A federal court today will consider a lawsuit against the Beef Checkoff. Food Safety News reports anything from a dismissal to a temporary restraining order for the plaintiffs could occur. The challenge to the Beef Checkoff was filed this spring in a Billings, Montana federal court. The Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund of the Stockgrowers of America, or R-CALF, filed the lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees checkoff programs. R-CALF claims checkoff money is being used to promote international and domestic beef, and that there is no way for ranchers to opt out of the fee. R-CALF was a supporter of U.S. Country of Origin Labeling and CEO Bill Bullard says: “there is now a worldwide effort to render the origins of U.S. cattle irrelevant on a global scale.” Bullard says Montana ranchers, and others, deserve the option to opt-out of the worldwide effort. USDA says there is an opt-out option for producers, and is seeking dismissal. Government attorneys argue R-CALF lacks standing to continue the case.

The October Rural Mainstreet Index by Creighton University fell to its lowest level since April of 2009. The monthly survey fell below the neutral growth mark for the 14th straight month as bankers report one in five grain farmers are experiencing negative cash flows. The index, which ranges between 0 and 100, fell to 31.8 from September’s 37.3. Survey organizer Ernie Goss says lower grain prices and a 19 percent drop in livestock prices over the last 12 months have contributed to the drop. Also tracked by the survey, the farmland and ranchland-price index for October fell to 25.0 from September’s 40.3. This is the 35th straight month the index has landed below growth neutral of 50.0. Finally, the October farm equipment-sales index sank to 13.1 from September’s 14.3. The overall Rural Mainstreet Index represents a snapshot of the rural economy of 10 agriculture-dependent states in the Midwest.

House Ag Committee Ranking Member Colin Peterson of Minnesota feels there may be some pressure on Congress to do something in the upcoming lame-duck session about the sagging farm economy. He’s afraid that many farmers won’t be able to obtain financing for the next growing season because of falling revenue thanks to low commodity prices. Peterson said lawmakers would have more money to work with for farm programs if they did the work early. Another reason for getting the work done early is the dairy farming dilemma. A global oversupply of milk is keeping prices lower. The margin insurance program created in the last Farm Bill has low participation and Peterson said it needs improvement. It won’t be easy no matter when Congress acts. Peterson said urban lawmakers have no idea how much money it takes to plant a crop. Even if the situation gets worse, Peterson said he’s not sure if Congress will act even then.

A pending trade deal between the European Union and Canada that was once a certainty to be signed is now all but dead in the water. That’s the opinion of the Canadian Trade Minister who left recent talks in Brussels. Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland said the EU was “not capable” of signing a trade deal right now. The deal is known as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA. The deal would eventually eliminate 98 percent of the tariffs between the EU and Canada. It’s near collapsing because a regional parliament in Belgium opposes the deal. The region, called Wallonia, is composed of 3.6 million people. That particular region in Belgium has a strong socialist tradition, saying deals such as this one give too much power to multi-nationals, who may even have the power to intimidate other governments. A BBC dot com report said the small region of Wallonia has all but killed a trade deal that affects 508 million Europeans and 36.3 million Canadians.

Ambassadors from Mexico, Singapore, and Vietnam stressed the need for the U.S. Congress to vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership during the upcoming lame-duck session of Congress. The ambassadors took part in a recent event hosted by the National Foreign Trade Council. The trade deal includes the U.S. and other countries that collectively make up 40 percent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product. Singapore’s ambassador said he hopes TPP is ratified and noted there’s no “plan B for the U.S.” He added there’s no chance for an alternative agreement between the U.S. and Singapore, saying “We need to have a U.S. player in the Asia-Pacific region, and all 11 ambassadors from the other countries agree that this is important.” The Vietnamese ambassador is touting the benefits of TPP as well, saying 80 percent of the Vietnam business community is backing the deal. The National Pork Producers Council is one of the many organizations urging members of Congress to vote on TPP during the upcoming lame-duck session after the elections.

Ag advisers from the Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump campaigns took center stage at a recent forum on American agricultural issues. Ag topics haven’t been front and center in the campaign, so Farm Journal Media and Farm Foundation put together the forum with the goal of highlighting important rural issues. An Ag Web dot Com article said former Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan represented the Clinton campaign. Sam Clovis, the campaign co-chair, represented the Trump campaign. The next Farm Bill was a major topic of discussion, with both campaign representatives saying the Farm Title and Nutrition Title should be kept together. Some of the other topics centered around regulations on agriculture, including the “Waters of the U.S. Rule.” Trade was another hot topic at the forum. Merrigan called for more “detailed discussions because regulations are not a bad thing.” She said regulations give certainty to businesses, level the playing field, and give confidence to the American public. On the other hand, Clovis said regulations impose themselves on smaller enterprises, and “when you write regulations to re-impose regulations, you take away competitive advantages.”

Informa Economics is predicting that soybeans will take away a significant number of acres from corn and wheat during the 2017 planting season. They project the number of acres planted to corn will drop just over 3.5 million acres from this year’s levels to 90.9 million acres in 2017, a 3.7 percent drop. Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today says early Informa projections for the 2017 corn crop are 14.2 billion bushels, with an average yield of 170 bushels per acre. Informa expects soybean acreage to climb 4.7 million acres from 2016 levels to a record 88.4 million acres, which is a 5.7 percent rise. Informa’s early predictions for the soybean crop are 4.1 billion bushels based on a yield of 47.2 bushels per acre. Informa is also predicting the number of wheat seedings will drop to its lowest level since 1970, right at 48.9 million acres. The company estimates wheat farmers will harvest 35.4 million acres in 2017.

Former Republican administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency say they fear a Donald Trump presidency could destroy the agency. Politico reports the former EPA officials say if Trump were to follow through on threats to undo some of the Obama administration’s signature environmental efforts, it would likely lead to mass protest resignations. Christine Todd Whitman, the first EPA administrator under George W. Bush, says moving the agency away from its core mission would result in “a wholesale resignation within the industry.” Doug Parker, the former career-level director of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, suggests Trump should relax enforcement, rather than retracting regulations if elected. Parker says political appointees could decide to slow-walk cases and make other policy changes, although that would not bring an immediate halt to any ongoing investigations.