A group of Arkansas farmers who planted roughly 34 percent of the state’s soybean crop has filed a petition in response to a proposed ban on using dicamba products after April 15. The Dicamba Task force assembled by government leaders recently proposed the ban and the farmers say they want in-season access to the technology. The farmers say they’ve seen first-hand the success of the dicamba technology in controlling pigweeds. They’ve also been “very impressed by the significant improvements in yield.” The petition drive started on September 15 and represents farmers from 22 Arkansas counties. An Ag Web Dot Com report says farmers who’ve signed the petition say the proposed ban would cause financial losses to farmers because other pigweed control systems aren’t as effective as the dicamba technology. They also say farmers were not adequately represented on the Dicamba Task Force. Pigweed is a major problem in Arkansas and the group doesn’t want Arkansas to be the only state in the south not using dicamba. They propose a May 25 cutoff date and a one-mile buffer zone as solutions that would reduce or eliminate all soybean injury that occurred this year.

A coalition supporting ag exports is urging Senators to pass legislation to expand the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development program. The Coalition to Promote U.S. Agricultural Exports and the Agribusiness Coalition for Foreign Market Development say the Cultivating Revitalization by Expanding American Agricultural Trade and Exports, or CREAATE Act, would boost trade’s impact on U.S. farmer profitability and the U.S. economy. The bipartisan legislation follows a House version of the bill introduced in May. The bill would increase statutory funding for the programs, which are now authorized at $200 million per year for MAP and $34.5 million per year for FMD. The two coalitions say both programs have faced stagnant funding and eroding real dollar impact due to inflation, sequestration, administrative costs and increased global competition.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Texas Representative Mike Conaway, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, are in Texas this week to survey hurricane damage. The two are visiting the Houston area to survey agricultural damage from Hurricane Harvey. Damages from Hurricane Harvey are estimated to cost Texas agriculture billions of dollars from losses to crops and livestock. The area declared as a disaster by Texas Governor Greg Abbott contains about 1.2 million cattle, which is roughly 27 percent of the state’s cowherd. The losses from Harvey will reduce the state’s expected two million bale cotton harvest by as much as 400,000 bales. Perdue and Conaway will also make a stop at the Houston Food Bank on Thursday. Friday, the duo will travel to West Texas where the two will address the Southwest Council of Agribusiness, which is holding its annual meeting in Lamesa, Texas.

The third round of formal negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement gets underway next week in Canada. Round three of the talks are planned in Ottaway September 23rd through September 27th. The meeting follows the first set of talks in Washington, D.C., and the second round of talks held in Mexico City, Mexico earlier this month. However, rounds one and two were largely uneventful with little resolution on major trade issues between the NAFTA partners, and there’s a hinting from the administration that a deal may not be reached. Any negative trade impacts to agriculture would be significant. Mexico exports $23 billion of agricultural products to the U.S., while Canada exports $22 billion. Canada and Mexico are top markets for U.S. agricultural products, as well. Corn exports to Mexico alone are worth an estimated $2.6 billion, while soybean exports to Mexico from the U.S. are worth an estimated $1.5 billion. For exports to Canada, it’s estimated that the U.S. exports $4.8 billion worth of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables.

A recent study by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization says cattle raised for beef production play a key role in maintaining a sustainable food system. Meat industry publication Meatingplace reports that the research essentially counters claims that beef production consumes too much human-edible feed, finding that cattle are net contributors to the global protein supply, and concludes that “modest yield improvements” can reduce further land expansion for feed production. The research shows that 86 percent of the feed cattle consume is grasses grown on marginal lands, not edible to humans. The study says: “Livestock play, and will continue to play, a critical role in adding value to these residual products, a large share of which could otherwise be an environmental burden.”

Data from the Department of Agriculture shows exports of farm goods will push higher in 2017. A forecast compiled by USDA predicts the value of agricultural exports in fiscal year 2017 will hit nearly $140 billion, up $10 billion from fiscal year 2016. With stronger exports and modest import increases in 2017, the U.S. will have an agricultural trade surplus of roughly $23 billion compared to $7 billion last year. USDA says the increase reflects the improvement in the global economy, and it represents a lower value for the U.S. dollar to make a better deal for foreign buyers to purchase U.S. agricultural products, according to Farm Journal’s AgWeb. The initial fiscal year 2018 forecast shows exports will reach $139 billion, slightly lower than the current level.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said this week that negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement are moving at “warp speed,” but may lead to no agreement. Lighthizer said: “we don’t know whether we’re going to get to a conclusion. That’s the problem. We’re running very quickly somewhere.” Lighthizer says the U.S. would like to reach an agreement and conclude the negotiations with Canada and Mexico by the end of this year. He refused to answer any questions about whether the administration planned to propose a “sunset” provision to automatically terminate NAFTA after five years, unless countries agree to extend, according to Politico. Lighthizer made the comments during a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He also commented on China, calling the nation an “unprecedented” threat because of policies that subsidize domestic production, create national champions, force technology transfers and distort markets.