Representatives from Australia, Singapore, and other countries in the Far East and Pacific Rim are in Vietnam this week, negotiating a trade agreement that could potentially take the place of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement would exclude the U.S. and include China, which is currently not included in the TPP agreement. Some of the member countries included in TPP discussions are pushing ahead with the alternative agreement as the fate of the TPP in America isn’t certain. Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today reports that some experts are hoping news of these negotiations will spur the TPP discussion forward. Beijing is a key driver in discussions on the RCEP agreement, which would include 16 nations and 3.4 billion people, if it’s ratified. If left out of the TPP, China would lose ground to manufacturing competitors like Vietnam, which would have greater duty-free access to the United States and other member nations.

The list of ag advisors to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is a long one, containing 65 names. Politico’s Morning Agriculture Report says that list is much larger than any of Trump’s other advisory panels. The list of names represents diverse experiences in different types of agriculture, but one of the common themes among the names is a dislike of regulatory overreach. That would seem to put the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Waters of the U.S. Rule” right in the line of fire, should Trump win the election. Many of the panel members Politico spoke to mentioned the WOTUS rule specifically and said a vote for Hillary Clinton would mean four more years of the same failed policies. Trump has said he opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, but the panel members overwhelmingly support the deal. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey said “it’s going to be important to articulate how important trade is to agriculture.” He said both major party candidates say they are against the TPP agreement but support trade, adding “they need to articulate what that means.”

Bayer AG could turn “directly to shareholders” in its quest to acquire Monsanto. The news from a German publication comes after St. Louis, Missouri-based Monsanto rejected two proposals from Bayer. Monsanto called the proposals “financially inadequate,” but Bayer believes its latest offer “fully captures the intrinsic value of Monsanto,” according to the St. Louis Business Journal. Bayer’s most recent offer valued Monsanto at about $64 billion. Analysts expect Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant to reject any offer less than $67-$69 billion, which a spokesman for Bayer’s shareholders considered too much of a financial risk. In the coming weeks, Bayer will reportedly decide on whether a friendly merger is still possible, or whether Bayer must choose an alternative path. However, analysts say a hostile bid may cost Bayer five to ten percent more, if pursued.

The Obama Administration Tuesday announced new carbon-emission standards for ‘big trucks’ in the administration’s efforts to clamp down on greenhouse gas emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Transportation Department jointly announced the final standards for big vehicles ranging from vans to garbage trucks to 18-wheelers that require up to 25 percent lower carbon emissions and fuel consumption in certain models over the next decade compared to now, according to the Wall Street Journal. The standards are part of the administration’s goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions across the U.S. economy by more than 25 percent by 2025. The EPA and other government agencies have issued rules regulating greenhouse gas emissions from large swaths of the U.S. economy. Congressional Republicans have mostly opposed the rules, and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has vowed to repeal many of them. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, has pledged to continue and expand Obama’s climate agenda through more regulations.

The Creighton University Rural Mainstreet Index for July fell from June’s weak reading, according to the monthly survey of bank CEOs in rural areas of a 10-state region within the Midwest dependent on agriculture. After improving four of the last five months, the index, which ranges between 0 and 100, sank to 39.8 from 43.9 in June. This is the 11th straight month the overall index has remained below growth neutral. As a result of weaker farm economic conditions, bankers expect almost one in five crop farmers, or 19.5 percent, to suffer negative cash flows where cash expenses exceed cash revenues for 2016. This month, bankers estimated farmland prices have fallen by six percent over the past 12 months. However, there is a great deal of variation across the region in the direction and magnitude of farmland prices.This month, bankers were asked to assess the likelihood of loan defaults in their area. On average, farm loan defaults are expected to rise by 5.4 percent over the next 12 months.

A new report from Rabobank says land rent values must decline for U.S. agriculture commodity production activity to remain economically viable. The report explores the impact of low commodity prices on land values and rent prices. Rabobank says from 2006 to 2013, significant increases in commodity prices, due to surging demand, signaled the need for more land to be converted to row crop production. The subsequent steep increases in agricultural land values have pulled enough acres into row crop production to oversupply most commodities, both domestically and globally. Now, Rabobank senior analyst Sterling Liddell says “after two years of economic losses at the farm level – which resulted largely from the significant drop in commodity prices – the cost of renting land remains sticky and unsustainably high.” Moving forward, the report says rent values need to begin dropping to balance with lower commodity prices over the long term.

Corn and soybeans are progressing in the Midwest well ahead of average, and if you combine that with good harvest weather in the forecast, harvest 2016 might start early this year. As of now, the September and October weather outlooks don’t call for any major delays for farmers bringing in their crops. Dale Mohler of AccuWeather says the September outlook calls for normal rains in the Midwest and below normal in the South. Mohler said, “ideally, farmers would like it a bit drier for harvest, but there will be three to five day-stretches of dry weather between rains.” However, the October outlook calls for cooler and wetter weather. There is one area that may actually get above normal rainfall in October, and that’s in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and northern Iowa. The other biggest weather threats during harvest time are an early freeze and extreme winds, but they don’t appear to be a big threat this year. The risk of an early frost looks lower than normal because of a warm September, but it’s not out of the question. Mohler said an average October freeze may not be a factor if farmers can get into the fields early and make good progress in September.