prices. That is especially important for Southeastern agriculture because commodities like cotton, peanuts, poultry, soybeans, and timber products all depend heavily on international demand and export movement. Market analysts say cotton producers in Georgia and Alabama are watching particularly closely since export sales remain one of the biggest drivers of cotton prices. Peanut growers are also monitoring negotiations because trade stability can influence global commodity movement and overall market confidence heading into harvest planning later this year. While no major new tariff rollbacks have been formally announced yet, agricultural groups are looking for signs that China could increase long-term purchasing commitments for American farm products in the coming months. Growers across the Southeast remain cautious, however, because many trade uncertainties that impacted commodity prices over the past two years remain unresolved. /audio Audio Reporting by Josh McGill for Southeast AgNet.

Secretary of Agriculture Highlights outcomes from President Trump’s Summit in China

The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced in a post on X the outcomes from President Trump’s Summit in China last week. Secretary Rollins highlighted the outcomes saying, “$17B in NEW purchase commitments, in addition to the 25MMT soybean commitment; U.S. poultry will be back on the table in China, as they are resuming U.S. imports; U.S. beef is …

usmef

USMEF Issues Statement on US-China Beef Trade Developments

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) has released a statement on the recent trade developments between the United States and China. According to USMEF, “China’s General Administration of Customs (GACC) has granted a five-year registration extension to 425 overdue U.S. beef establishments in China’s Food Import Food Establishment (CIFER) system. Additionally, 77 new U.S. beef establishment registrations have been added …