The settlement between Disney, the parent company of ABC News, and BPI, or Beef Products Inc, is worth more than $177 million. The terms of the settlement agreement are not disclosed. However, last week Disney disclosed a charge of $177 million, “net of committed insurance recoveries,” incurred in connection with the settlement of litigation, during a quarterly finance report. South Dakota-based BPI sued ABC for $1.9 billion over its 2012 coverage of lean finely textured beef, including its use of the term “pink slime” to describe the product. BPI saw an 80 percent reduction in the company’s business by the time the ABC reports ended. BPI was forced to lay off about 750 workers as it closed production lines in Iowa, Kansas and Texas. An attorney for BPI told meat industry publication Meatingplace: “As Disney disclosed, $177 million is not the total settlement amount. Based on Disney’s disclosure, it appears that Disney is funding $177 million of the settlement and its insurers are paying the rest.”

Last week’s Department of Agriculture crop reports sent stocks of farm machinery companies lower. USDA on Thursday reported higher than expected crop yields in the August round of crop reports, which includes key yield speculations. Following the report stocks of Agco and Deere dropped roughly 2.5 percent each. CNH Industrial, the manufacture of Case and New Holland, dropped 1.5 percent on the report day. With elevated crop surpluses decreasing farmer purchasing power, machinery sales in North America have fallen in the past three years, according to the Wall Street Journal. All crop yields except corn have collectively increased since 2016, according to the USDA report Thursday. While corn production dropped seven percent from 2016, soybean production rose two percent, cotton production 20 percent, and winter wheat production one percent higher than its July forecast.

Recent data from the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank Survey of Agricultural Credit Conditions suggests conditions in the farm sector may be stabilizing. Agricultural credit conditions weakened further in the second quarter of 2017, but the pace of deterioration has slowed. Although the rate of which farm loans are being repaid continued to decrease, the change from a year ago was not as sharp as in recent years. Only 37 percent of bankers in the survey reported a decrease in repayment rates from a year ago, the lowest share since mid-2015. Farmland values continued to trend lower alongside the reductions in farm income and weaker credit conditions, but the changes have remained modest. With the fall harvest approaching, agricultural lenders and borrowers remain concerned about prospects for the farm economy in the Midwest, particularly in regions with limited potential for high crop yields. However, bankers were generally less pessimistic about economic conditions in the farm sector in the second quarter than in each of the past two years.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue indicated to reporters this week that he would like to see the industry work out a fix on dicamba issues. Perdue said: “I would much prefer that method rather than a prescriptive, top-down regulation,” in saying that he is “hoping that the industry itself and the producers themselves are working toward a resolution,” according to Politico. Thousands of dicamba drift complaints have been filed across the Midwest and Southeast this year as dicamba-based herbicides have damaged neighboring crops that are not dicamba-tolerant. Last week, Monsanto said it is taking the situation “extremely seriously,” and would offer support to affected growers. Monsanto is the maker of the Roundup Ready 2 Extend crop system, which features dicamba resistant cotton and soybeans.

The Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to recognize Mexico as free of classical swine fever. The proposal replaces a previous proposal by APHIS that would have recognized Mexico as a low-risk classical swine fever region. Since USDA’s original proposal, Mexico has asked for enhanced evaluations by USDA. With results from the most recent site visits, USDA determined that current conditions support classical swine fever-free recognition for all of Mexico, according to Meatingplace. This newly proposed action would release classical swine fever-specific restrictions on the importation of pork and pork products from Mexico, while continuing to protect the United States against the swine disease, according to USDA. APHIS is inviting public comments on the evaluation for 60 days. APHIS will then review and consider the comments received and make a final determination.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office has asked a group of industry advisors to provide feedback on potential changes to the U.S. free trade agreement with Korea. World Trade Online reports that USTR is seeking the feedback by mid-August, after recently asking its industry trade advisory committees for ideas on the implementation of the agreement and issues “impacting fair trade” with Korea. USTR asked for the comments to be submitted by August 15th on the five-year-old agreement, known as KORUS. Korea and the U.S. have been engaged in conversations since Lighthizer requested the review last month, but no official meetings have been arranged. While President Trump has called for a renegotiation of KORUS, Lighthizer said the U.S. was seeking a “modernization” of the deal, with a special focus on the bilateral trade deficit with Korea. Korea, on the other hand, is not interested in making changes to the text of the agreement and instead wants to focus on addressing outstanding implementation issues. Korea is currently the fifth largest U.S. agricultural export market.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue Monday announced 32 grants totaling $16.8 million to help Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, participants increase their purchases of fruits and vegetables. The program is operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Secretary Perdue says the grants “help provide low-income families with the resources they need to consume more nutritious food.” Last year, according to USDA, SNAP helped put healthy food on the tables of at least 44 million Americans, including 19 million children. Since 2014, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded more than $65 million through the program. A list of grant recipients is available at USDA.org.