(USDA) Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue welcomed two leaders to his staff at the Department of Agriculture Tuesday. Perdue swore in Steve Censky as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, and Ted McKinney as USDA’s new Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs. Perdue says Censky and McKinney are “two experienced, prepared, and capable nominees,” who will provide steady leadership at USDA. With the ceremony, Censky officially departed his job as CEO of the American Soybean Association after 23 years, 21 of which he spent as head of the organization. ASA President Ron Moore said that due to the swearing-in of Censky, ASA has officially opened the search for its next CEO. The Indiana Department of Agriculture named its deputy director as interim director last week, following the Senate confirmation of McKinney to the USDA post.

(NAFB)

Following a weekend meeting in Canada, House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway said the North American Free Trade Agreement is “too important to screw up.” Conaway took part in a delegation of House members that focused on agricultural trade in a discussion with Canadian officials before this week’s round of NAFTA talks. In a statement, Conaway said the goal of the meeting was to ensure Canada understand that U.S. agriculture “has a keen interest in getting NAFTA done and done right.” Conaway said U.S. agriculture would continue “to stay at the negotiators elbow” throughout the process. Conaway last week echoed comments from Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue that the NAFTA negotiations were not moving fast enough. Representative David Rouzer (ROU-zer) of North Carolina joined Conaway in Canada, saying the meeting gave the U.S. an “opportunity to demonstrate the importance of the deal for U.S. agriculture.”

Negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement continue Wednesday, with some speculating agriculture issues to finally emerge in the talks. However, while negotiators will be in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will lead a delegation of U.S. CEO’s to Mexico City. Bloomberg reports that the U.S. business leaders will meet with counterparts from Mexico’s private sector and allies in government to discuss ways to defend NAFTA. More than 100 business and government officials attended the U.S.-Mexico CEO Dialogue in December, shortly after Donald Trump’s election, the last time the event was held in Mexico. Trump calls NAFTA a “disaster” and his administration is leading the renegotiation effort between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently said it opposes key proposals by the Trump administration. Specifically, companies are unnerved by U.S. proposals to add a five-year termination clause and roll back the access of Canadian and Mexican firms to U.S. procurement contracts.

A monthly measure of meat exports shows U.S. beef posted another outstanding performance in August, remaining well above last year’s pace, and August pork exports increased from the previous month but were down slightly year-over-year. The U.S. Meat Export Federation reports that August beef exports totaled 112,000 metric tons, up five percent from a year ago and the largest of 2017. Export value was the second-highest on record at $679.1 million, up 20 percent from a year ago and trailing only the record-high value of $688.8 million reached in October 2014. For January through August, beef exports increased ten percent in volume and 16 percent in value compared to the first eight months of 2016. Meanwhile, Pork exports totaled 183,600 metric tons in August, down two percent year-over-year, valued at $511.4 million, down 0.3 percent. January-August volume remained nine percent above last year’s record pace at 1.61 million metric tons, while export value increased 11 percent to $4.21 billion.

A South Korea trade lawyer believes changes to agricultural trade will top the list of changes requested in KORUS, the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. During a meeting last week between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and South Korea trade officials, the two nations agreed to open KORUS to renegotiation. The U.S. proposed revisions to language in KORUS regarding industrial goods, services, intellectual property, investment and farm produce, according to a South Korea-based newspaper. However, no further specifics on those trade categories were revealed. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to withdraw the U.S. from the trade deal that he calls unfair. A South Korea trade official said of Trump’s threats to withdraw from KORUS, that “I don’t think that he’s bluffing.” Meanwhile, Korea trade experts predict that the U.S. will pressure South Korea for changes, while also “asking for unreasonable adjustments to South Korea’s action on automobiles and steel.”

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Department of Agriculture says it is continuing to receive a high volume of complaints over dicamba  from farmers who say the chemical is ruining their crops.

The agency received more than 310 complaints about dicamba this year, the highest number in years. A majority of complaints came from farmers in southeastern Missouri, who contend the chemical drifted from nearby farms and ruined their soybean fields.

The Columbia Missourian reports an estimated 3.1 million acres across the U.S. have been harmed by chemical this summer.

The state temporarily banned the chemical in July, but the ban was lifted within a week with restrictions on its use.

The chemical was designed to kill broadleaf weeds but can drift into other farmer’s crops that are not dicamba-resistant.