The U.S. and China will continue talks this week that will hopefully lead to an end to the trade war between the two economic superpowers. A Reuters article says sources from both sides feel the recent negotiations kept things moving forward. The Trump Administration still seems committed to the March 1 deadline to reach a deal or raise tariffs on more Chinese imports.

President Donald Trump had said recently that he’s “reluctantly willing to let the target date slide.” The recent talks focused on agriculture, property rights, technology, non-tariff barriers, and currency. Chinese President Xi Jinping met Friday with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin after a full week of talks that included lower-level officials.

If the two sides don’t’ reach a deal and the deadline isn’t extended, tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports will rise from 10 percent to 25 percent. After the conclusion of talks on Thursday, which included a banquet for officials, Mnuchin said on Twitter that he and Lighthizer held “productive meetings with President Xi’s top economic adviser.” Lighthizer says they’ve made good progress on important and difficult issues. While there’s additional work to do, Lighthizer describes U.S. officials as hopeful.

The Department of Agriculture is giving funding priority in a key grant program for applications to address opioid misuse in rural communities. USDA may award up to 30 special consideration points for Distance Learning and Telemedicine program applications for projects that provide opioid treatment services in 220 at-risk counties identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The deadline for applications is April 15, 2019. Outgoing Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett says the focused investment targets USDA resources “to be a strong partner to rural communities.” Last week, the Trump administration announced that Hazlett would move to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to serve as a senior adviser for rural affairs, furthering the administration focus on addressing the opioid crisis.

Farmland values in the Federal Reserve’s Tenth District held steady in the fourth quarter of 2018 despite risks to ongoing stability, according to the Kansas City Fed’s quarterly Agricultural Credit Survey. While demand for farmland remained relatively strong across the district, weaknesses in the crop sector continued to dampen the overall agricultural economy.

The report says that risks to the outlook for farmland values in the quarter included slightly higher interest rates and an uptick in the pace of farmland sales in states with higher concentrations of crop production. In addition, continued deterioration in farm finances and credit conditions could put further pressure on values for farm real estate. Looking into 2019, bankers’ expectations for farmland values were slightly weaker than a year ago.

Still, the report says the value of farmland continued to provide ongoing support to the farm sector and remained a key factor to monitor in 2019. The Tenth District covers parts of or all of seven different states, including Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming.

The Environmental Protection Agency has rescheduled public hearings on the updated Waters of the U.S. definition. The hearings were scheduled to take place during the government shutdown, but were postponed. The hearings will be held on February 27th and 28th in Kansas City, Kansas.

The EPA, along with the Army Corps of Engineers, have submitted the proposed rule to the Federal Register. The 60-day comment period, also delayed by the government shutdown, will close on April 15th. In the Federal Register, the listing says the EPA is defining the scope of waters regulated under the Clean Water Act.

The proposed rule is intended to “increase Clean Water Act program predictability and consistency by increasing clarity as to the scope of waters of the United States.” Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, called the release of the proposal a “major step toward fair and understandable water regulation on America’s farms and ranches.”

An economic analysis of the ethanol industry found significant contributions to the U.S. Economy. Announced by the Renewable Fuels Association during its annual National Ethanol Conference, the organization says the study shows that despite regulatory and marketplace challenges in 2018, the industry made a “remarkable contribution” to the U.S. economy.

The analysis found that the industry supported nearly 366,000 jobs and generated nearly $46 billion in gross domestic product in 2018. According to the analysis, the production and use of 16.1 billion gallons of ethanol in 2018 generated an estimated $4.8 billion in tax revenue to the Federal Treasury and $4 billion in revenue to state and local governments.

The analysis also estimated the impact of the ethanol industry on the state economy in top ethanol-producing states. Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois were the top three states in terms of economic impacts, but states like Ohio, Kansas, Michigan, Texas, Missouri, California, and New York also benefited from ethanol plants’ contributions.

The Environmental Protection Agency will release a single draft rule to expand E15 sales, and make RIN market reforms. The announcement follows consideration that the rule would be split to allow the EPA to focus on finishing the E15 rule before the summer driving season.

However, an EPA official told Reuters, “the President had instructed us to keep it together.” The rule was expected to be released in draft form in February, but the government shutdown has delayed the rulemaking process. The EPA is still expecting to complete the rule, according to agency officials, by the June first start of the summer driving season.

If the agency fails to complete the rule on time, E15 sales would not be allowed in many markets due to current regulations. However, while the timeline is slim, the EPA official says the agency was moving at a “very expeditious” pace on the E15 rule. The agency has yet to announce a date for when the draft rule will be released.

The Environmental Protection Agency this week released a draft report on greenhouse gasses. The report says U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell .3 percent in 2017 from 2016, but estimates that methane emissions grew 1.5 percent. Politico reports the methane emission increase in 2017 was largely due to more emissions from cows and other livestock.

In all, the data shows the 2017 estimation represents the highest methane emissions since 2014. Earlier this week, Bill Gates, who funds climate change efforts through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, wrote of the methane livestock issue, stating only cattle “give off methane when they belch and pass gas.” He offered no solution, but rather language to focus on solutions to curb methane emissions.

Meanwhile, the comment period on the EPA draft report is open until March 14th. Comments may be submitted online through the Federal Register.

China’s President will meet with U.S. trade leaders Friday as the U.S. and China seek a trade deal before an early March deadline. The South China Morning Post reports China’s President Xi Jinping is scheduled to meet with a U.S. trade delegation in Beijing, which includes U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

China and the U.S. face an early March deadline set by the Trump administration to reach an agreement that could end the tit-for-tat trade war between the two nations. However, President Trump said this week he is open to extending the deadline, saying he could let the deadline “slide for a little while.”

Trump is expected to meet with China’s President sometime in March in what some say could be a move to close an agreement between China and the United States. The trade war served a blow to U.S. agriculture as China slapped retaliatory tariffs on U.S. farm commodities, most notably, soybeans and pork.