Today, the entire Missouri congressional delegation, including U.S. Senators Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley, and U.S. Representatives Sam Graves, Emanuel Cleaver, II, Vicky Hartzler, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Ann Wagner, Wm. Lacy Clay, Billy Long, and Jason Smith sent a letter to President Trump supporting Governor Mike Parson’s request for a disaster declaration for 13 counties impacted by severe flooding. The disaster declaration is a necessary step for these counties to be able to access federal resources for recovery efforts.

“The severity and magnitude of the flooding has caused several communities to be evacuated and has resulted in the destruction of homes, farms, and businesses,” the delegation wrote. “We respectfully request your prompt action to ensure that these communities receive the immediate support needed to respond to the disaster. Along with our fellow Missourians, we appreciate your attention to this request and stand ready to assist in any way possible.”

U.S. farm banks increased agricultural lending by 5.3 percent, or $5.5 billion, to $108 billion in 2018. The American Bankers Association recently released its annual Farm Bank Performance Report. The report found that in 2018, farm banks’ asset quality remained healthy and non-performing loans stayed at a pre-recession level of 0.52 percent of total loans.

The report is an analysis by ABA’s economic research team based on FDIC data and examines the performance of the nation’s 1,700 banks that specialize in agricultural lending. ABA defines farm banks as banks whose ratio of domestic farm loans to total domestic loans is greater than or equal to the industry average.

Of those loans, more than 94 percent of farm banks were profitable in 2018, with more than 63 percent reporting an increase in earnings. Farm banks also served as job creators, adding more than 1,500 jobs in 2018, a 1.8 percent increase, and employing more than 86,000 rural Americans. Since 2008, employment at farm banks has risen 24.4 percent.

The U.S. and China will resume trade talks next week. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will travel to China to meet with trade officials along with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. China is also expected to return to the U.S. for negotiations on May 8th. Next week’s discussions will cover intellectual property, forced technology transfer, non-tariff barriers, agriculture, services, purchases, and enforcement, according to a White House statement.

Both sides appear hopeful to reach a draft agreement by the end of May. The negotiations, which stem from the tit-for-tat trade war last year, bring hope that tariffs will come to an end for U.S. agriculture. However, the ongoing African swine fever outbreak in China, which is forcing a more than 20 percent drop in China’s hog production, will also reduce demand for soybeans and feed products, a top agriculture export product for the United States.

If the two sides can reach a favorable agreement, the U.S. could be in a position to provide addition pork exports to China to cover the production loss. Already the losses in China in the hog population have more than exceeded the entirety of the hog population in the U.S.

Many farms in China infected with African swine fever are not restocking with pigs. Bloomberg News reports that 80 percent of farms infected with the deadly virus are not restocking, leaving a significant gap in production. China is the world’s largest pork producer, but agriculture officials in China say production has dropped 21 percent since African swine fever was first reported last August and, a new outbreak on an island province was reported over the weekend.

The declining hog production in China will result in lower demand for soybeans and feed products, but an increase in the need for pork products. Officials in China say, “if confidence among breeders fails to recover, it will hurt consumers.” They predict pork supplies could start to tighten and prices may hit record levels in the second half of the year, before tightening further in 2020. Pork accounts for more than 60 percent of meat consumption in China.

A study commissioned by the Plant-Based Foods Association says 76 percent of survey respondents are in favor of allowing dairy terms on plant-based items, while those self-described as consumers were 97 percent in favor. The Food and Drug Administration accepted comments on the issue of labeling non-dairy imitators as dairy items recently.

National Milk Producers Federation spokesperson Chris Galen says, however, that the survey shows “that the vegan community was confused about the question being asked by FDA.” Galen says the purpose of the FDA comment period was to assess whether all consumers, “not just those sending back postcards,” understand the nutritional inferiority of the plant-based alternatives, per comments made by former FDA commissioner Scott Gotlieb.

Galen called the comment period “a qualitative review of evidence that there is a lack of understanding that not all products labeled as ‘milk’ have the same nutrition.” The National Milk Producers Federation is confident the data it and other organizations provided will help provide the rationale for the FDA to enforce its standards against labeling plant-based alternatives as dairy products.

A large coalition of agriculture groups is urging for swift action in the negotiation and implementation of a U.S.-Japan trade agreement. The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, along with many agriculture organizations, signed a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer this week.

The groups say the U.S. food and agriculture industry is increasingly disadvantaged by competing regional and bilateral agreements with Japan that have already been implemented, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the European Union-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement. As a result, U.S. exporters of wheat, beef, pork, dairy, wine, potatoes, fruits and vegetables, and other products are facing collapse of their Japanese market share as these sales are handed over to their competitors.

Agriculture is seeking an agreement with Japan that includes market access provisions that at least equal the terms of the other agreements. Further, the groups say the agreement must include an accelerated phase-in of tariff cuts to ensure the U.S. is not facing a disadvantage compared to other countries, and address non-tariff barriers.

Farm groups and agriculture lenders are urging lawmakers to pass disaster aid. More than 135 farm groups and banks last week penned a letter urging President Trump and Congress to “put aside political differences and supply urgently needed relief.” The organizations, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, highlighted the “unprecedented destruction” in the letter from 2018 and 2019.

Farmers and ranchers are especially anxious for relief because the disasters have come on top of an ongoing downturn in farm income. In response, many banks have tightened credit, placing some growers in jeopardy of not receiving critical funds needed to plant this year’s crops without some form of federal relief. Estimated agriculture losses in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina alone total nearly $5.5 billion.

Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri currently estimate losses at more than $3 billion. Further, the groups say droughts have devastated the Southwest, and wildfires have done the same in the West. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico encountered its own humanitarian crisis from hurricanes Irma and Maria. For many farmers, the groups say, these events have meant near complete losses.

Americans for Free Trade, a coalition of business organizations, is urging the Trump administration to include tariff elimination in the U.S.-China trade talks. The coalition Monday sent a letter to Trump urging five specific outcomes from U.S.-China trade talks, which the White House has said are nearing completion.

The letter, which was signed by 151 coalition association partners, is asking for the full and immediate removal of all recently imposed tariffs, including U.S. tariffs and China’s retaliatory tariffs as part of a final deal. The organization also wants a deal that levels the playing field for U.S. companies by addressing China’s unfair trade practices that put American technology, innovation and intellectual property at risk.

Further, the coalition seeks the avoidance of any enforcement mechanism that would trigger further tariffs, and clarity on how the tariff exemption process will be carried out in the event of a deal. Finally, the coalition is asking for an economic assessment by the administration examining the costs of tariffs for American businesses and consumers.