DuPont says it needs an additional three months to complete merger activities with Dow. Regulators around the world are continuing to look over the deal that would combine the two U.S. chemical companies. A DuPont statement this week says they expect the deal to close by end of June after setting March as the initially anticipated closing date. DuPont CEO Ed Breen told investors and analysts during a recent conference call that he feels the deal is in its “second quarter.” Dow and DuPont are working to alleviate concerns about the $71 billion-dollar deal creating a chemical giant. European Union officials have openly expressed concerns about the deal slowing the discovery of new pesticides. The EU recently granted a 10-day extension on Monday. The companies had requested the extension to fine-tune a package of concessions designed to ease concerns about the deal. DuPont says it expects net income to be down for the first quarter of this year, partly due to a 15 cents per share expense related to the merger.

President Donald Trump recently released a directive freezing all regulatory activity by federal agencies. However, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it will not extend a 90-day comment period on the status of the Lesser Prairie Chicken under the Endangered Species Act. This is despite the expected public release of a new species population survey from the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife agencies. That information will be critical to ongoing conservation efforts. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Tracy Brunner says the move denies stakeholders the chance to weigh in and places political pressure ahead of what’s best for the species. “The incoming administration put the freeze in place and we believe the Fish and Wildlife Service is violating the order to placate radical environmental groups bent on listing the Lesser Prairie Chicken,” Brunner said. The LPC Range-wide Conservation plan is already in place across a five-state area, with the goal of improving populations and decreasing threats to the Lesser Prairie Chicken. Because of the plan currently in place, the population saw a 25 percent improvement from 2014-2015. “The FWS needs to postpone action and consider the population report coming out and give stakeholders a chance to comment on it before they make a final listing decision,” Brunner said.

The Hagstrom Report says 133 food and agriculture industry groups sent a letter to President Donald Trump this week urging him to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement, while “preserving and building on the gains that have been made.” The letter was released by the Corn Refiners Association, whose high-fructose corn syrup is a major export to Mexico. The letter notes that U.S. food and agricultural exports have produced a trade surplus for nearly 50 years. The letter says, “Consistent growth over that period of time has resulted in over $150 billion dollars’ worth of exports, which created $423 billion in U.S. economic activity in 2015.” The groups note that the market integration NAFTA has achieved has quadrupled the value of U.S. food and Ag exports to Canada and Mexico. The groups say in the letter that there are a few economic sectors that need to be addressed in the agreement and they look forward to working with the new president to reduce non-tariff trade barriers that inhibit American exports abroad.

U.S. Senate Ag Committee Chair Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, and ranking member Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, announced the first field hearing on reauthorizing the Farm Bill will be in Manhattan, Kansas. The hearing will be Thursday, February 23, in the McCain Auditorium on the Kansas State University campus. Roberts says it’s time to get to work on another Farm Bill and the committee is heading to the heartland to talk to producers. “I can’t think of a more appropriate venue to hold this hearing than Manhattan, the home of Kansas State University.” He says producers have had plenty of time to use the programs in the current Farm Bill and the committee needs to hear what worked and what didn’t. Stabenow adds, “As we begin discussions on the next Farm Bill, we need input from farmers and families across the country.” The Michigan Democrat says she looks forward to hearing from folks who care about rural America, so they can craft a bill that strengthens American agriculture, as well as small towns and rural communities. The committee will hear testimony from a variety of producers, who will be announced soon.

U.S. consumers saw a record of almost 2.9 billion gallons of biodiesel and renewable diesel in 2016, outpacing the previous record by nearly 40 percent. Also for the first time, the monthly market topped 300 million gallons, with December’s numbers coming in at 362 million gallons. The National Biodiesel Board welcomed the numbers but says that success is undermined by imports. Imports provide more than a third of the U.S. biodiesel market. Figures by the Environmental Protection Agency show the 2.9 billion gallons represented an 800 million gallon increase of biodiesel and renewable diesel from 2015. At the same time, domestic production rose from about 1.4 billion gallons in 2015 to more than 1.8 billion gallons in 2016, well below available capacity, according to NBB. Imports increased by more than 50 percent from an estimated 670 million gallons in 2015 to over one billion gallons in 2016, which the Biodiesel Board says shortchanges potential economic benefits to U.S. producers.

An internal email sent to the Agricultural Research Service allegedly directs the department not to release any public facing documents, but the Department of Agriculture says the email “was flawed” and that new guidance would be issued to replace it. According to Reuters, the email was sent Monday, the first business day of the new Donald Trump administration. The email directed ARS staff not publish press releases, photos, fact sheets or social media content until further notice. A similar memo was sent to staff of the Environmental Protection Agency. However, in a statement, USDA said peer-reviewed scientific papers from the unit should not be blocked, adding that ARS “is committed to maintaining the free flow of information between scientists and the American public.” The Agricultural Research Service is tasked with scientific research info issues facing agriculture, including long-term climate change.

The Donald Trump administration has ordered a freeze on grants and contracts from the Environmental Protection Agency and ordered EPA staff to halt external communications. A memo to EPA staff instructs the employees not to publish press releases, blog messages or social media postings. The memo also says media request will be carefully screened and no new content can be placed on any EPA website. Political analysts say the move is not uncommon, but further overreaching than a typical freeze by a new administration, according to the Huffington Post. The EPA awards roughly $4 billion in grant funding each year. President Trump and his transition team have promised a reduction of regulatory grasp by the EPA, specifically targeting Clean Air Act regulations and the Waters of the U.S. rule.

Trans-Pacific Partnership member nations are hoping to salvage the trade deal after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement by executive order. Fulfilling a campaign pledge, Trump signed the order this week, pulling the U.S. out of the massive trade deal. Both Australia and New Zealand remain hopeful the deal can be salvaged without the United States. Both nations talked with Japan on continuing the agreement, according to Reuters. Australia’s Prime Minister said the U.S. withdrawing from the deal is “a big loss,” but added there is potential for China to join the agreement. China has proposed a counter pact, the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific and has championed the Southeast Asia-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Meanwhile, TPP requires ratification by at least six countries accounting for 85 percent of the combined gross domestic product of the member nations. A meeting between the remaining TPP nations is expected in the coming months, according to a New Zealand trade official.