A study sponsored by seven agriculture groups and released by Farm Policy Facts calls a plan by the Heritage Foundation misleading. Brandon Willis, former Agriculture Department Risk Management Agency administrator, crafted the study “How Heritage Foundation’s U.S. Farm Policy Proposals Would Put America Last.” The Heritage Foundation released a blueprint earlier this year for the 2018 Farm Bill, and claims it is time to change farm policy. The blueprint would eliminate revenue-based crop insurance and the Renewable Fuel Standard, eliminate the Waters of the United States Rule and eliminate bio energy programs. Willis writes in the Farm Policy Facts study that the Heritage Foundation assumes farmers are in a good position economically, but adds the Foundation cherry-picked the data and used a flawed methodology to “exaggerate the financial condition of actual farmers and ranchers.” Willis says 70 percent of the income reported was derived from other sectors. His research shows that wheat, corn and cotton farmers, when all cost are considered, profit less than 30 percent of the time. The study is available at www.farmpolicyfacts.org.

Higher supplies of meat will continue to pressure consumer prices lower, according to a forecast by the Department of Agriculture. The USDA Economic Research Service Food Price Outlook predicts beef and veal prices to decrease one to two percent in 2017 but increase the same amount in 2018. That’s because in August, the U.S. cattle herd was at its highest level since 2008, according to meat industry publication Meatingplace. Lower beef prices are adding pressure to lower pork prices, along with an anticipated 4.9 percent increase in pork production this year. Large pork supplies are expected to change retail prices in a range of 0.5 percent lower to 0.5 percent higher in 2017, but increase 1.5 to 2.5 percent in 2018. Meanwhile, prices for poultry rose 0.2 percent from July to August and are one percent higher than last year. Despite high broiler production, many broilers have low weights, which along with larger birds demanding higher prices, has contributed to higher retail poultry prices.

The World Trade Organization has created a dispute panel to investigate U.S. complaints regarding import quotas by China. The panel came at the request of the U.S. regarding quotas on wheat, rice and corn. The panel on tariff rate quotas for agricultural products was automatically established as it was the second request by the United States at the WTO Dispute Settlement Body, after China blocked the first attempt in August, according to Reuters. The challenge was initiated by the Obama administration in December of last year, and was continued by the Trump administration which says the quotas hurt U.S. farm exports. China calls the quotas “legitimate measures with regard to vital agricultural staples.” However, the U.S. says China pledged to remove the restrictions when it joined the WTO. Some 14 countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, and Thailand, as well as the European Union, have joined the dispute.

South Korea will hold a second round of trade talks with the United States next month. The meeting comes as the Trump administration wants to either renegotiate a free trade agreement between the two, or withdraw from the agreement. A South Korea news agency reports the meeting will take place on October 4th, but the two sides have yet to decide on the specific agenda or their delegations. Last week, the top trade negotiators for Korea and the U.S. met in Washington, D.C., to discuss ways to move forward with the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, known as KORUS. Washington is seeking to amend the five-year-old deal to address the country’s growing deficit in trade with South Korea. Korea previously declined to engage with the U.S. in talks to address KORUS. Korea is the fifth largest U.S. agricultural export market.

The United States now has a tentative timeline to complete the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations. The Trump administration notified Congress Friday evening of expected changes to trade remedy law as a result of the ongoing trade talks, according to Politico. Notification is required at least 180 days before a trade agreement is signed, under the trade promotion authority law. The House Ways and Means Committee confirmed it received the notification. Trade promotion authority also requires the administration to give Congress another notification 90 days before signing the agreement and to publish the text of the pact 60 days before signing. The timeline puts March 22nd as the first day a new NAFTA could be signed. However, to have the deal ready to sign, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would have to reach a deal in December and publish the text in January.

The National Weather Service is calling for above normal temperatures in the contiguous – U.S. over the last three months of 2017. The National Weather Service says the greatest chance of warmth comes in the Four Corners Region between October and December. This could possibly mean areas to the east may need some springtime rains to be ready for the spring planting season. That fact may be made worse because of drought spreading across the Midwest, including Kansas, as well as drought conditions that remain across parts of the Northern Plains. The end of the year forecast calls for above normal precipitation in the Pacific Northwest. The forecast also calls for below-normal precipitation along the Gulf Coast and into Missouri. Below-normal precipitation is in the forecast for eastern Kansas and Oklahoma. Meanwhile, the rest of the country is equally split between normal, above normal, and below normal chances for precipitation.

Idaho, North Dakota, and Montana wheat growers got some good news as Taiwan signed an agreement to buy a large amount of wheat that primarily come from those three states. An Associated Press report says Idaho Governor Butch Otter signed an agreement this week with Taiwanese officials after Montana and North Dakota also signed agreements. Otter said, “The consumption of wheat foods in Taiwan has now surpassed rice and we appreciate that the Taiwan milling industry recognizes the quality of Idaho wheat.” The Taiwanese Flour Millers Association represents 20 flour mills in the country. This is the eleventh time that Taiwan has signed an agreement to buy U.S. wheat. Taiwan has about one-sixth the land mass of Idaho but a population of more than 23 million people. The U.S. supplies more than 80 of its total wheat imports every year. With this new agreement, Taiwan will buy 1.8 million metric tons of wheat in 2018 and 2019. Bill Flory, Vice Chairman of the Idaho Wheat Commission, says the partnership between Taiwan millers and Idaho wheat producers is enduring and very successful.

The National Farmers Union says the latest healthcare reform effort from U.S. Senate leadership will not improve access to affordable and quality healthcare for family farmers and ranchers. NFU President Roger Johnson sent a letter to members of the Senate asking legislators to vote against the plan, known as the Graham-Cassidy Health Care Plan. Johnson also says NFU will score the vote. The National Farmers Union is calling on Congress to use a more transparent and bipartisan approach to improving healthcare. “The NFU’s member-driven policy affirms the right of all Americans to have access to quality healthcare,” Johnson says. “The Graham-Cassidy bill would make health care less affordable for family farmers and ranchers.” Some of the provisions the NFU is concerned about include the elimination of the current structure for tax credits, cost-sharing reductions, and subsidies for out-of-pocket costs. Johnson says the proposed plan would create instability in the markets and force insurance carriers to raise their premiums.