The Department of Agriculture has announced additional steps to keep African swine fever from entering the United States, even as the disease spreads internationally. The steps strengthen the protections announced last fall after the deadly swine disease reached China. USDA says the goal remains to protect our nation’s swine industry from the disease.

The new measures include training additional beagle teams with Customs and Border Patrol to identify pork products, expand screening of arriving products into the United States, increase inspection of garage feeding facilities, develop reliable testing procedures for the virus in grains and feeds, and heighten producer awareness. USDA says the steps are in continued cooperation with Canada and Mexico on a North American coordinated approach to ASF defense and response.

ASF is a highly contagious and deadly viral disease affecting both domestic and wild pigs in all age groups. It is spread by contact with the body fluids of infected animals. It can also be spread by ticks that feed on infected animals.

A new forecast from the Department of Agriculture predicts net farm income will increase ten percent in 2019. The forecast from the USDA Economic Research Service predicts net farm income will increase $6.3 billion in 2019 to $69.4 billion, following a 16 percent decline in 2018.

Meanwhile, net cash farm income is forecast to increase $4.3 billion, or 4.7 percent, to $95.7 billion. In inflation-adjusted 2019 dollars, net farm income is forecast to increase $5.2 billion, and net cash farm income is forecast to increase $2.7 billion. Overall, farm cash receipts are forecast to increase $8.6 billion to $381.5 billion in 2019. Crop cash receipts are forecast to be $201.7 billion in 2019, an increase of $4.0 billion.

Total animal and animal product receipts are expected to increase $4.6 billion. Receipts for milk, cattle/calves, corn, and fruits/nuts are forecast to increase largely due to expected higher prices for those commodities.

The federal government Tuesday unveiled a multi-agency strategy called the Bioeconomy Initiative: Implementation Framework. The strategy seeks to accelerate innovative technologies that harness the nation’s biomass resources for affordable biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower.

The Biomass Research and Development Board announced the plan that is co-chaired by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy. USDA Deputy Under Secretary Scott Hutchins says the bioeconomy “presents an opportunity to expand and enable new agriculture and forest markets while also improving sustainability.”

The framework outlines an approach for implementing the Initiative and lays out activities to address technology uncertainty, leverage government, academic, and industrial resources and capabilities, stimulate public-private partnerships, and generate technical information that can inform decision-makers and policymakers.

The board includes officials from USDA, the Transportation, Energy, Interior and Defense departments, along with the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President.

The Environmental Protection Agency this week sent a draft rule to allow for year-round sales of E15 to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review. This is the next step in the regulatory process and meeting expectations that the rulemaking can be completed when the summer driving season begins June first.

In a statement, National Corn Growers Association President Lynn Chrisp says the association is pleased to see the process move forward, adding “a timely rule is important for the summer driving season but it’s also important that the rule is done right.” Chrisp says NCGA will be providing OMB with input to help ensure a strong, clear rule for E15. Following the review and interagency approval, EPA will issue a proposed rule for public comment.

There was confusion last week on whether the rule could be completed on time. At Commodity Classic, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told reporters EPA has found a way to make it work, adding he would encourage EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler to “signal out to the industry that it will be done.”

The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer weakened in February as producers became less optimistic about current economic conditions and the commodity price outlook. The barometer, which is based on a survey of 400 U.S. agricultural producers, declined seven points to a reading of 136, down from 143 in January.

A rating below 100 is negative, while a rating above 100 still indicates overall positive sentiment regarding the agriculture industry. Weaker expectations for the future and, especially, a decline of producers’ perception of current conditions combined to drive the barometer lower. The Index of Current Conditions saw the biggest drop, down from 132 to 119, while the Index of Future Expectations weakened slightly, down from 148 to 145.

Additionally, when producers were asked whether they have plans to grow or increase the size of their current operation in 2019, 50 percent of respondents said that they either “have no plans to grow” or “plan to reduce in size,” compared to 39 percent in 2018.

General Mills Monday announced a commitment to advance regenerative agriculture practices on one million acres of farmland by 2030. The company will partner with organic and conventional farmers, suppliers and farm advisors in key growing regions to drive the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices.

In a press release, General Mills claimed that the global food system accounts for roughly one-third of greenhouse gas emissions and 70 percent of water consumption. The company says Regenerative agriculture is a holistic method of farming deploying practices designed to protect and enhance natural resources and farming communities. The practices focus on pulling carbon from the air and storing it in the soil in addition to helping the land be more resilient to extreme weather events.

The company says it will partner with key suppliers to drive adoption across key ingredients including oats, wheat, corn, dairy feed and sugar beets. General Mills is also granting $650,000 to non-profit organization Kiss the Ground to support farmer training and coaching through Soil Health Academies.

President Donald Trump has asked China to immediately remove all tariffs on U.S. agricultural products because trade talks are going well between the two nations. Trump also delayed plans to impose more tariffs on China last week, scheduled as a motivator to conduct negotiations. The request to remove agriculture tariffs includes beef, pork, soybeans and others.

Trump called the request “very important for our great farmers.” The tariffs are part of the tit-for-tat trade war last year when China retaliated over U.S. tariffs by targeting agriculture. Earlier this year, Derek Haigwood, a representative of the American Soybean Association, said he expects to see the impact of trade issues in the next, 2018/2019, marketing year. That’ because shipments to China virtually halted when the trade war began.

Despite the trade woes in the 2017/2018 marketing year, farmers exported a record 2.6 billion bushels of U.S. soy and soy products.

The U.S. and China are inching closer to an agreement on trade that could be reached this month, according to those close to the talks. Bloomberg reports an agreement could be reached and finalized later this month during a planned summit between China’s President and President Donald Trump. As part of the potential agreement, China would lower tariffs on agricultural products.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue at the 2019 Commodity Classic last week told reporters, a “magnificent conclusion to the U.S.-China negotiations will involve doubling and tripling our farm exports to China.” Perdue also said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the prospects for a final agreement.

President Trump put off a planned round of tariff increases to start the month. However, the U.S. wants to continue to have the threat of tariffs as leverage to ensure China will comply with any agreement.