Two U.S. Senators say Canada’s dairy pricing policies are harming trade and will negatively affect the U.S. dairy industry, jeopardizing the country’s trade commitment to the United States. Senate Democrats Chuck Schumer of New York and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin are asking for the investigation regarding Canada’s recently announced National Ingredients Strategy and its already active Ontario Class VI (Six) pricing program. The Senators sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack alleging Canada’s program punishes processors in Canada for the use of imported dairy products. The U.S. Dairy Export Council in response to the letter says Canada has created a “deeply problematic” track record of instituting programs to “intentionally create roadblocks to dairy imports.” The dairy industry welcomed the call for an investigation.

Wheat industry groups welcomed Japan’s announcement to end the temporary ban of U.S. white wheat exports. Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture announced imports resumed Thursday, with the purchase of 58,000 metric tons of U.S. white wheat. The Ministry had temporarily suspended new purchases following the July announcement by the Department of Agriculture that a small number of wheat plants were found in the U.S. containing unapproved, genetically engineered traits. The GE wheat resistant to the herbicide glyphosate was found in a fallow field in eastern Washington State. The U.S. Wheat Associates and the National Association of Wheat Growers applauded the resumed imports by Japan Thursday. The groups say the “unexpected situation” caused only a minor disruption in trade because stakeholders “approached it in a reasonable way.”

The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to stop Deere & Company from buying Monsanto’s Precision Planting farm equipment business. The Justice Department said the proposed deal would mean higher prices for farmers who want to buy equipment for high-speed precision planting, according to Reuters. In a statement, Deere announced the company would fight the lawsuit, calling the antitrust concerns “misguided.” Monsanto announced last year it would sell its Precision Planting unit to Deere, which makes the components of precision planters. The Justice Department said by offering farmers high-speed precision planting retrofit kits at a fraction of the cost of a new planter, “Precision Planting posed a formidable challenge to Deere and its profitable sales of new planters.” The deal is estimated to be worth $190 million.

Buyers from China have committed to buy nearly $1.8 billion worth of U.S. soy products, totaling 146 million bushels of U.S. soybeans. The U.S. Soybean Export Council announced the commitments this week. The Council held a signing ceremony at the Global Trade Exchange in Indianapolis, Indiana. China continues to be the top buyer of U.S. soybeans. More than a dozen Chinese representatives are in attendance this week at the Global Trade Exchange to network with U.S. farmers and learn more about U.S. soy products. Last year, U.S. soybean farmers exported a record 62.8 million metric tons of soy products, valued at a record high $27.7 billion. Economists are predicting even more in 2016.

Researchers are working to learn more about a little-known corn disease that has surfaced in nine states across the U.S. this summer. DTN reports the disease is known for now as bacterial leaf streak blight, which originated in South Africa. Colorado State University says there is limited information about the disease and its impacts on corn production. It’s possible the disease entered the U.S. two years ago, as researchers say the lack of information led to a delay in confirming the disease. Currently, researchers have no recommendations for farmers regarding management. Bacterial leaf streak has surfaced in field corn, seed corn, popcorn and sweet corn. Researchers say the disease has been confirmed in Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas.

The Department of Agriculture this week changed its forecast for 2016 all net cash farm income to $94.1 billion, up from its initial projection of $90.9 billion in February. While USDA increased the estimate, net cash farm income remains 13.3 percent lower compared to 2015. The net farm income forecast for 2016 in February was revised up to $71.5 billion from $54.8 billion but still down 11.5 percent from last year. Pro Farmer reports that for the second year in a row, USDA noted production expenses were down in 2016. Net farm income for 2015 was revised up significantly to $80.7 billion, an increase of 43 percent from the numbers released in February. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the forecast highlights the ability of farmers to “plan ahead and make sharp business decisions in a challenging market.”

Earlier this month, Japan halted imports of western white and feed wheat from the pacific coast ports after unapproved genetically modified crops were found in an unplanted field in Washington state. Imports from the U.S. Gulf Coast were allowed to continue. Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today reports that Japan announced this week they’ll resume purchases of western white wheat this Thursday. Imports were allowed to resume after Japan established a system to test for GMO grains and keep contaminated supplies from getting into the country. Japan’s ag ministry also announced they’ll resume purchases of U.S. feed wheat too. Japan is the second biggest buyer of wheat in Asia. The U.S. is the largest wheat supplier to Japan, representing roughly 60 percent of Japan’s wheat imports.