The European Union is readying to negotiate with the United States to allow the U.S. to increase beef exports to EU countries. The European Commission sought approval from its 28-member states last month to open negotiations with Washington. The approval process is expected to be completed next week to allow negotiations to begin. Beef is separate from an arrangement between President Trump and the EU to consider a free trade agreement. Reuters reports that a negotiated agreement on beef would settle a dispute that dates back to 1981 when the European Union banned the use of growth hormones in meat across the EU, including imports. The EU says it will look to raise the U.S. share of hormone-free beef imports into Europe, but would need to convince other countries considered to be “substantial” suppliers to accept less. In 2009, the EU and the U.S. agreed to a quota system for hormone-free beef imports, but U.S. share of the quota has slipped from 100 percent to 30 percent.

Senator Pat Roberts says lawmakers are making progress on the farm bill. The Senate Ag Committee Chairman told Politico this week “we’re making progress,” adding “I know I keep saying that, but it’s true.” None of the 12 titles of the farm bill are completed, but Roberts says the commodity title is “close” to being finished. However, Ranking Senate Ag member Debbie Stabenow reported that she and House Ag leader Mike Conaway remain at odds over moving funding around in the commodity title. Conaway allegedly wants to move a small amount of funding from Midwest-based crops to cotton. The so-called “Big Four” leaders of the conference committee, Senators Roberts and Stabenow along with Representatives Conaway and Collin Peterson, are waiting for review by the Congressional Budget Office before forging quickly ahead, according to Roberts.

President Donald Trump paved the path for year-round E15 sales this week, but the road ahead is promised to be challenging. The President directed the EPA to move forward with allowing year-round sales, but the National Wildlife Federation says the move is not allowed under the Clean Air Act. Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation says the action “is simply not legal” and would “accelerate the vast damage to our wildlife habitat.” The Federation is a long-time critic of the Renewable Fuel Standard, and pointed to an Environmental Protection Agency report that they say shows the RFS “was responsible for widespread negative natural resource impacts.” The Federation is one of many organizations considering legal challenges. Ranking House Agriculture Committee Democrat Collin Peterson, like several other ag-lawmakers and farm groups, applauded the announcement. Peterson, however, stated the action “will likely get tied up in the courts,” adding that action by Congress to support the move is “the most reliable avenue to finally getting this done.”

Kansas State University is researching how the U.S. can combat African swine fever. The virus threatens to devastate the swine industry and is positioned to spread throughout Asia. The virus has already spread throughout parts of Eastern Europe and was reported in China in August. Kansas State University researchers and the Biosecurity Research Institute have several projects focused on African swine fever. Their research topics vary, but they share the same goal of stopping the spread of African swine fever and preventing it from reaching the United States. If African swine fever enters the U.S., it could cause billions in economic losses to swine and other industries, animal disease experts say. A Kansas State official says the research will “help to improve our understanding and preparedness” of the threat of the virus. The projects are funded in part by the $35 million State of Kansas National Bio and Agro-defense Facility Fund and also have received support from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the pork industry.

President Donald Trump Tuesday moved forward with plans to allow year-round sales of E15 fuel blends. The move met applause from many U.S. biofuels and commodity groups, as year-round E15 has been a goal of the industry. Trump made the announcement at the White House before rushing off to a rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The move, according to biofuels groups, will bring a little bit more certainty into the marketplace for farmers. However, American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers CEO Chet Thompson reportedly told Reuters that “the only certainty from today’s actions are a lawsuit.” Regardless, a small demand bump for corn is likely. National Corn Growers Association President Lynn Chrisp says corn farmers have advocated for the move because it will “grow demand, provide consumers with more options at the pump and improve economic conditions across rural America.”

Elevated winter colony losses have not resulted in enduring declines in colony numbers, according to new data released by the Department of Agriculture. Instead, the number of U.S. honey bee colonies is either stable or growing depending on the dataset being considered. USDA says at the state level, loss rates are uncorrelated with year-to-year changes in the number of colonies, suggesting that beekeepers are able to replace lost colonies within the course of a calendar year. The data shows between 2007 and 2013, winter colony loss rates in the United States averaged 30 percent, which is approximately double the loss rate of 15 percent previously thought to be normal. That’s because large and mysterious losses of honey bee colonies led entomologists to classify a set of diagnostic symptoms as Colony Collapse Disorder and spurred major efforts to measure, quantify, and understand pollinator loss.