Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says it’s “too early” to talk about the possibiity of the United States leaving the World Trade Organization. A Bloomberg report says the discussion comes about as a result of the Trump Administration continuing to talk about ways to improve the organization. During an interview with CNBC, Ross said, “The WTO knows there are some reforms …
Anger Rises as Tariffs Take Effect
Lawmakers may have left steamy Washington, D.C., for cooler temperatures, but Politico says they’ve only just begun to heat up talks to kill President Donald Trump’s rapidly spreading tariff war. In talking about Trump’s tariffs, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah says, “I want to kill them.” The Finance Committee chaired by Hatch is working on legislation to rein the president …
Kansas Announces Pilot Disease Traceability Program for Cattle
Kansas state government officials and leaders from the Kansas livestock industry announced a new program called the Cattle Trace Pilot Project. Cattle Trace is a unique public-private project that will develop and test a cattle disease traceability infrastructure in the state, which will hopefully be a catalyst in discussing and designing a national traceability program. Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer was …
Senate Approves Pesticide Registration Improvement Act
Senate Ag Committee Chair Pat Roberts and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow announced that the Senate has unanimously approved the reauthorization of the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act. “The U.S. Senate just passed a bipartisan farm bill to provide farmers and ranchers with some certainty amid a tough economy,” Roberts says, “and we can add to this certainty for producers and many …
Quebec Says Canada Should Rethink Dairy Policy
The largest dairy-producing province in Canada says the country should reconsider its dairy policy to help ease tensions with the United States. The Premiere of Quebec says the perception is that the Class 7 milk-pricing policy was put in place to hurt the competitiveness of American dairy products. Phillippe Couillard tells Bloomberg that the pricing policy seems to be the …
More Ag Tariffs In Place This Week
Major U.S. trading partners, including China, Canada, and Mexico are hitting back against the Trump Administration’s trade policies by putting retaliatory duties on almost $50 billion worth of U.S. goods. Politico says the final list of tariffs in Canada includes a lot of U.S. agricultural products, including orange juice, maple syrup, and U.S. prepared beef products. Canada’s Foreign Minister says …
Trump Administration Drafting Bill to Pull U.S. Out of WTO?
The website AXIOS, as well as AOL, are both reporting that the Trump Administration has drafted a bill that would abandon the United States’ commitment to the World Trade Organization’s rules. Trump has reportedly been discussing the withdrawal of the U.S. from the WTO altogether. However, Congress is unlikely to approve the measure. Administration officials involved in drafting the legislation …
N.C. Legislature Overrides Veto of Farm Protection Bill
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper recently vetoed a bill that would make it difficult to sue large livestock operations. A Farm Journal report says the bill would make it more difficult to sue those operations over odor, declining property values, and other nuisance issues. The North Carolina legislature overrode the governor’s veto of the bill, the 16th of 23 total …
Pork Industry Hit from All Sides
The pork industry is holding some of its highest inventory of hogs and pigs since the USDA began recording the data back in 1964. That’s according the to the Hogs and Pigs Report that came out Thursday. Politico says pork checkoff experts struggled to find a bright spot for hog producers in the months ahead. “We’re looking at an awful …
Meat Companies Accused of Artificially Inflating Pork Prices
A class action lawsuit is accusing Hormel, Tyson Foods, and other meatpacking companies of artificially raising the price of hot dogs, bacon, and other pork products with the help of a company called Agri Stats, an info-sharing service. A Bloomberg report says the complaint was filed by a group of meat buyers in a Minnesota court on Thursday. The complaint …