Farmers are expressing more concerns regarding the future as the monthly Ag Economy Barometer drifts lower. Released this week, the March survey fell to 133 down from 136 a month earlier. Organizers say increasing concerns about future economic conditions drove the barometer lower as the Index of Future Expectations declined to 139 in March compared to an index value of 145 in February.

The current conditions measure was unchanged compared to February at 120. The Barometer surveys 400 agricultural producers monthly. A rating below 100 is negative, while a rating above 100 indicates positive sentiment regarding the agriculture industry. Producers expressed more concern regarding farmland values, as 25 percent of farmers surveyed expect farmland values to drift lower over the next 12 months.

Survey results from January and March 2019 suggest that five to as much as seven percent of U.S. farms are suffering from some financial stress, using the need to carryover unpaid operating debt as an indicator of financial stress.

Leaders of the House and Senate are warning against any border shutdown. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed this week that closing the southern U.S. border to stop migrants from entering the U.S. is a bad idea that would backfire on the U.S. economy, according to Politico.

Trump is vowing to close the border, despite the major trade ramifications such a move would make, saying “security is most important.” The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is calling the potential move “incredibly destructive.” The move would halt trade of agricultural goods and lead to a shutdown of the U.S. auto manufacturing industry within days, according to the Center for Automotive Research.

Earlier this week, the National Pork Producers Council warned the pork industry “cannot afford a total loss of the Mexican market.” Mexico accounted for more than 20 percent of total U.S. pork exports last year. A border closure would also halt the movement of legal migrant workers who tend to agricultural operations near the border.

A new study released this week from the USDA shows that greenhouse gas emissions from corn-based ethanol are 39 percent lower than regular gasoline. The study also shows that when ethanol is refined at natural gas-powered refineries, the greenhouse gas emissions are even lower, coming in at 43 percent less than gasoline.

Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue says the new findings provide even further evidence that biofuels from America’s heartland reduce greenhouse gases even more than first thought. “It also shows our farmers and ethanol plants continue to become more efficient and effective,” Perdue says. “Expanding the sale of E-15 year-round will provide consumers with more choices when they fill up at the pump, including environmentally friendly fuel with decreased emissions.”

Perdue also says he appreciates Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler moving quickly to finalize the E-15 rule before the start of the summer driving season. The study was published in the trade journal Biofuels and it supports findings of other research that ethanol has a significantly better greenhouse gas profile than previously thought.

The Senate rejected disaster-relief proposals from both Democrats and Republicans on Monday. Politico says the legislation’s fate is now uncertain after the House passed a $14.2 billion aid package in January. Communities hit hard by disasters have waited months for Congress to approve additional federal aid.

States from the Southeast all the way to California have been battered by hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, and now floods in the Midwest and Plains states. The $13.5 billion Senate aid package included $3 billion for farm disaster aid, as well as $150 million to rebuild rural facilities. Republicans criticized Democratic presidential candidates in the Senate, many of whom recently campaigned in Iowa, for voting against the GOP plan. It included assistance for Midwestern states recovering from catastrophic flooding last month.

Democrats blame Republicans because the GOP took out aid money for Puerto Rico that was included in the House plan. Lawmakers planned to introduce new legislation as early as Tuesday that would provide billions of dollars in new disaster funds for farm-belt states that were hit by the recent flooding.

President Trump wrote a series of Tweets on Friday that caught agriculture’s attention. The Hill Dot Com says he threatened to close the southern border unless Mexico took steps to stop the illegal border crossings. The tweets come as the administration continues to warn of a crisis at the border.

Trump blames both Democrats and Mexico for the problem, even accusing Mexico of making “a fortune” from the U.S. that is greater than the cost of protecting the border. In the meantime, both the business and ag communities are pushing back against the threat. The president hasn’t said yet how it would actually work, but business groups are preparing for the worst. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says the threat alone “creates a degree of economic uncertainty that could potentially wipe out the administration’s other economic policies.” Dairy producers point out that Mexico remains the largest export market for U.S. milk products.

Mexico accounted for $1.4 billion in dairy exports last year. Dairy Export Council President Tom Vilsack says, “Closing the southern U.S. border to Mexico would be a gut punch that could set the industry back by a decade or two.” The move would also hurt American consumers at the grocery store because nearly half of the U.S. vegetable imports and 40 percent of fruit imports come from Mexico.

The Major League Baseball season is underway, and the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council says fans will chow down on more than 18 million hot dogs in ballparks this year. A survey by the organization found fans are expected to consume 18.3 million hot dogs throughout the season in U.S. ballparks.

The Los Angeles Dodgers home, Dodger Stadium, tops the list with projected sales of 2.7 million hot dogs. Cubs fans are Wrigley Field in Chicago are the runner up, with projected sales of 1.2 million hot dogs. Meanwhile, the Dodgers’ rivals up the coast, San Francisco Giants fans are expected to purchase 450,000 sausages, with Cubs fans not far behind at 400,000.

As in past years, the Brewers’ Miller Park is the sole MLB venue where sausage sales will outpace hot dogs. The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council was established in 1994 by the American Meat Institute and celebrates hot dogs and sausages as iconic American foods.

The National Pork Producers Council is urging the Trump administration to “expeditiously complete and deliver” a trade deal with Japan. The announcement follows reports that China and the U.S. will begin trade negotiations on April 15, 2019. NPPC President David Herring in a statement says the U.S. needs a level playing field in Japan, adding “U.S. pork producers are losing market share in Japan to international competitors that have recently negotiated more favorable trade terms.”

Six countries including, Canada, Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam, have implemented the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement of Trans-Pacific Partnership, the TPP replacement, and gained more favorable access to Japan.

Dermot Hayes, an economist at Iowa State University, says U.S. pork will see exports to Japan grow from $1.6 billion in 2018 to more than $2.2 billion over the next 15 years if the United States quickly gains access on par with international competitors. Hayes reports that U.S. pork shipments to Japan will drop to $349 million if a trade deal on these terms is not quickly reached with Japan.

More than one million acres of farmland are reported to be damaged from historic flooding so far this year. Satellite data analyzed for Reuters shows the “bomb cyclone” weather event left wide swaths of nine major grain producing states under water. Farms from the Dakotas to Missouri and beyond have been under water with weekend rains adding more concern.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has warned this spring could be an “unprecedented flood season” as it forecasts heavy spring rains, and cites flooding conditions already seen along major river basins. The report shows that nearly 1.1 million acres of cropland and more than 84,000 acres of pastureland in the Midwest was covered with floodwaters for at least seven days between March 8 and March 21.

Still, the flooded areas represent less than one percent of U.S. land to grow corn, soybeans and other crops. Iowa, the top U.S. corn and second soy producing state, had the most water, covering 474,200 acres, followed by Missouri with 203,100 acres, according to Gro Intelligence, the agency that compiled the report.