Trade officials from Canada will meet with similar leadership in China next month to begin trade talks on a bilateral trade agreement. Canada’s Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland says she is tentatively booked to have her first face-to-face discussion with China in February. The planned meeting comes after Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a goal of doubling trade with the Asian nation by 2025. Meanwhile, Freeland says she hopes to hold talks with the United Kingdom’s trade secretary as the U.K. will trigger the formal process for leaving the European Union before the end of March. The U.K. will still be included in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the EU, despite its exit from the European Union.

President-elect Donald Trump is close to filling his cabinet after selecting Robert Lighthizer to be his Trade Minister. The Wall Street Journal reports Lighthizer has negotiating experience from his time in the Reagan administration. If confirmed by the Senate, he will take the lead in talks that could culminate in the bilateral deals Trump’s team prefers. Lighthizer will be part of a revamped team whose mission includes confronting China and Mexico, which Trump contends have taken advantage of the U.S. under current trade agreements. China is keeping a close eye on Trump’s trade plans. Last month, when Trump named Peter Navarro to the newly formed White House National Trade Council, China fired back stating: “Cooperation is the only correct choice.” Navarro has previously urged a hard line on trade with China and has made a film describing China’s threat to the U.S. economy. At the time, China said: “We hope the U.S. works hard with China to maintain the healthy, stable development of ties.”

The Department of Agriculture remains headless under President-elect Donald Trump, but not for long. Trump is expected to announce his choice for USDA Secretary this week. Still, there’s no clear front-runner for the post. While the media circuit to start the week named former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue as the leading candidate, by Tuesday, reports suggested a former lieutenant governor of California was the top choice for Trump. Perdue is a Democrat-turned-Republican who served on Trump’s agricultural advisory committee during his presidential campaign. Perdue would appease Trump’s agriculture advisory committee, but he may not be the final name in the hat. A White House correspondent for CNN said Tuesday former California Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado was emerging as the frontrunner to lead USDA. Maldonado is a Mexican-American who grew up in a farming family, and he currently operates a California Vineyard. USDA Secretary is one of the last few major positions for Trump to fill. However, Trump’s USDA transition team did have two leaders removed from the post in the early going. Currently, Brian Klippenstein of Protect the Harvest and Carrie Castille, former associate commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture, are leading the efforts.

2016 was a rough year for wheat farmers, who are now trying to set themselves up for more success next year by reducing the number of planted acres. Craig Van Dyke of Top Third Ag tells the U.S. Farm Report that rumors of drought next year are less concerning than the acreage prospects. Van Dyke says, “We need to drastically reduce acreage to find ourselves competitive globally price-wise.” Soybean prices could be a big motivator for producers to switch acres from wheat to soybeans next year. Van Dyke says he’s even talked to producers in Montana who are planting soybeans for the first time ever. Advance Trading, Incorporated, shares the same view, noting that unlike soybeans that can be grown in the U.S. and South America, wheat can be grown all over the world, making it difficult to trade. It’s easier to keep track of what’s going on in corn and beans across America versus what’s going on in the rest of the world.

Starting on January 9, The U.S. Department of Agriculture is changing cancellation policies on certain Conservation Reserve Programs. Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today says the new termination policy is intended to make it easier to pass land from one generation to the next. The land eligible for early termination is among the least environmentally sensitive lands enrolled in the program. In the past, if a landowner decided to terminate a contract early, they would normally be required to pay back all the money they received while enrolled, with interest. The new policy will waive the repayment requirement only if the land is transferred to a beginning farmer or rancher through either a sale or a lease with an option to buy. This change is one of many set forth by the Land Tenure Advisory Subcommittee formed by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in 2015. In making the announcement, the USDA noted that the average age of farmers is 58. Land tenure, estate planning, and access to land are increasingly important for the future of agriculture. The USDA conducted a survey on farm succession in 2014, which showed farmland owners expect to transfer 93 million acres to new ownership between 2015 and 2019.

A recent survey of rural residents commissioned by DTN/The Progressive Farmer found that land prices, passing on the farm to the next generation, biotechnology developments, and agribusiness mergers are just some of the things on the minds of farmers going into the new year. Land prices and valuations brought strong reactions from the respondents. 69 percent of farmers and ranchers in the survey strongly or somewhat disagree with the statement, “My farm is profitable, given current land prices.” Land rental rates brought an equally sharp reaction. 52 percent strongly or somewhat disagreed with the survey statement, “My farm is profitable given the current cost of renting land.” It looks like the cost of land could make it very difficult for farmers to continue for another generation. 85 percent of farmers and ranchers in the survey are concerned or very concerned that the price of land will affect their families’ ability to farm into the future. 78 percent of the survey respondents are concerned about giant mergers in the seed and chemical industries. Over half the survey respondents said they diversify their incomes by working a job off the farm.

Net cash farm income and net farm income are two popular ways to measure farm sector profitability, but they aren’t the same thing. Net cash farm income tracks cash receipts and cash expenses, while net farm income includes non-cash transactions, including inventory changes, capital replacements costs, and others. Both measures have headed lower since 2013 after several years of higher income. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is forecasting that net cash farm and net farm income for 2016 will be $90.9 billion and $54.8 billion, respectively. Both amounts fall below the ten-year averages. Before the recent drops, both income measures largely trended upwards. Between 2010 and 2013, rising crop and animal receipts helped to push net cash farm income and net farm income higher. However, prices declined for a large group of commodities in 2015 and fell further in 2016. Production expenses were forecast to contract in 2016 but not enough to offset the drop in commodity prices.