While some lawmakers have voiced concerns, agriculture groups Monday vocalized support for the nomination of Sam Clovis to a Department of Agriculture position. President Trump announced he would nominate Clovis to serve as the USDA undersecretary for research, education and economics, which also serves as the departments chief scientist. Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Debbie Stabenow, Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Patrick Leahy, and Senator Chris Coons, all Democrats, have questioned the nomination because Clovis does not have a scientific background. However, more than 20 agriculture groups signed a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Pat Roberts Monday expressing support for the nomination. The groups, including the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives and the American Farm Bureau Federation, said USDA already has lots of scientists, according to the Hagstrom Report. The letter stated: “They do not need a peer. They need someone to champion their work before the administration, the Congress, and all consumers around the world.”

After rising to growth neutral for two straight months, the Creighton University Rural Mainstreet Index fell below the 50.0 threshold for July, according to the latest monthly survey of bank CEOs in 10 Midwestern states. The index, which ranges between 0 and 100, tumbled to 40.7, its lowest level since November of last year, and down from 50.0 in June. Organizer Ernie Goss says drought conditions and weak grain prices are to blame, as they have attributed negatively to economic conditions. For the month, the July farmland and ranchland-price index sank to 36.6 from June’s 40.0. The July farm equipment-sales index fell to 20.0 from 26.2 in June. Borrowing by farmers was very strong for July as the loan-volume index climbed to 81.5, the second highest reading on record, and up from 78.3 in June. Finally, the confidence index, which reflects expectations for the economy six months out, slumped to a weak 38.4 from 48.9 in June, indicating a continued pessimistic outlook among bankers.

A top official from Mexico expects between six to nine rounds of negotiations between the United States, Mexico and Canada on the North America Free Trade Agreement. Mexico’s Economy Minister said last week the NAFTA members were looking at avoiding gaps of more than three weeks between negotiating rounds with a view to making quick progress, according to Reuters. The three countries had already agreed to an aggressive timetable to broker a deal on NAFTA to avoid politicizing Mexico’s presidential election in July 2018. The first round of talks on renegotiating NAFTA is due to begin in Washington on August 16th.

Mexican Ambassador to the U.S., Gerónimo Gutiérrez spoke to more than 200 corn farmers from the National Corn Growers Association this week in Washington, D.C. He told the group that the North American Free Trade Agreement has benefited both the U.S. and Mexico agriculture sectors, and that he is optimistic about the prospects of modernizing the trade agreement. Gutiérrez says: “Our agricultural trade through NAFTA has been a success for all parties,” adding that “the challenge is that none of us should stay in our comfort zone.” The Ambassador expressed a strong desire to continue strengthening agricultural trade between the U.S. and Mexico, but he also acknowledged that Mexico must keep its options open and is looking to other markets to secure his nation’s grain supply.

President Donald Trump has nominated Ted McKinney for Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs and Dr. Sam Clovis for Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics. Both have long been rumored to take top seats at the Department of Agriculture for months. McKinney currently serves as the director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture and Clovis was a Trump Campaign advisor before serving on the USDA transition team. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said McKinney and Clovis would both be assets to the department. Meanwhile, the White House this week also sent to the Senate Agriculture Committee its notice of intent to nominate Stephen Censky for USDA deputy secretary, paving the way for a Senate vote on the nomination.

As expected, U.S. trade officials confirmed this week that North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations would begin August 16th, the first day allowed by U.S. law. The office of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced this week that the talks would kick off in Washington, D.C. on August 16th, and the initial rounds of negotiations are scheduled to wrap up on Sunday, August 20th. Earlier this week, the White House released its goals for NAFTA, which includes maintaining duty-free status on agricultural exports to Mexico and Canada. The 18-page Summary of Objectives also includes the need to eliminate non-tariff barriers to U.S. agricultural exports. The new plan stresses the administration’s goal of updating and strengthening the rules of origin laws. However, it doesn’t ask for a reinstatement of Country of Origin Labeling on beef and pork imports from Mexico and Canada.

The House Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment to the fiscal 2018 Homeland Security Spending Bill that would help dairy producers and other farmers that need year round labor. The amendment would expand the types of businesses that can apply for the H-2A visa program for temporary or seasonal workers. Politico’s Morning Ag Report says it would also nullify the requirement that the work would be short term in nature. Washington Republican Dan Newhouse, a farmer himself, was the amendment author and says, “The amendment is a small starting point of relief we can provide our farmers who need workers.” The amendment doesn’t change how long a worker can stay in the country, which is three years with renewals. It doesn’t change the fact that farmers must first look for American workers. National Milk Producers Federation President Jim Mulhern says the amendment recognizes that we need to create new approaches to getting dairy employers the labor they need. Labor isn’t as on board with the deal. United Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez called the program deeply flawed and was “stunned” that two Democrats supported the measure. The group Farmworker Justice says the amendment does nothing to fix H-2A, which it says is “rife with abuses.”

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue met his counterpart from Brazil on Monday to discuss the U.S. ban on fresh beef imports from Brazil. Perdue said the U.S. needs to see more progress from Brazil on beef inspections before the ban would be lifted. A Cattle Network Dot Com article says the ban went into effect on June 22nd as the U.S. said a high percentage of beef imports from Brazil did not pass safety checks. American inspections found abscesses on meat from Brazil, which Brazilian farmers claimed were linked to foot-and-mouth disease vaccinations. Back in March, Brazilian meatpacking companies were hit with a scandal involving bribes paid to meat inspectors, which in turn halted Brazil’s protein shipments to many of the largest markets in the world. Perdue says the Brazilian Ag Secretary pushed for a timeline to restore beef imports, but Perdue also said that would depend on progress made by Brazil. The South American nation has been selling beef to the U.S. since they signed an agreement in 2016, ending 17 years’ worth of discussions about Brazilian imports. Beef shipments to the United States represent three percent of Brazil’s totals exports.

An atypical case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) was found Tuesday in an 11-year old cow in Alabama. The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) says the animal never entered the slaughter process and was no danger to the food supply or to human health. APHIS has determined that the cow was positive for atypical BSE, a kind typically found in cows at least eight years old. It’s different from the more well-known classical BSE that was found in the United Kingdom back in the late 1980s. The most common source of classical BSE is typically contaminated feed. The cow showed signs of the disease when it was discovered via routine surveillance in a livestock market. Barry Carpenter, CEO of the North American Meat Institute, says the fact that the animal was found before it entered a processing plant should reassure Americans that the U.S. animal health surveillance system and safety protocols are working to protect the public’s health. Carpenter says, “The U.S. surveillance system for sampling and testing cattle far exceeds recommended international standards.”