The Bosphorus Strait in Turkey connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean and it was closed over the weekend during the coup attempt in Turkey. More than three percent of the world’s oil supplies pass through that channel and large amounts of grain from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine also navigate the channel. Reuters says over one-quarter of the world’s grain supplies are shipped from ports on the Black Sea. 48,000 vessels move through the Strait, making it one of the busiest transit points on the planet, according to Pro Farmer. Ships are granted free passage, but Turkey does occasionally assert its rights to control the channel. Russia’s Ag Minister said they hope Saturday’s closure of the Strait won’t impact their grain exports.

Farmers and agriculture groups all fear anti-trade talk at this week’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland. They are also are looking for the presumptive nominee to keep pushing for reform of the regulatory agenda in D.C. Donald Trump has come out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and threatened to impose high tariffs on China. Agri-Pulse said that’s alarming to the agriculture industry, but Trump’s selection of Indiana Governor Mike Pence has brought some optimism back into the Ag sector. Pence is an outspoken supporter of the TPP and the other trade deals. House Ag Committee Chair Mike Conaway has offered to advise the Trump Campaign on farm policy, but they haven’t responded. Conaway will be joined by Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Pat Roberts at the Great American Farm Luncheon on Wednesday. It’s an event organized by agribusiness interests at the Republican National Convention. Roberts hopes that Trump will keep up his criticism of President Obama on regulations, saying “our candidate has hit that one out of the park.”

Several recent media reports said USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is among a handful of candidates being considered as a potential nominee for Vice President and running mate for Hillary Clinton on the Democratic ticket. During an interview on NBC, Vilsack said, “Trump is to politics what Bernie Madoff was to investment. He’s selling something the public doesn’t fully appreciate and understand.” Politico Reports the biggest shortcoming for the former Iowa Governor as a candidate might be a lack of foreign policy experience. His response was, “Here’s what I know about foreign policy: The United States must be at the center of every problem globally. We must lead. I understand that.” Vilsack told NBC he’s happy to talk about all aspects of government. In his words, he told NBC to “bring it on.”

Overshadowed by the GMO labeling bill, the U.S. House of Representative’s last Thursday also passed a spending bill for the Environmental Protection Agency. All 12 appropriation bills in Congress face a rather uncertain future, however, as lawmakers are now on summer recess and few working days remain amid election-year politics. Further, Politico reports the fiscal 2017 Interior-Environment appropriations bill, which includes EPA funding, faces a White House Veto threat. The bill would require the EPA to better take state interests into account when creating water quality standards. It also limits reporting requirements in the EPA’s new pesticide worker protections. The bill also prohibits raising fees on grazing and reduces grazing permit backlogs. House lawmakers passed the spending bill by a 231-196 vote.

By a unanimous vote of its board of directors, the organic farmer-controlled Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association has withdrawn its membership from the Organic Trade Association. The Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association announced the move last week because a small number of OTA board members endorsed the Senate’s GMO labeling bill. The Seed Growers Association called the bipartisan labeling bill “dangerous” because it preempts “existing strong state GMO Labeling laws” that the group say are widely supported by the organic industry. The Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association was a member of the Organic Trade Association for eight years.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is already working on the rulemaking process as required by the bipartisan GMO labeling bill which cleared Congress last week. The House of Representative’s voted Thursday 306-117 to send the bill, which mandates GMO labeling and preempts state laws, to President Barack Obama for his signature. The Senate approved the bill just a week earlier. Following passage in the House, Agri-Pulse reports that USDA issued a statement saying a working group had already been formed to write rules necessary to implement the legislation. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack played a key role in helping Congress develop the bill as a way to end the long-running controversy over GMO labeling. Opponents of the bill argue the use of smart labels, allowed in the bill, serves as a loophole because it requires consumers to scan the label with a smartphone for more information. However, the legislation requires USDA to study consumer problems with the scan codes within a year after they go into use.