The World Trade Organization has created a dispute panel to investigate U.S. complaints regarding import quotas by China. The panel came at the request of the U.S. regarding quotas on wheat, rice and corn. The panel on tariff rate quotas for agricultural products was automatically established as it was the second request by the United States at the WTO Dispute Settlement Body, after China blocked the first attempt in August, according to Reuters. The challenge was initiated by the Obama administration in December of last year, and was continued by the Trump administration which says the quotas hurt U.S. farm exports. China calls the quotas “legitimate measures with regard to vital agricultural staples.” However, the U.S. says China pledged to remove the restrictions when it joined the WTO. Some 14 countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, and Thailand, as well as the European Union, have joined the dispute.

South Korea will hold a second round of trade talks with the United States next month. The meeting comes as the Trump administration wants to either renegotiate a free trade agreement between the two, or withdraw from the agreement. A South Korea news agency reports the meeting will take place on October 4th, but the two sides have yet to decide on the specific agenda or their delegations. Last week, the top trade negotiators for Korea and the U.S. met in Washington, D.C., to discuss ways to move forward with the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, known as KORUS. Washington is seeking to amend the five-year-old deal to address the country’s growing deficit in trade with South Korea. Korea previously declined to engage with the U.S. in talks to address KORUS. Korea is the fifth largest U.S. agricultural export market.

The United States now has a tentative timeline to complete the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations. The Trump administration notified Congress Friday evening of expected changes to trade remedy law as a result of the ongoing trade talks, according to Politico. Notification is required at least 180 days before a trade agreement is signed, under the trade promotion authority law. The House Ways and Means Committee confirmed it received the notification. Trade promotion authority also requires the administration to give Congress another notification 90 days before signing the agreement and to publish the text of the pact 60 days before signing. The timeline puts March 22nd as the first day a new NAFTA could be signed. However, to have the deal ready to sign, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would have to reach a deal in December and publish the text in January.

The National Weather Service is calling for above normal temperatures in the contiguous – U.S. over the last three months of 2017. The National Weather Service says the greatest chance of warmth comes in the Four Corners Region between October and December. This could possibly mean areas to the east may need some springtime rains to be ready for the spring planting season. That fact may be made worse because of drought spreading across the Midwest, including Kansas, as well as drought conditions that remain across parts of the Northern Plains. The end of the year forecast calls for above normal precipitation in the Pacific Northwest. The forecast also calls for below-normal precipitation along the Gulf Coast and into Missouri. Below-normal precipitation is in the forecast for eastern Kansas and Oklahoma. Meanwhile, the rest of the country is equally split between normal, above normal, and below normal chances for precipitation.

Idaho, North Dakota, and Montana wheat growers got some good news as Taiwan signed an agreement to buy a large amount of wheat that primarily come from those three states. An Associated Press report says Idaho Governor Butch Otter signed an agreement this week with Taiwanese officials after Montana and North Dakota also signed agreements. Otter said, “The consumption of wheat foods in Taiwan has now surpassed rice and we appreciate that the Taiwan milling industry recognizes the quality of Idaho wheat.” The Taiwanese Flour Millers Association represents 20 flour mills in the country. This is the eleventh time that Taiwan has signed an agreement to buy U.S. wheat. Taiwan has about one-sixth the land mass of Idaho but a population of more than 23 million people. The U.S. supplies more than 80 of its total wheat imports every year. With this new agreement, Taiwan will buy 1.8 million metric tons of wheat in 2018 and 2019. Bill Flory, Vice Chairman of the Idaho Wheat Commission, says the partnership between Taiwan millers and Idaho wheat producers is enduring and very successful.

The National Farmers Union says the latest healthcare reform effort from U.S. Senate leadership will not improve access to affordable and quality healthcare for family farmers and ranchers. NFU President Roger Johnson sent a letter to members of the Senate asking legislators to vote against the plan, known as the Graham-Cassidy Health Care Plan. Johnson also says NFU will score the vote. The National Farmers Union is calling on Congress to use a more transparent and bipartisan approach to improving healthcare. “The NFU’s member-driven policy affirms the right of all Americans to have access to quality healthcare,” Johnson says. “The Graham-Cassidy bill would make health care less affordable for family farmers and ranchers.” Some of the provisions the NFU is concerned about include the elimination of the current structure for tax credits, cost-sharing reductions, and subsidies for out-of-pocket costs. Johnson says the proposed plan would create instability in the markets and force insurance carriers to raise their premiums.

A group of Arkansas farmers who planted roughly 34 percent of the state’s soybean crop has filed a petition in response to a proposed ban on using dicamba products after April 15. The Dicamba Task force assembled by government leaders recently proposed the ban and the farmers say they want in-season access to the technology. The farmers say they’ve seen first-hand the success of the dicamba technology in controlling pigweeds. They’ve also been “very impressed by the significant improvements in yield.” The petition drive started on September 15 and represents farmers from 22 Arkansas counties. An Ag Web Dot Com report says farmers who’ve signed the petition say the proposed ban would cause financial losses to farmers because other pigweed control systems aren’t as effective as the dicamba technology. They also say farmers were not adequately represented on the Dicamba Task Force. Pigweed is a major problem in Arkansas and the group doesn’t want Arkansas to be the only state in the south not using dicamba. They propose a May 25 cutoff date and a one-mile buffer zone as solutions that would reduce or eliminate all soybean injury that occurred this year.

A coalition supporting ag exports is urging Senators to pass legislation to expand the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development program. The Coalition to Promote U.S. Agricultural Exports and the Agribusiness Coalition for Foreign Market Development say the Cultivating Revitalization by Expanding American Agricultural Trade and Exports, or CREAATE Act, would boost trade’s impact on U.S. farmer profitability and the U.S. economy. The bipartisan legislation follows a House version of the bill introduced in May. The bill would increase statutory funding for the programs, which are now authorized at $200 million per year for MAP and $34.5 million per year for FMD. The two coalitions say both programs have faced stagnant funding and eroding real dollar impact due to inflation, sequestration, administrative costs and increased global competition.