U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue met his counterpart from Brazil on Monday to discuss the U.S. ban on fresh beef imports from Brazil. Perdue said the U.S. needs to see more progress from Brazil on beef inspections before the ban would be lifted. A Cattle Network Dot Com article says the ban went into effect on June 22nd as the U.S. said a high percentage of beef imports from Brazil did not pass safety checks. American inspections found abscesses on meat from Brazil, which Brazilian farmers claimed were linked to foot-and-mouth disease vaccinations. Back in March, Brazilian meatpacking companies were hit with a scandal involving bribes paid to meat inspectors, which in turn halted Brazil’s protein shipments to many of the largest markets in the world. Perdue says the Brazilian Ag Secretary pushed for a timeline to restore beef imports, but Perdue also said that would depend on progress made by Brazil. The South American nation has been selling beef to the U.S. since they signed an agreement in 2016, ending 17 years’ worth of discussions about Brazilian imports. Beef shipments to the United States represent three percent of Brazil’s totals exports.

An atypical case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) was found Tuesday in an 11-year old cow in Alabama. The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) says the animal never entered the slaughter process and was no danger to the food supply or to human health. APHIS has determined that the cow was positive for atypical BSE, a kind typically found in cows at least eight years old. It’s different from the more well-known classical BSE that was found in the United Kingdom back in the late 1980s. The most common source of classical BSE is typically contaminated feed. The cow showed signs of the disease when it was discovered via routine surveillance in a livestock market. Barry Carpenter, CEO of the North American Meat Institute, says the fact that the animal was found before it entered a processing plant should reassure Americans that the U.S. animal health surveillance system and safety protocols are working to protect the public’s health. Carpenter says, “The U.S. surveillance system for sampling and testing cattle far exceeds recommended international standards.”

The House GOP released its budget this week, calling for $10 billion in spending cuts to agricultural programs through the next ten years. However, Politico’s Morning Agriculture Report says the plan doesn’t necessarily say how to go about getting to that number. It does recommend reigning in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program spending by promoting “state flexibility,” but it doesn’t go into any further detail on how to do that. While agriculture won’t be happy with the spending squeeze given that farm income is down so sharply, the $10 billion is actually much lower than the $70 billion initially proposed. Politico says it now appears that House Ag Chair Conaway will be given the flexibility he’ll need to write a farm bill. The wiggle room in putting the farm bill together will likely make it a lot easier for the House and Senate to get on the same page when it comes to putting the nation’s farm programs together.

House Ag Committee Chair Michael Conaway of Texas reacted positively to the U.S. Trade Representative’s objectives for the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations. The plan details how the administration wants to expand market opportunities and tighten enforcement of existing trade obligations to protect U.S. producers. “The administration’s objectives for renegotiating NAFTA clearly demonstrate a commitment to protecting market access while outlining ways to level the playing field,” says Conaway. National Association of Wheat Growers President David Schemm says they’re pleased that the objectives call for maintaining existing reciprocal duty-free market access and they don’t want to do harm to existing trade relationships. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association reacted positively as well, saying the overall renegotiation goals are good for the beef industry because they encourage the continuation of terms that have benefitted the industry for decades. Those terms include duty-free access and science-based sanitary and phytosanitary standards. NCBA President Craig Uden says, “It’s difficult to improve on duty-free, unlimited access to Mexico and Canada. We’re pleased that objectives include maintaining that reciprocal duty-free market access for agricultural goods.”

The White House released its objectives for the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement on Monday afternoon. There weren’t a lot of surprises in the document, with heavy emphasis placed on reducing trade deficits with Mexico and Canada. One of the biggest goals that agriculture wanted was to maintain duty-free status on agricultural exports to Mexico and Canada, something included in the plan released on Monday. An Agri-Pulse report says the 18-page Summary of Objectives also includes the need to eliminate non-tariff barriers to U.S. agricultural exports. The administration also wants to promote greater regulatory compatibility to reduce burdens associated with unnecessary differences in regulation. That may be good news for U.S. dairy producers who are upset over Canada’s pricing policy that hurts American cheese exports and other dairy products. The U.S. Trade Representative’s plan also wants negotiators to find a way to prevent sanitary and phytosanitary barriers from blocking exports. Those kinds of barriers have been preventing America’s potato farmers from expanding exports further into Mexico. The new plan stresses the administration’s goal of updating and strengthening the rules of origin laws, however, it doesn’t ask for a reinstatement of Country of Origin Labeling on beef and pork imports from Mexico and Canada.

A Chinese delegation signed contracts on Sunday to purchase a large amount of U.S. soybeans. The contract is for the purchase of 460 million bushels of U.S. soy worth more than $5 billion. It’s a large increase from the $1 billion contract signed a year ago at this time. The delegation of Chinese buyers represents 11 different companies. China has a growing middle class that’s eating more meat and consuming more protein, plus it has the largest swine herd in the world. That makes China the number one customer for American soy. The Chinese demand for soy is large as it purchases more than 60 percent of all soybeans exported around the world. The United States Soybean Export Council’s China Director says this ceremony represents the value of the 2017 soybean crop, even before it’s harvested. They also called it evidence of the enhanced trade agreements between the two countries. USSEC Chair and Nebraska farmer Jim Miller says U.S. soybean farmers should be confident in the long-term demand for their product. “U.S. soybean farmers have done an exceptional job of meeting the global demands of their customers,” Miller says.

Farmers are still feeling the pressure of a lagging farm economy. A joint survey from the American Bankers Association and the Federal Ag Mortgage Corporation confirms the pressure. Nearly 90 percent of ag lenders report an overall decline in farm profitability over the last year. 84 percent indicate there are higher levels of operating leverage as a result. The survey of 350 ag lenders showed that 60 percent of all borrowers are profitable, but only 54 percent of those same borrowers are expected to stay profitable through the rest of 2017. The degree of pessimism varies by location. Lenders in the South and West said a majority of their customers were profitable in 2016. Corn Belt lenders expect only 55 percent of their customers to remain in the black through 2017. Things are tougher in the Plains states. Lenders in those locations expect only 45 percent of their customers to remain profitable through the rest of this year. A Farmer Mac analyst said the grains, cattle, and dairy sectors have been hit hardest as market prices remain at the low end of the cycle. Lenders that work primarily with poultry, vegetable, fruit, and nut farmers are more optimistic about the future.

It may not be front and center in agriculture like the farm bill discussion is, but farmers have a lot to worry about as Congress debates the future of health care. Politico’s Morning Ag Report says farmers have been struggling for some time with low commodity prices and a sharp drop in farm income. In turn, that’s led to a push on promoting exports and shoring up the farm safety net. But the concern in rural America about health care has never been higher, even though roughly 90 percent of farmers currently have health insurance. Most farmers get their health insurance through off-farm employment, something they have to have because farming is a dangerous occupation. A new university-led survey shows just how much farmers are concerned about the high cost of health care. Nearly half of them are worried they might have to sell off land or other assets to help pay for the cost of health care. National Farmers Union State Presidents met last week in North Dakota. They’ve started hearing so much about health care from their members that the board has bumped it higher on their list of priorities in Washington.

China’s Ministry of Agriculture announced it has approved two more genetically modified crops for import into the country. A Reuters article says it’s the second move in the past month to expand access to biotech seeds as a part of Beijing’s 100-day trade talks with Washington. The Ministry approved Syngenta’s 5307 insecticide-resistant corn sold under the Agrisure Duricade brand. It also approved Monsanto’s 87427 glyphosate-resistant corn, sold under the Roundup Ready brand. The approvals are good for a period of three years, starting from July 16th. The move brings the total number of approved genetically modified crops to four. Four other products are still on a waiting list for Beijing approval, including products from Monsanto, DuPont, and Dow. A DuPont spokeswoman said the company was disappointed its Pioneer insect-resistant corn was not included. The other three on the waiting list were Dow’s Enlist soybeans and two alfalfa products from Monsanto. The moves come as China promised to speed up the review process for GMO crops. While GMO crops can’t be planted for food in the country, corn and soybeans can be imported and used in animal feed products.

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture announced new limits on the use of dicamba-based herbicides this week. The move follows practical bans issued by Arkansas and Missouri for using dicamba for row crop applications, as concerns and drift damages mount. Missouri, however, released its “stop sale, use or removal” order Thursday on dicamba-based herbicides. The new rule in Tennessee restricts application to certified private applicators or licensed pest control operators, certified by the state. The rule also prohibits the use of older formulations of dicamba products for the rest of this growing season and restricts application hours to between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. The new rules, according to the state’s Department of Agriculture, is in response to farmer-to-farmer complaints of suspected dicamba drift damage to crops. The measures are in effect until October first of this year, and violators could be fined up to $1,500 per violation. With removal of its ban, Missouri announced similar limits on dicamba use Thursday, which includes wind, time and applicator restrictions, as well as required notification of planned dicamba applications online.