Nebraska’s Great Omaha Packing Company is sending U.S. beef to China, the first shipment of its kind in 14 years. After the U.S. and China finalized protocols to allow the U.S. to export beef to China, the Nebraska-based company announced it would send beef by air freight to a customer in Shanghai. Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts and Nebraska Department of Agriculture Director Greg Ibach joined Greater Omaha Packing Chief Executive Henry Davis to load the first box of beef destined for China Thursday morning. Davis told the Drovers Cattle Network: “China has the potential to be the largest market for U.S. beef,” adding “this will be the first of many shipments.” On Monday, The Department of Agriculture announced final details concerning export requirements to resume beef shipments to China. Among the requirements, U.S. producers must track the birthplace of cattle born in the United States that are destined for export to China.

The trade agreement between the U.S. and China that focused on U.S. beef also paved the way for Chinese approval of two U.S. genetically modified crop traits. The Wall Street Journal reports China has approved imports of two new varieties of genetically modified crops, clearing the way for U.S. agricultural companies to market new biotech seeds to farmers. Through the announcement, China this week approved the import of Dow Enlist corn and Monsanto’s soybean variety, Vistive Gold. The approval stems from China agreeing to speed reviews of biotech products as part of the trade deal with President Donald Trump announced last month. Seed companies have long complained that China’s regulatory approval process was slow-moving and vague. The announcement does not, however, approve cultivation of GM crops in China.

A group of senators wants the renegotiation effort of the North American Free Trade Agreement to address U.S. poultry exports into Canada. The group, led by Delaware Democrat Tom Carper says Canada has engaged in protectionist trade policies that limit sales for U.S. poultry exporters. The Senators are asking the Donald Trump administration to address the issue during NAFTA renegotiation talks in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. The letter states: “NAFTA presents American poultry exporters with a unique opportunity to eliminate Canadian trade barriers, which have hampered growth for more than 20 years,” according to Politico. Similar to dairy, Canada maintains a strict supply management system on poultry production. The system’s import restrictions and production limits are meant to create a more stable system immune to market forces.

Trade officials from New Zealand will meet with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and other U.S. trade officials. The New Zealand government says the nation’s Trade Minister Todd McClay will make New Zealand’s first official ministerial visit to Washington under the Trump administration this week and will be pressing to advance the U.S.-New Zealand trade relationship. The U.S. is the biggest market for beef and wine from New Zealand, and the nation’s second-largest dairy market. McClay called the U.S. a “vitally important trading partner” for New Zealand, worth more than $16 billion in two-way trade. McClay says he will be “highlighting the strength of our bilateral relationship, the importance of continued New Zealand-U.S. cooperation and leadership on trade in the Asia-Pacific and our cooperation in the WTO against barriers to trade.”

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told lawmakers this week he may be the lone political appointment at the Department of Agriculture until September, or later. Currently, 15 executive posts at USDA are vacant and await White House nomination. Perdue told the Senate Ag Appropriations Subcommittee the names of nominees for six positions, including that of deputy secretary, have been sent to the White House, but that he is “fearful” none of them will be ready for Senate confirmation before the summer recess, according to the Hagstrom Report. Perdue blamed the slowness on the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the White House ethics office. Asked about decisions being delayed due to lack of personnel in decision-making positions, Perdue said: “Not many decisions are piling up, but I’m tired of working 22 hours per day.” Perdue himself waited nearly 100 days after being nominated before receiving Senate confirmation.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to finalize GMO disclosure standards within a nine-month time frame, what Politico calls a breakneck pace for any rulemaking. USDA in that timeframe will go from proposing the regulation to finalizing the rules. That includes a likely three-month comment period, revisions, and White House approval, a process that also takes about three months. A senior analyst at the Agricultural Marketing Service’s Livestock, Poultry and Seed program told the International Dairy Foods Association’s regulatory conference in Washington on this week that USDA has started to meet with farm, food and other groups in preparation to write the proposed rule, though it won’t follow through with the prior administration’s plan to make a public request for information. Politico suspects the rule will likely be challenged in court, no matter the outcome, because of the lack of public request for information.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s move to name Anne Hazlett as his assistant on rural development is drawing criticisms. Perdue announced Hazlett as his assistant on rural development this week, replacing the former undersecretary role for rural development. Hazlett has been the chief Republican counsel on the Senate Agriculture Committee. Hazlett will oversee the Rural Utilities Service, the Rural Business Service, and the Rural Housing Service within USDA, and report directly to Perdue. However, Senator Debbie Stabenow, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, says many rural groups are concerned with the move that eliminated the undersecretary position because it lowers rural developments profile at USDA, according to the Hagstrom Report. In a USDA news release, the department said: “It is important to note that the systems, functions, and internal structure of the Rural Development agencies will not be changing.” Perdue defended the change during testimony to Senators Tuesday, saying Hazlett is working today at USDA, while the nominations for undersecretary positions remain delayed in the vetting process.

Concerns over the U.S.-led effort to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement has prompted Mexico to consider other options for pork imports. National Hog Farmer magazine reports U.S. pork industry leaders shared that message at last week’s World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa. For instance, if the U.S. would abandon NAFTA, Mexico would be poised to place a 20 percent duty on pork, which has sent Mexico searching for other potential suppliers. Last year, 26 percent of U.S. pork was exported with the largest volume shipped to Mexico, accounting for 90 percent of the pork imported into the country. And, global pork trade is extremely competitive as other leading pork-producing countries are eager to step up and supply Mexico with pork. National Pork Producers Council immediate past president John Weber says that while gaining new market opportunities is a leading offense priority, its top defensive priority is NAFTA. He says: “We want to protect pork exports to two of our biggest markets – Canada and Mexico.”