As agriculture eagerly awaits a farm bill, another hurdle has emerged. Now, a forestry dispute appears to be in the way, according to Politico. Pat Roberts, chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, continues to insist that the conference committee negotiators are “close” to reaching an agreement. He says finding an agreement on the forestry title is the biggest obstacle. That’s because lawmakers are considering whether or not the title will include active management of areas at risk to wildfires, a request by President Donald Trump but opposed by Democrats and environmental groups. Opposition says active forest management could “devastate forests” and “wipe out plants and animals.” Roberts told reporters earlier this week that if the issue is settled, “that would indicate that the light went from yellow to green” on the entire conference report.

Strong demand is helping the pork industry push through high production. An outlook published by the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service shows that though fourth-quarter pork production is on track to reach a record high of more than seven billion pounds, up 3.5 percent from a year ago, the ending stocks-to-production ratio is projected to drop to its lowest level since 1990. Meat industry publication Meatingplace says that means domestic demand is outpacing production because U.S. consumers are likely responding to lower prices by buying more pork at a time when disposable personal incomes are rising. Fourth-quarter hog price forecasts reflect heavy supplies, almost nine percent lower than prices during the same period last year. For the full year, commercial pork production is projected at a record 26 billion pounds.

Leadership of Mexico and Canada have confirmed the two nations will sign the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement Friday that replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement. Politico reports that Canada’s Justin Trudeau and the outgoing Mexican President will sign the pact on the Mexican official’s last day in office at the G20 Summit, where President Trump is also expected to talk trade with China. The confirmation comes as there is no steel and aluminum tariff resolution for Mexico and Canada, once thought to be a contingent by the two nations. Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau last week said Canada was “not going to make one set of negotiations contingent on the other.” Mexico and Canada both had previously threatened to hold off on signing the USMCA until President Trump removed the steel and aluminum tariffs. The tariffs are also thought to limit any gains in the new agreement once in place.

Lawmakers return to Washington, D.C., this week with a need to still find a path forward on the farm bill. However, multiple measures, including 2019 appropriation bills, must also be passed in the lame-duck session. The House is scheduled to leave on Thursday, December 13th, while the Senate is scheduled to adjourn on Friday, December 14th. But, Congress could stay in session longer if the necessary end-of-the-year business is not completed by the target dates, according to the Hagstrom Report. Leaders of the House and Senate agriculture committees say they still hope to finish a farm bill this session, but they have not shown signs of reaching a final agreement. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley has hinted that the farm bill might be added to the appropriations bill so that House leadership would not have to bring it up as a separate piece of legislation. Meanwhile, Representative Collin Peterson of Minnesota, who will chair the House Ag Committee next year, says that if the bill does not pass, he wants to organize his committee quickly in January and bring up the farm bill in short order.

Farmers and ranchers took home only 11.3 cents of every dollar that Americans spent on their Thanksgiving Day feast. That’s according to the Thanksgiving edition of the National Farmers Union’s Farmer’s Share publication. The Farmer’s Share compares the retail prices of food in a traditional Thanksgiving holiday dinner to the amount farmers receive from each item they grow. “We should take the time to recognize the farmers and ranchers that provided our Thanksgiving meals,” says NFU President Roger Johnson. “While consumer holiday prices continue to decline, farm income is dropping at a much faster rate. We’re in the midst of the worst farm economic downturn in generations, and we hope Farmer’s Share illustrates that to the general public.” On average, farmers get 14.8 cents of every food dollar consumers spend throughout the year. More than 85 percent of food costs cover marketing, processing, wholesaling, distribution, and retailing. Johnson says farmers and ranchers play the most valuable role in actually producing the food we eat throughout the year, yet they make just pennies on the dollar for their products. Johnson adds, “The major integrators who control the poultry markets have used their extreme bargaining power to suppress the earnings of the men and women who produce our turkeys while, at the same time, they take in record profits for themselves.” He says those same growers that raise our poultry get about five to six cents per pound of turkey they produce.

USDA recently reduced its forecast for beef production in 2018 by 30 million pounds. The new forecast is 26.9 billion pounds. The slight revision is based on numbers at the end of the third quarter, and from fourth-quarter expectations of slightly fewer steers and heifers to be slaughtered and fewer bulls in the slaughter mix. The industry website Meating Place Dot Com says those slaughter numbers are all found in USDA’s monthly Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook report. Despite the lower slaughter prediction in the fourth quarter of this year, the steer and heifer slaughter rate per weekday in the fourth quarter is expected to remain above the rate for the same period in 2017. The 2019 beef production forecast was lowered by 100 million pounds to 27.8 billion. The adjustment comes from fewer-than-expected cattle placed in feedlots in the third-quarter of 2018, which would reduce the expected number of fed cattle marketed and slaughtered in early 2019. The September Cattle on Feed Report says there were 4.7 percent fewer cattle placed in feedlots, but 3.6 percent fewer cattle marketed than last year. That means there are 5.4 percent more cattle on feed than a year ago, which supports expectations of strong marketings in the first half of 2019.

The Chinese agriculture ministry is taking steps to counter concerns that the number of African Swine Fever cases in the country is being underreported. The ministry made it illegal to delay or obstruct reports of new ASF outbreaks, to issue false test reports, to distribute falsified health certificates, or to illegally dispose of infected animals. Reuters says Chinese officials are also offering rewards to people who file reports on new cases. Experts suspect that the 60 outbreaks reported in 18 Chinese provinces may not be an accurate number. China has already imposed transportation limits and other biosecurity measures designed to get control of the infectious disease. To date, the infection has caused China to cull hundreds of thousands of pigs from herds across the country. Officials in Beijing also announced a new case of ASF that killed 55 of 73 pigs on a single farm. China is home to 500 million pigs, more than the combined number of animals found in the rest of the world.