Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts has indicated he wants to use the farm bill as a way to target fraud in the food stamp program. Bloomberg makes the interpretation from a statement by Roberts addressing quality control problems within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which the Chairman said “any problems will need to be given a hard look” in the $70 billion program. Bloomberg reports that the move could endanger the bipartisan support he needs to get the farm bill through Congress. The Senate Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing Thursday focusing on misreporting of costs in the program. During the 2014 Farm Bill process, a national payment-error rate was reported at 3.2 percent. A USDA spokesperson says fraud “should absolutely be part of the discussion,” as “fraud and abuse are problems that threaten the integrity of the program.”

The National Pork Producers Council Tuesday petitioned the Department of Transportation for a waiver and exemption for livestock haulers from regulations that NPPC says could harm animal well-being. The petition was filed on behalf of the pork industry and other livestock sectors, and requests the waiver and exemption because of concerns about the Electronic Logging Device Rule. The petition also asked the agency to address incompatibilities between the transportation of livestock and the department’s Hours of Service rules. Those regulations limit truckers to 11 hours of driving daily, after ten consecutive hours off duty, and restrict their on-duty time to 14 consecutive hours, which includes nondriving time. The Department of Transportation did recently issue an interpretation intended to address shortcomings in its Hours of Service rules, exempting from the regulations and from any distance-logging requirements truckers hauling livestock within a 150 air-mile radius of the location at which animals were loaded. NPPC also supports language included in the transportation fiscal 2018 funding bill that would delay the ELD mandate for one year for livestock haulers.

Trade leaders from South Korea are asking for a step by step approach to the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. Following last week’s discussion on terminating the agreement by President Donald Trump, Korea says: “Let’s go step by step, rather than just jumping the gun.” It is possible Trump could seek to renegotiate the trade deal, like his move regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement, but the administration would have to notify Congress before doing so. Cabinet members, including Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, briefed the White House last week on the implications of withdrawing from the agreement. Further, former House Speaker John Boehner said withdrawing from the agreement would “do more harm than good.” Boehner helped ratify the agreement in 2011, and told Politico that “we must renew and strengthen our relationships in the Pacific region, not just with South Korea, but with China,” instead of withdrawing from trade deals.

The Department of Agriculture expects a larger corn and a record soybean harvest in the most recent round of monthly reports. USDA forged against expectations and raised corn production to an estimated 14.1 billion bushels and soybeans to a record 4.4 billion bushels. USDA is forecasting the average corn yield at 169.0 bushels per acre, and the soybean yield at 49.9 bushels per acre. Production for the 2017-18 corn crop increased 31 million bushels from the August projection, but still six percent lower than the 2016-17 crop. Yield is expected to be lower, but overall crop projections by USDA put the crop at third-largest on record. The projected range for the season-average corn price received by producers was lowered 10 cents on both ends to a range of $2.80 to $3.60 per bushel. The farm price for soybeans was also lowered 10 cents a bushel to an average of $9.20. As for cotton, USDA estimated larger production, exports, and ending stocks relative to last month. However, USDA says those projections came before Hurricane Harvey, adding the agency will go back to collect harvested acres for cotton for Texas and Louisiana for the October Crop Production report.

U.S. beef exports remained well above last year’s pace in July, posting one of the highest monthly export value totals on record, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation. However, July pork export volume dipped below its year-ago level for the first time in 15 months, with export value also down slightly. July beef exports totaled 104,488 metric tons, up five percent year-over-year, while export value reached $623.7 million, up 18 percent from a year ago and the highest since December 2014. For January through July, exports increased 11 percent in volume and 15 percent in compared to the first seven months of last year. Pork exports totaled 173,675 metric tons in July, down four percent year-over-year, valued at $488.9 million, down 0.6 percent. January-July volume was still up 11 percent from a year ago to 1.43 million metric tons, while export value was up 13 percent to $3.7 billion.

The National Farmers Union is hosting more than 300 farmers in Washington D.C. this week, while Growth Energy is hosting 150 ethanol industry leaders, and pork producers arrive on Capitol Hill later this week. Farmers Union representatives are lobbying Congress to stand up for farmers and ranchers who are facing tough times, according to NFU President Roger Johnson. Johnson says NFU members are concerned about the prospect of an adequate farm safety net through the 2018 Farm Bill, along with healthcare and biofuel issues. Meanwhile, the 150 ethanol industry leaders will be advocating Congress members to cosponsor the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, which would correct an outdated regulation that restricts retailers from selling fuel containing 15 percent ethanol during the summer fueling season. Finally, the National Pork Producers Council will host more than 125 pork producers Wednesday and Thursday in Washington, D.C. to meet with lawmakers. NPPC says producers will focus on trade, regulations and support and funding for a Foot-and-Mouth Disease vaccine bank.

U.S. news website Axios reports that Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue was part of the briefing team last week that convinced President Donald Trump to reconsider withdrawing the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, known as KORUS. Axios reports that Trump’s withdrawal from KORUS was much more than a serious consideration, it was as close as it gets to a done deal, stalled by senior level staff who raised concerns that the President had not been fully briefed on the consequences of his decision. Perdue was joined by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis who made a national security case against withdrawing from the agreement. This would be the second trade agreement Perdue helped sway the President away from terminating. Perdue met with the President as Trump was intending to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement in April, before choosing to renegotiate the agreement.