A community organization against the proposed chicken processing plant in Fremont, Nebraska has filed a lawsuit against the city regarding zoning for the site. The lawsuit was filed by the Nebraska Communities United group Monday afternoon. The lawsuit claims the city illegally designated land set to house the Costco chicken plant as blighted to qualify for tax-increment financing, or TIF funding. The complaint argues that state law on TIF projects does not allow the “blighted” designation for rural land, noting that more than 400 of the 1,000 acres on the property are cornfields. The opposition group was founded by three Fremont, Nebraska residents. The Omaha World-Herald reports the plaintiffs worked with the Socially Responsible Agricultural Project, an Oregon advocacy group that opposes what it calls “factory farming” nationwide.

A new survey shows twice as many consumers lists bacterial foodborne illnesses as their top food safety concern compared to those who fear chemicals, carcinogens, antibiotics use in food animals or GMOs. The International Food Information Council Foundation commissioned the online study in March of more than 1,000 consumers between the ages of 18 and 30. Consumers were asked to choose and rank their top three food safety issues and 29 percent of consumers listed foodborne illness at the top of the list, while just eight percent of consumers listed GMOs at the top, according to Meatingplace. However, when asked, “Have you changed your eating habits because of something you’ve heard or read about food additives and ingredients, chemicals in food, or carcinogens in food?” 40 percent of respondents said yes.

The Environmental Protection Agency will hold a scientific advisory panel meeting this fall to review the widely used herbicide glyphosate. However, the Federal Register notice of the meeting Tuesday offered no indication on whether the panel will consider the conclusions of an EPA assessment that found glyphosate poses no significant cancer risk. DTN reports that the EPA has scheduled the meeting of a Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act scientific advisory panel for October 18th through October 21st in Washington, D.C. The Federal Register notice mentions the conclusions of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in March 2015 that says glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to humans.” The notice makes no mention of other studies that find the opposite. EPA posted and then removed from its website in May a final report that essentially cleared glyphosate. The agency said the report was posted inadvertently.

With both Candidates for President openly against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade deal could be facing an increasing uphill battle towards getting congressional approval. At the Democratic National Convention this week, chants broke out of “No TPP” while Bernie Sanders was speaking Monday, the same day his party approved its platform which is formally against the trade agreement. Hilary Clinton previously favored TPP while serving as Secretary of State for President Obama, but she changed her stance since beginning her campaign that will accept the nominee as the Democrat’s candidate for President later this week. Republican Candidate Donald Trump also opposed the deal in its current state. During his speech, Senator Sanders, the runner-up to Clinton for the Democratic nod, told the audience “We’ve got to make sure that TPP does not get to the floor of Congress during the lame duck session.” Farm groups favoring the deal are pressing Congress to consider the measure after the November elections. However, Politico says all of the anti-trade campaigning makes it exceedingly difficult to get TPP through an already wary Congress, making passage not impossible but very unlikely.

Bayer and Monsanto appear no closer to an agreement than two months ago when the first offer by Bayer went public, according to a new analysis by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Bayer recently increased its offer to acquire St. Louis-based Monsanto to $125 a share, or $64 billion. Edward Jones analyst Matt Arnold told the local newspaper he believes Monsanto’s board will not accept an offer for less than roughly $140 a share, and he does not think Bayer is willing to go that high. Arnold gets to more than $140 a share by taking Monsanto’s estimated operating earnings and multiplying them by 17. That’s the multiplier that Monsanto was willing to pay for Syngenta last year. Bayer’s offer falls short of that marker, meaning the offer values Monsanto less than the company values a competitor just a year ago. Monsanto said the second Bayer proposal was “financially inadequate and insufficient to ensure deal certainty.” Meanwhile, Bayer may not be willing to go much higher as shareholders would rather see Bayer invest in its pharmaceutical business.

Leadership for Syngenta calls recent talks with regulatory authorities constructive as the company seeks approval for the merger that allows ChemChina to take over the Swiss-based company. Syngenta officials continue to display confidence that the transaction will be completed in time, according to Bloomberg. Talks with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. are ongoing, and the goal remains to complete the deal by the end of this year. ChemChina is seeking regulatory approval for the purchase that will make it the world’s largest supplier of pesticides and other crop-care chemicals, although temporarily. The Dow-DuPont merger and Bayer’s possible acquisition of Monsanto will reorder the rankings as the top six suppliers fight for market share and financial power to drive research and new product releases.

The Environmental Protection Agency is inching closer to finalizing standards for certifying workers who apply dangerous, restricted-use pesticides to crops. In a Federal Register notice Monday, the agency announced it has sent the rule to the Department of Agriculture for review. The USDA review is required under federal pesticide law, before the measure heads to the White House for a final review, according to Politico. The new standards would require certifications to be renewed every three years and establish new training and licensing requirements. For the first time, the regulations would also set a minimum age requirement of 18 years old for people seeking certification. The proposed rule applies only to those chemicals that pose a high health risk, including the herbicide atrazine.

A new poll of senior leaders from Midwest Farm Credit lenders by AgriBank shows commodity prices are the greatest challenge facing farm operators. The poll says Farm Credit lenders are responding to the challenge by providing services to restructure the financial situations for farmers. The poll, which was conducted the week of July 11th, was announced Monday at the Ag Media Summit in St. Louis, Missouri. The poll shows 69 percent of senior credit and risk officers from the 17 Farm Credit Associations in the AgriBank District selected commodity prices as the top challenge. The next biggest challenges were input costs, credit availability and adverse weather effects. When asked about the support they are providing to help farmers face those challenges, 86 percent said they are rebalancing borrower debt to bolster working capital. AgriBank is one of the largest banks within the national Farm Credit System, with nearly $100 billion in total assets.