Corn farmers and Midwest landowners who want to help honey bees and Monarch butterflies have a unique opportunity to do this in a strategic fashion through The Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund’s SEED A LEGACY Pollinator Habitat Program, which is being supported by the National Corn Growers Association. The updated program, expanded in 2018 to include 11 states, seeks partnerships between landowners and beekeepers to provide cost-effective, high-quality pollinator habitat to ensure honey bee and Monarch butterfly populations thrive. Enrollment is open to public, private and corporate landowners in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. These states were selected based on their critical role to address National Pollinator Partnership Action Plan goals. Applications for each state are being accepted online at BeeAndButterflyFund.org/habitat-programs through March 31, 2018 for spring planting. A second application period will open later in 2018 for projects to be planted in the fall. Native pollinators, honey bees and Monarch butterflies have experienced population declines over the last two decades. The Habitat Fund offers a way for farmers to incorporate the latest innovation and technology into their stewardship efforts and do so in a way that is cost effective, establishes quickly, provides greater pollinator value and addresses weed competition.

Senator John Barrasso introduced a bill Tuesday that incorporates several measures designed to ease the regulatory burden on farmers and ranchers. Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, says the bill “would help defend agricultural industries from punishing federal rules and reporting requirements,” according to Politico. Known as the ACRE Act, the legislation includes eight bills, including the Fair Agricultural Reporting Method, or FARM Act. The FARM Act was introduced by Nebraska Republican Senator Deb Fischer, which seeks an exemption to emission reporting requirements for farmers and ranchers. The bill would also end overlapping environmental permitting for pesticide application requirements, protect the personal information of agricultural producers, and prevent farmers from being hit with penalties for engaging in “normal agricultural operations that could be considered ‘baiting’ of migratory game birds.”

Ex-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ssid the United States will engage TPP-11 members, emphasizing a need for “fairness” in expanding trade relationships with nations involved in the pact. TPP-11, now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, or the CPTPP, was signed last week by the 11 remaining nations involved in the agreement. Tillerson made the comments last week after the signing of the agreement that President Donald Trump removed the U.S. from upon taking office. Politico reports that Tillerson did not mention Trump’s recent comments on the deal which indicated Trump was willing to rejoin the agreement, if it was deemed fair for the United States. Tillerson said specifically that the U.S. “looks forward to engaging” the trade deal’s members regarding fair trade. The CPTPP will enter into force 60 days after six of the 11 countries ratify the deal, which is expected early next year.

Investments in the early stages of agricultural technology in 2017 increased 29 percent, compared to 2016. AgFunder, a self-proclaimed online investment marketplace for agricultural technology, reports early stage investment in agriculture tech startups reached $10.1 billion in 2017, up 29 percent. The increase reverses a downward trend seen in 2016, when agriculture tech investing dropped nine percent to $7.8 billion from $8.6 billion in 2015. AgFunder announced the figures through its AgTech Investing Reports. The reports say large funding agreements pushed the total investment volume up, but a number of agreements fell by 17 percent to 949. Meanwhile, AgFunder says the investor base participating in agriculture tech deals continued to diversify with 1,048 unique investors participating during 2017, including Silicon Valley venture firms, state-backed government funds, pension funds, corporate entities, as well as the growing number of agriculture tech specialists.

Ranking House Agriculture Committee Democrat Collin Peterson says the committee plans to mark up the farm bill on March 20th, but a revolt over food stamp provisions could stop the bill from moving forward. The Hagstrom Report says Peterson and Committee Chairman Mike Conaway had “hit an impasse” regarding the nutrition title, and a spokesperson for Conaway could not confirm the March 20th mark up date. Conaway’s office does say that moving the bill forward by the end of the first quarter of 2018 “remains the goal,” adding that the Chairman’s staff is “working closely” with those across the aisle to “try and get there.” Peterson said the Republican proposal regarding nutrition is similar to what killed the current farm bill the first time it came to the House floor in 2013. Meanwhile, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts says the Senate will not make any significant changes to the bill. The Senate is expected to consider it’s version of the bill in committee next month.

Mexico and Canada were happy to hear about President’s Trump’s willingness to exclude them from tariffs on steel and aluminum exports to the U.S. However, they expect any talks about a possible permanent exemption to take place outside of the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations. Politico quotes the Mexican Economy Ministry in a release that says, “The process of negotiations for the NAFTA modernization continues on a course independent of this or any other internal political measure that the U.S. government takes.” Also, Canada “won’t rest until the prospect of these duties is fully and permanently lifted,” Cynthia Freeland told reporters in Toronto. She also says the tariff discussions and NAFTA negotiations are completely different, adding that, “We treat them on totally separate tracks.” However, Trump more directly tied Canada and Mexico’s exclusion from the tariffs to a successful NAFTA outcome. “We’re going to hold off the tariff on these two countries to see whether or not we can make a successful deal on NAFTA,” he said during a signing ceremony for the two proclamations that will impose the 25 percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent tariff on aluminum. “National security is a very important aspect of this deal, and if we’re making the deal on NAFTA, this will figure into whether or not there are tariffs on Canada and Mexico,” says the president.

Reaction to the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports has been mixed among different sectors of the economy. The Hagstrom Report says Business Roundtable President and CEO Joshua Bolten calls the tariffs a major unforced error by President Trump that will put America’s economic progress at risk. He says, “The tariffs will cause significant harm to industries that rely on imported steel and aluminum. Higher production costs mean higher prices, making American products more expensive, thereby putting American jobs at risk.” The Farmers for Free Trade Coalition says it expects that these tariffs will cause retaliation “that comes straight out of the pockets of American farmers.” American Soybean Association President John Heisdorffer says, “These tariffs are a disastrous course of action from the White House. We’ve already heard from China that U.S. soybeans are among the prime targets for retaliation.” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka argues that there is no danger that Trump’s new tariffs will start a trade war, noting that there are already 435 U.S. tariffs in place to try and fight cheaters. Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul says 500 people are heading back to work for U.S. Steel because of Trump’s move to protect their industry.