The Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency Monday announced several enhancements to the Dairy Revenue Protection, Livestock Gross Margin and Livestock Risk Protection Programs. Risk Management Agency Administrator Martin Barbre says the changes “strengthen risk management options and provide peace of mind in times of unpredictable market fluctuations.”

The Livestock Gross Margin program protects against loss of gross margin or the market value of livestock minus feed costs. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 removed the livestock capacity limitation, which allowed the program to remove the individual capacity limitation under the cattle, dairy and swine program. The Livestock Risk Protection program protects livestock producers from the impact of declining market prices. Improvements include expanded coverage for swine, fed and feeder cattle to all states.

The Dairy Revenue Protection program is designed to cover unexpected declines in the quarterly revenue from milk sales compared with a guaranteed coverage level. Improvements for the 2020 crop year include changes in minimum declarations for butterfat and adjusting coverage levels.

Learn more about the changes at www.rma.usda.gov.

The latest outlook from the Federal Reserve regional surveys shows low prices, severe weather, and trade tensions continue to weigh heavily on large segments of the agricultural economy. Politico says the Fed gathers information eight times a year on economic conditions in its 12 districts to make up its Beige Book Report.

For example, southeastern states faced “abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions.” Cash prices were lower for cotton, rice, soybeans, broilers, and eggs compared to last year. Farm conditions remained “weak” in the Ninth District, which includes much of the Upper Midwest. Severe flooding in South Dakota and southern Minnesota is expected to heavily impact planting.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago oversees much of the Corn Belt, saying low corn and soybean prices remain a big problem for growers in that region. The Fed’s farm contacts also expect soybean prices to remain low. That means the corn-soybean acreage totals could be closer to a more typical 50-50 split after soybean acres jumped higher in 2018.

A World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel found that China has administered its tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for wheat, corn, and rice, inconsistently with its WTO commitments. The way China runs its TRQ administration isn’t transparent, not predictable, not fair, and it ultimately prevents TRQs from filling. In turn, that denies U.S. farmers’ access to China’s grain markets, a clear violation of its WTO commitments.

A USDA release says the panel report is the second significant victory for American agriculture this year. Together with the victory against China’s excessive domestic support for grains, this will help American farmers compete on a more level playing field. China’s grain TRQs have annually underfilled.

USDA estimates that if Chinese TRQs had been fully used, the country would have imported up to $3.5 billion worth of corn, wheat, and rice in 2015 alone. Secretary Sonny Perdue says, “Making sure our trading partners play by the rules is vital to providing our farmers the opportunity to export high-quality, American-grown products to the world. The announcement is another victory for American farmers and fairness in the global trade system.”

The European Union revealed a list of $12 billion in potential tariffs on American imports. The Wednesday announcement came out in response to the U.S. not removing subsidies on Boeing aircraft. That move comes a week after the U.S. threatened to impose tariffs on EU imports worth $11 billion because of European Union subsidies given to French aviation manufacturing company Airbus.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office says those subsidies adversely affect the United States. The European Union’s tariff threat appears to be targeted at American agriculture, one of President Trump’s biggest support bases. A good number of the proposed tariffs are aimed at ketchup, nuts, tobacco-seed oil, and many other food items. Back in 2011, the World Trade Organization found that Boeing received billions of dollars in subsidies from the U.S.

Earlier this month, the WTO said the United States had not removed some of those subsidies. Other products like chocolate, frozen orange juice, vodka, video game consoles, and even bicycle pedals are also on the EU’s proposed tariff list.

Governor Mike Parson today told groups of farmers and volunteer responders he expects to request a federal disaster declaration next week, based on preliminary damage assessments being conducted in 16 Missouri counties in response to historic flooding.

Governor Parson said damage assessments have been conducted or will soon be conducted in Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Carroll, Chariton, Holt, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Perry, Platte, Ray, Ste. Genevieve, and Scott counties. He said continuing high water levels are preventing crews from assessing damage in Cape Girardeau and Pike counties, but assessments will take place there as soon as possible.

“Our preliminary damage assessment teams have more work to do tallying the damage, but it’s already clear that the flooding had devastating effects on homes, roads, bridges, and other essential infrastructure,” said Governor Parson. “There’s no doubt federal recovery assistance is warranted to help Missouri families and businesses rebuild and keep their communities moving forward.”

China may remove bans on U.S. poultry imports, but not on ractopamine-treated pork. As the U.S. and China seek to conclude trade negotiations, and African swine fever consumes China’s hog production, the U.S. has asked China to remove its ractopamine ban.

Reuters says China has resisted the move for pork, but seems receptive to lifting a ban on U.S. poultry. Data from Rabobank shows African swine fever seems likely to reduce China’s pork output by 30 percent this year. China will need exports to offset the losses, but the exports could come from other suppliers, depending on the outcome of the U.S.-China trade negotiations.

Ractopamine is used to promote growth in U.S. pork and China banned its use in livestock in 2002. Meanwhile, China banned U.S. poultry in 2015 during the avian influenza outbreak. Before the ban, the U.S. shipped $390 million worth of U.S. poultry to China. The USA Poultry and Egg Export Council values China’s poultry market at $500 million, representing a major opportunity for U.S. producers.

President Donald Trump is threatening more tariffs against the European Union if the EU doesn’t bring agriculture to the trade negotiation table. Trump has threatened tariffs on European cars and auto parts imports, a move the EU has previously said it would abandon the talks over, according to Politico.

The EU agreed to move forward with the trade talks earlier this week, but reiterated that agriculture will not be part of the negotiation. The refusal to include agriculture makes any deal with the EU uncertain, as lawmakers from farm states have threatened the potential agreement would not pass Congress.

Agriculture groups are urging the Trump administration to demand agriculture be included in the negotiation, citing biotechnology and pesticide regulations in the European Union, among other issues. If Trump goes ahead with the auto tariffs, the EU seems likely to retaliate with tariffs on U.S. wine and dairy. The EU is also seeking the removal of section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs by the U.S. “prior to the conclusion” of negotiations.