Just as Trans-Pacific Partnership nations seemed ready to leave Canada behind, the nation has reached an agreement to sign the trade pact. Renamed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the agreement comes after talks in Japan this week, according to CBC News of Canada. With Canada now on board, with the approval of its agriculture sector, the TPP 11 agreement is scheduled for a signing ceremony in March. A senior Canadian official says the deal also opens Canada’s beef exports to Japan at the expense of America cattle farmers. U.S.-based National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says the U.S. withdrawal from TPP is a “missed opportunity.” NCBA will have a representative in Canada attending the North American Free Trade Agreement talks later this week. An NCBA spokesperson says: “We encourage negotiators in Montreal to continue building on the progress made in previous rounds so the United States can focus on tearing down trade barriers in Asia and around the world.”

A recent report by CoBank expects the farm economy to tighten again in 2018, and experts say that will lead to more farmers filing Chapter 12 bankruptcy. DTN-The Progressive Farmer reports that wheat and dairy producers are among the hardest hit, with an increase in Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings in Kansas and Wisconsin, reaching the highest level since 2012 last year. the number of Chapter 12 filings has been on the rise since 2014 when there were about 380 filings. That number spiked to just more than 500 in 2017. Chapter 12 is designed specifically for farmers with regular annual income and allows them to stop debt collection and establish repayment plans of three to five years with creditors. The law also allows farmers to restructure debt without forming creditors’ committees. Meanwhile, the report points out that trade is “mission critical” for agriculture in 2018. CoBank says: “U.S. agriculture has a lot at stake as these negotiations unfold, and the rhetoric is likely to get worse before it gets better.”

Trade officials gathering this week in Tokyo are trying to forge ahead on the Trans-Pacific Partnership without the United States but are bogged down by Canada. The member countries of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, also known as TPP 11, reached a basic agreement on the pact in November. But, Canada is holding out to secure protection of its cultural industries and has said it will not be rushed into signing a deal that other members hope to conclude by March, according to Reuters. TPP nations are “committed” to advancing the deal forward as quickly as possible. While not likely, the nations could exclude Canada, as an Australian official says: “Our focus is on bringing a new TPP agreement into force as soon as possible with those who are ready to move.” Farm groups, including the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, last week urged Canada to commit to the agreement. Without the new TPP, the Association says: “Canadian beef producers will watch helplessly as our exports to Japan erode.”

Trade negotiators are in Montreal for the next round of talks regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement. The session could be the last round of significant talks before the Mexican presidential campaigns which lead up to a July first election, making negotiations too difficult, according to the Hagstrom Report. The talks will last until January 29th, when the top U.S., Mexican and Canadian trade officials are scheduled to meet. The Canadian Press reports the nation will be hosting an “angry” U.S. trade delegation, and many expect contentious issues to be addressed, including agriculture. The talks come as Bloomberg claims the U.S. and Canada agree on 40 percent of the topics being negotiated, and that Mexico may be able to accept terms for vehicles. Mexico claims that trade negotiators are close to completing work on ten of the 30 NAFTA chapters. Still, the fate of the agreement remains unclear, as the Trump administration has routinely threatened to end the trade pact. President Trump has also said that a new NAFTA will greatly benefit U.S. farmers and ranchers.

Arkansas lawmakers approved, without discussion, a partial-ban on a herbicide that drifts on to other crops where it wasn’t applied and causes damage. An Associated Press report says the prohibition faces a court challenge by the maker of the weed killer. The Legislative Council approved the Arkansas Plant Board’s plan to ban dicamba use from April 15 through October 31. The Council is the legislature’s governing body when lawmakers aren’t in session. Earlier this week, a subcommittee recommended the council approve the ban. The Plant Board first proposed the ban after receiving over 1,000 complaints about dicamba. Monsanto is a maker of dicamba and has asked a state judge to prevent the restriction from going into effect. Arkansas is one of many states that have gotten complaints about dicamba drifting into adjacent fields from the ones it was directly applied to, causing damage in soybeans that aren’t resistant to the herbicide.

Farm Futures magazine recently released its survey of 2018 planting intentions, which shows that farmers aren’t quite ready to make major changes to their crop rotations. However, they are going to plant more of what paid best in 2017. For the first time since 1983, farmers want to plant more soybeans than corn. Back then, the government’s PIK program idled millions of corn acres, but even then the difference was just 35,000 acres. Growers are planning to put in 90.1 million acres of crops this year, not much different than in 2017. Farm Futures is projecting more wheat planting this year, saying farmers are ready to put in 11.8 million acres of spring wheat, up 6.7 percent from last year. The first Farm Futures survey of 2018 planting intentions showed farmers wanting to boost corn acres and cut back on soybeans, but price relationships have changed quite a bit in the last four months. Cotton farmers also intend to raise the amount of planted acres to 13.2 million, a five percent jump. Cotton was one of the few bright spots in the crop community in 2017. Farm Futures did say that all of this information could be subject to change based on changing prices and the weather.

The government shutdown has entered its third day, with a vote planned for Noon Eastern Time today to end debate and move forward to a stop-gap funding bill. The shutdown appears to loom on a group of roughly 20 Senators who have yet to find compromise and agree to vote for a spending measure, with some Senators expressing optimism Sunday that the shutdown would be short-lived. Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a statement that “USDA is committed to safeguarding life and property through the critical services” provided by the federal agency. Those include food inspections through the Food Safety and Inspection Service, import controls, core nutrition programs, and keeping Rural Development offices open in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. USDA says crop insurance services will continue, and indemnity payments will continue to be made. The U.S. Forest Service will continue emergency and defense preparedness, including fire suppression. Select services through the Agricultural Marketing Service will continue, and the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations will be supported and maintained.