Nearly $840 million in trade aid has been handed out to farmers from the Department of Agriculture so far this year. The payments stem from the trade mitigation package announced by USDA to help offset trade war loses for farmers. The package, worth $12 billion, has paid out $837.8 million to farmers. Top aid recipients are soybean, wheat, corn dairy and hog producers, according to Reuters. The five states that received the highest amount of aid were Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Indiana and Minnesota. The second set of payments is expected in December, and USDA says producers who signed up for the first round will be automatically included in the second round of payments. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has said that there are no plans to extend the aid into 2019, for now.

Eastern Corn Belt farmers are facing similar conditions reported by the Western Corn Belt. The St Louis Federal Reserve Bank, following a Kansas City Fed report, says bankers reported that farm income had declined, and that farm household spending and capital expenditures remained below levels compared with a year ago. The survey includes seven Midwest and Midsouth states, including Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. Overall, bankers were slightly less optimistic when asked about the prospects for farm income in the fourth quarter of 2018. As one Missouri lender stated, farmers are hurting, expecting “no change in the marketing plans because they have bills to pay and will need to sell the crop to make those payments.” The report says small farmers are hurting because of the low prices and are usually the ones who do not have on-farm storage to allow them to hold their harvested crops.

The price gap between U.S. and Brazilian soybeans is narrowing, a signal some suggest that trade progress could be made between the U.S. and China. CNBC reports narrowing U.S.-Brazil soybean price differentials imply greater market optimism regarding a meeting between President Trump and China’s President at the upcoming G20 Summit. Even with the 25 percent tariff on U.S. soybeans, the average differentials have shifted from a 24 percent U.S. discount to Brazil in mid-October, to a 17 percent discount last week and a 13-15 percent discount this week. Market experts say the differential could partly account for any movement of U.S. beans to South America for local crushing or even re-export. The G20 Summit, where President Trump and his counterpart from China are expected to discuss trade on the sidelines, begins November 30th.

Farm income and credit conditions continued to deteriorate in the third quarter of 2018, according to a Federal Reserve Bank survey. The Tenth District Survey of Agricultural Credit Conditions shows more than half of bankers reported lower farm income compared to a year ago, and the decline in farm income was sharpest in states with higher concentrations in corn and soybeans. The district includes seven Midwest and Plains states in the Western Corn Belt. The survey found prices for most major commodities remained lower than a year ago amid elevated supply expectations and ongoing trade disruptions. The prolonged period of depressed farm income has placed more pressure on borrower balance sheets. According to bankers across the region, many crop producers in 2018 had a modest deterioration in working capital. For the fifth straight year, a majority of bankers reported having borrowers with some depletion of short-term operating funds. Stress on farm finances also contributed to an increase in the expected sale of mid- to long-term assets in 2018.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell calls passing a farm bill a top priority for the lame duck session, but the conference committee must first come to an agreement. Senate Ag Chairman Pat Roberts was hopeful for an agreement Thursday, but said House Ag Committee Chair Mike Conaway refused to come to an agreement, blaming the delay on the Texas Republican. However, Conaway called Roberts comments “finger-pointing” that would not help to bring about a deal, according to Politico. Roberts noted that Conaway was holding out on signing the conference report because he has concerns with at least six titles of the bill, including commodity, nutrition and conservation. Roberts said of the conference committee leadership he is “very troubled by the fact that we have agreement among three, but we can’t get the fourth one.” Conaway says he has “some things” he hasn’t agreed to, but adds that so does Roberts, and Ranking Senate Ag Member Debbie Stabenow and Ranking House Ag Member Collin Peterson. Conway concludes “pick your poison as to who you think is standing in the way.”

60 farm and food groups, along with others, are urging Congress to block a proposed move of Department of Agriculture agencies out of the Washington, D.C. area. The group penned a letter to leaders of the House and Senate agricultural appropriations subcommittees requesting they protect the Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Announced by the American Statistical Association this week, the coalition requested that agriculture appropriators “specify that no funding be used for relocation or realignment of ERS and that no funding be used for the NIFA relocation beyond that already provided for its relocation within the National Capital Region.” The letter states the fundamental concern is that the proposed relocation and realignment will undermine the quality and breadth of the work the agencies support and perform, “work that is vital to informing and supporting U.S. agriculture, food and rural economies.”