The world’s largest agribusiness is predicting the Environmental Protection Agency will decide soon on the future of dicamba. Bayer expects the EPA to issue a renewal and an updated license for the product in the weeks ahead. Liam Condon, President of the Crop Science Division at Bayer, says, “The EPA wants to make a decision before the next growing season so that growers have certainty.” The weed system was first authorized by the EPA for a two-year period, which ends in November. The agency is currently deciding on whether the product should continue to be used and if there should be changes in how and when it could be used. Following a large number of volatility and drift complaints last year, Bayer says those numbers are lower in 2018, thanks to mandatory training and spraying restrictions. Bayer says there were 99 complaints per every million acres of seed last year. The company says that number was down to 13 complaints per million acres of seed in 2018. Bayer estimates dicamba-tolerant crops covered 50 million acres this year and predicts that number will only get larger in 2019.

India and the United States are currently in negotiations on a trade package. Reuters says Washington and New Delhi are looking to remove some long-standing disagreements between the two countries that would strengthen ties. Initial reports say it looks like Indian farmers and U.S. medical device manufacturers could be some of the early winners in the deal. The two countries have been going back-and-forth on steel tariffs, as well as duties on agricultural products. The two sides began talks in June. India is unhappy with U.S. steel tariffs and the U.S. has problems with a tariff on imported IT equipment. A source with knowledge of the negotiations tells Reuters, “We are closely negotiating a discreet package of trade issues and it will amount to a pretty substantive agreement.” The source says both sides expect the negotiations to wrap up within a few weeks. U.S. President Donald Trump recently said India came to the United States to “start doing a trade deal.” However, he didn’t provide a lot of specifics about the potential agreement.

Talks between Canada and the U.S. regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement are intensifying in Washington, D.C. Bloomberg says Canadian dairy farmers recently told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau not to use access to the protected Canadian dairy market as a bargaining chip. The Dairy Farmers of Canada says it’s already lost $193 million because of past trade agreements and they won’t accept more losses. “The work of our lives seems to have been reduced to a bargaining chip,” says Dairy Farmers of Canada president Pierre Lampron. The group, along with the Dairy Producers of Manitoba, says farmers will hold Trudeau accountable for his promise to defend the supply-management system. The threat may have added strength because of Canadian national elections which come in about a year. They say Canada’s market is too small to accommodate U.S. overproduction, saying the Class Seven milk targeted by President Donald Trump iså worth protecting. Both groups issued a statement saying, “We will hold our prime minister accountable for saying he will defend supply management and dairy in the NAFTA negotiations. We have articulated clearly that the support means no access will be given to the Canadian dairy market.”

A Rabobank report says the African Swine Fever virus has shifted the outlook for the global pork industry. The virus was first found in China and has now been confirmed in Belgium. Rabobank says the potential for the spread of the disease around the world has increased exponentially. Twenty cases have been confirmed in China. The Rabobank report says, “It’s unlikely that this disease has been contained, with additional cases expected to be reported.” China has placed restrictions on animal transportation in the country, which means significant disruptions in pork supplies. Surplus pork supplies are weighing the markets down as producers are rushing to market their healthy animals. Chinese pork prices have risen 40 percent since the country put the curbs in place on transportation. The report predicts a supply gap of two million to three million metric tons may emerge. Rabobank also says finding the virus in feral hogs in Belgium may make it much harder to contain the spread if those wild animals carry the virus into other countries.

(KSA) As fall harvest ramps up, farmers should think about the annual Kansas Soybean Yield and Value Contests. Entries must be postmarked no later than Dec. 1. Kansas State University Extension personnel or a designee must witness the harvest. A designee may be anyone not involved with the farm enterprise. For example, a family member or input supplier may not serve as the witness.
Pertaining to harvest, some of the contest rules’ highlights include the following.
An entry shall consist of one field of at least five contiguous acres. Farm Service Agency measurements will serve to verify a field’s size if entered in its entirety. If not, the harvest witness must take measurements with a measuring wheel, GPS device or smartphone app. If using an electronic method, a color printout must accompany the entry.
Contestants should notify their Extension county offices of when harvest is to begin as early as possible.
The harvest witness must inspect the combine’s grain hopper and verify it is empty before harvest begins.
Only official elevator-scale tickets shall verify the soybeans’ weight. While a minimum of 5 acres must be checked, the entire field’s weight may be taken.
Thanks to the Kansas Soybean Commission, the highest dryland and irrigated yields in the contest each will receive a $1,000 award. In each district, first place will win $300, second will earn $200, and third will receive $100. A winner could earn an additional $1,000 for achieving or surpassing 100 bushels per acre.
The No-till on the Plains organization will supply additional prizes in the no-till categories.
Managed by the Kansas Soybean Association, the contests are free to all Kansas farmers. There is a limit of one entry per field. One person may enter multiple categories — conventional or no-till, dryland or irrigated.
Farmers may enter the value contest, which evaluates protein and oil contents, without entering the yield contest and vice versa.
The complete rules are available at http://KansasSoybeans.org/contests on the web, from the Kansas Soybean office (877-KS-SOYBEAN, 877-577-6923 or info@kansassoybeans.org) and in K-State Extension offices across the state.

As Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland returned to Washington, D.C. for continued NAFTA negotiations, a prominent Congressional member says time is running out. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise says sentiment is building among members of Congress that Canada is purposefully dragging out the negotiations for political purposes. “Members of Congress are concerned that Canada doesn’t seem to be ready or willing to make the concessions necessary for a fair and high-standard agreement,” Scalise says. The Chronicle Herald Website in Canada says Scalise, who represents Louisiana, notes that Congress absolutely wants Canada in the agreement with Mexico and the U.S. Mexico negotiated an agreement with the U.S., doing so separately from Canada, much to the consternation of the Canadian government. However, Scalise says Congress isn’t willing to wait for an indefinite amount of time for Canada to come to an agreement with the other two countries. “Mexico negotiated in good faith and in a timely manner,” Scalise says. “If Canada doesn’t cooperate in the negotiations, Congress won’t have any choice but to consider options on how to move forward and stand up for American workers.”

China said Tuesday that it will hit back against President Donald Trump with retaliatory duties of five or 10 percent against another $60 billion worth of American products. The response comes one day after Trump issued the largest number of tariffs yet in an escalating trade dispute. Politico says China is scheduled to implement their plan on Monday to coincide with the new U.S. duties. A total of $113 billion in U.S. exports are now subject to tariffs while duties will be in place on $253 billion in Chinese products. Trump is prepared to go even higher, saying Tuesday that he’s ready to impose duties on another $267 billion in Chinese imports. The new tariff list includes meat products, including lamb and salted beef; frozen and canned produce like peas and spinach; refined ingredients like soybean, corn, and coconut oil, to processed oats; along with coffee, teas, and liquors. Ag groups weren’t happy with Trump’s decision to take things further. “As we head into the 2018 harvest season for corn and soybeans out here in Iowa, this escalation of the trade conflict couldn’t have come at a worse time,” says Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig.