Mann Packing will remove the “non-GMO” label term from select products because the company says it “doesn’t want to perpetuate a fear that something is wrong with GMOs.” PRWeek reported the company is turning an about-face, after getting some products verified under the Non-GMO Project. The company is removing the non-GMO verified check from its single-cut lettuce products in its next print run, according to the company’s director of corporate marketing. A company spokesperson said: “There is no GMO lettuce,” adding “It made us go: Why are we doing this?” Mann sells other products that do not have the non-GMO verified check, but include copy stating they are GMO-free on the packaging. The company is discussing removing that label, as well. Mann Packing was founded in Salinas, California in the 1930’s. Today, the company is a majority women-owned and operated business, and says it is one of the country’s leading suppliers of fresh vegetables.

House Agriculture Chairman Mike Conaway echoed comments made last week by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, saying the negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement are not moving fast enough. Conaway stated: “Perdue hit the nail on the head when he said we need to stop circling the ring in NAFTA negotiations and begin laying out concrete agriculture proposals.” He made those comments ahead of a weekend trip to Canada to engage on agriculture issues in advance of the next round of NAFTA negotiations happening this week. Perdue spoke to the Washington International Trade Association last week, saying there is a “real opportunity” to open Canadian dairy markets. He said he has been somewhat disappointed in NAFTA rounds so far, but believes the next round will be an opportunity to bring up more-serious agricultural issues.

Global food prices made a mild move upward last month, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The monthly FAO Food Price Index averaged 178.4 points in September 2017, up 1.4 points from August and 7.4 points above September 2016. Firmer prices in the vegetable oil and dairy sectors were behind the small month-on-month rise. The index consists of the average of five commodity group price indices, weighted with the average export shares of each of the groups for 2002-2004. Prices for cereal grains declined one percent, to a level of 152.2. However, the Vegetable Oil Price Index averaged 171.9 points in September, compared to 164.4 in August, rising for the second consecutive month and marking a seven-month high. Global dairy prices increased 2.1 percent for the month, and meat prices were unchanged, along with little change in sugar prices.

The fourth round of negotiations to redo the North American Free Trade Agreement take place next week in Washington. Jim Mulhern, CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation, says negotiators are planning to put forth proposals on dairy policy and other market access issues U.S. farmers have getting their product into Canada. Milk Business Dot Com says the Milk Producers Federation is pushing very hard for improving the U.S.-Canada relationship when it comes to dairy, but at the same time is working hard to maintain the current dairy relationship between the U.S. and Mexico. Mulhern says dairy policy has typically been left out of NAFTA negotiations and the result is a relationship between the U.S. and Canada that has been more and more frustrating when it comes to dairy policy. “Canada maintains very high tariffs,” he says, “which means that you really can’t get any dairy products into the country. What really put them over the top is the national ingredients strategy Canada implemented this past spring.” Getting rid of the Class 7 designation, which is a big part of the disagreement between the countries, won’t be enough. “This is a free trade agreement,” Mulhern added. “If you’re going to have a free trade agreement, there must be trade. We need a more normalized integrated market, like the one we have in Mexico.”

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue talked on Wednesday about the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations, saying he’s “somewhat disappointed” with the pace of the talks. Politico’s Morning Ag Report says Perdue tried to offer hope to U.S. farmers by saying there’s a potential for serious agricultural discussions next week when Round Four gets underway. “Honestly, we’ve been somewhat disappointed in the first three rounds, but we think this is the way these things get going,” Perdue said. Speaking at a Washington International Trade Association event, Perdue added, “If you’ve ever watched a boxing match, they circle one another for a while, and I think we’ve been circling.” He says the administration will lay some things on the table in the next round of talks. Some of the more serious things will include the dairy trade dispute with Canada. Perdue expects both dairy and poultry to be topics of discussion in the next round of talks. He says dairy gains with Canada may be tough to achieve. The secretary also wants to address the concerns southeast U.S. fruit and vegetable growers have over increasing competition from Mexican producers. Perdue acknowledged on Wednesday that they have been hurt by Mexican competition under NAFTA.

Back on August 30th, the Indiana Pesticide Review Board voted to place restrictions on dicamba use in the state. Ag Professional Dot Com says the vote will become law if it passes a couple more steps in the process. The restriction would be in effect for all dicamba products used for agricultural purposes and only certified applicators would be allowed to apply the product. The next step in the rule-making process is the state Attorney General’s Office. If the Indiana A.G. signs off on it, the rule then heads to the Governor before making the final stop at the Legislative Services Agency, which would then choose the publication date, listing it as the final rule. Indiana’s rule would restrict any pesticide product with dicamba that both contains dicamba in concentrations equal to, or greater than, six and 6.5 percent, and is intended for agricultural use but doesn’t contain 2,4-D as an active ingredient. The restriction would not apply to dicamba-based products intended for use on turf or other non-agricultural sites. Indiana requires the Pesticide Review Board to consider economic impacts when making their decisions as well. A statement from the board says it made the decision because there are numerous other products on the market that could be used in place of dicamba-based products. Indiana rules go into effect 30 days after filing with the publisher.

An analysis by CME Groups says the La Niña weather phenomenon may be coming back for real this time, after a head fake last year. La Niña is associated with cooler, wetter conditions along the U.S.-Canadian border, warmer, drier conditions in much of the southern United States, and impacts weather patterns worldwide. CME Group Senior Economist Erik Norland says past La Niñas have roiled agricultural markets, sending prices on” wild rides,” often lower amid exceptionally high levels of volatility. Research shows cooler-than-normal water is pooling along the Equator on the America’s side of the Pacific Ocean. One potentially worrisome feature of agricultural markets today, Norland writes, is that corn, wheat and soy complex options implied volatilities are trading at or near record lows. He says: “This might mean that markets are woefully unprepared for a potential La Niña that would bring a wave of volatility.” Since 1959, the world has experienced eight significant episodes of La Niña and 12 significant episodes of El Niño, a warming of currents.

Farm and food groups want the Trump Administration to address a trade consideration between Mexico and Japan regarding geographical indications. Japan and Mexico are considering giving exclusive status to various European geographical food and drink names. In a letter to President Trump, the groups say that the European Union is currently negotiating with both nations on lists of protected geographical indications, and “seeks to secure a monopoly on certain common names for meats, cheeses, wines and other beverages, such as parmesan, bologna and vintage.” The letter was signed by the American Farm Bureau Federation, The U.S. Dairy Export Council, and the Wine Institute. Japan and Mexico, which are finalizing new and updated trade agreements with the EU, are closing comment periods on the terms early this month. The groups say they are not opposed to “proper” geographical indications such as ‘Idaho Potatoes.’ However, they say the EU has been aggressively seeking to confiscate generic terms that derive from part of the protected name or are otherwise in common usage, such as ‘parmesan.’