The last few years have been a challenge in the precision farming industry. Precision Farming Dealer reports that dealers all over the country have been navigating the instability in commodity prices and cautious buying habits of their customers. The fifth annual Precision Dealers Benchmark Study has a more optimistic tone to it than recent years. Retailers are more optimistic about revenue expectations and business objectives. Dealer responses from 28 states and Canada showed 23 percent of dealers showing growth of eight percent or more, more than doubling the 10 percent of dealers projected a year earlier. On the other end of the spectrum, eight percent of dealers reported revenue dips of eight percent or more. It’s the first time in three years that the percentage of dealers experiencing revenue drops was in single digits. Looking ahead, 59 percent of all dealers forecast at least a two percent gain in revenues this year. Only 11 percent of dealers in the study are predicting a revenue drop of at least two percent, the lowest number of dealers in the study’s history.

The Farmers National Company recently released a semi-annual market update on farmland prices and it’s hard to nail down just what the trend is. A Pro Farmer report says the best description may be “steady, with exceptions.” The report says the reason trends are hard to figure out is some farmland sells at better prices than expected while other farmland shows a price decline from previous selling prices. Ag land values in most areas should be expected to continue gradually declining over the next several years if commodity prices and farm incomes remain bottomed-out. Interest rate increases, small tax law changes, and world economic challenges will likely keep the pressure on farmland prices over the next year. The report says there are potential positives ahead for farm and ranch incomes in the future. If the stress on land prices slows and there are no other shocks to the market, land values should move to stabilize over the next few years.

It looks like lawmakers will have $130 billion less to write the upcoming farm bill than they did for the past one. The Congressional Budget Office made that announcement when it published its 10-year baseline projections. The C.B.O. predicts that both farm and nutrition programs would cost roughly $822 billion over the next ten years. That breaks down to $679 billion for the SNAP program and $143 billion for ag programs like crop insurance, commodity subsidies, conservation, and other programs. However, the money lawmakers have available could go even lower if Congress passes a budget resolution. House Budget Committee Chair Diane Black, a Tennessee Republican, along with the House Freedom Caucus, had been asking for massive farm bill spending cuts over the next ten years. House Ag Committee Chair Mike Conaway and Black came to an agreement on a spending number that Conaway says will allow him to write a farm bill. Politico’s Morning Ag Report took a look at costs in the 2014 Farm Bill and found lower numbers than expected. The SNAP program, crop insurance, and conservation programs all cost less than budgeted for, with commodity subsidies the only area that cost more than budgeted for in 2014.

The president promised to improve broadband service to rural areas as part of his nationwide infrastructure plan. Bloomberg says it would take roughly $80 billion to expand broadband to all rural areas in America that need it. However, Trump’s most recent spending proposals only set aside $25 million over the next ten years on rural infrastructure needs. Only 55 percent of rural residents have access to broadband with speeds faster than 25 megabits per second, which is the government’s standard for adequate service. That compares with 94 percent in urban areas across the country. Advocates say increasing broadband access is necessary for improving economic growth. For example, farm equipment now comes with the ability to remotely troubleshoot problems no matter where you are in the country. However, farmers need the right bandwidth available to make that happen. Farmers also can’t access the real-time data they need to make their operations more efficient. “Without it, you’re asking farmers and ranchers to run a viable business without modern technology,” says R.J. Karney, Director of Congressional Relations with the American Farm Bureau.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said Friday he’s acted on a couple of proposed emergency rules he received through channels regarding the use of dicamba herbicide. In the first action, he’s sending a proposal on “Banning the Sale and Use of Dicamba” to the Legislative Council for review. If given the go-ahead, that measure would put a 120-day moratorium on any further use of dicamba over the top of row crops. The only dicamba herbicide currently allowed for use in Arkansas from April through September is BASF’s Engenia. There is an exemption written into the governor’s proposal for using the product on pastureland. Hutchinson expresses concern about banning the product during the growing season, but he also says the number of complaints justifies the action. Most recently, as of June 23rd there were 507 separate complaints about dicamba misuse filed in 12 Arkansas counties. The governor also instructed the state’s Plant Board and Ag Department to form a task force to review dicamba technology, to investigate the use of dicamba, and come up with a long-term strategy for Arkansas. Governor Hutchinson also announced he’s approving the endorsement of a proposal calling for stiffer penalties in cases of dicamba misuse.

President Donald Trump met with the new President of South Korea on Friday and opened up the session with tough trade talk. An L.A. Times article says Trump announced he will be renegotiating a trade agreement with South Korea that’s already been in place for five years. The agreement is a co-legacy for both Presidents Bush and Obama and it had broad Congressional support when it was approved. At the same time Trump made the announcement, the U.S. is looking for help from South Korea to contain the nuclear threat from North Korea. Trump called it, “A rough deal for the United States, but I think it will be much different and will benefit both parties.” The South Korean President said nothing to give the impression that a renegotiation was already underway. He calls it a beneficial agreement to both countries while also saying the two countries can address specific concerns. Trump complained in the past about the trade deficit with South Korea, which totaled $17 billion dollars in 2016. While Trump wants to redo or even end the agreement, it’s important to remember that South Korea is the sixth-largest overseas trading partner for the U.S. The two countries traded more than $112 billion dollars worth of goods last year.

The National Biodiesel Board says it will consider all possible legal actions as it looks into what it calls a flood of biodiesel entering the country from Argentina. The N.B.B. says new data is out showing subsidized biodiesel imports from Argentina are still continuing to surge, pushing even higher in recent weeks. A June report from a business intelligence company showed biodiesel exports shipped out of Argentina reached a five-month high and all of it went to the United States. Argentina recently reduced and then dropped export taxes on biodiesel, contributing to the surge in shipments to America and making the situation that much harder for American producers. In March, the NBB filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission because of the rising amount of biodiesel imports. The NBB says in the petitions that higher volumes of subsidized biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia have taken away market share from American manufacturers and injured domestic producers. Anne Steckel is the NBB Vice President of Federal Affairs and she says they filed the petitions to level the playing field for America’s producers.

In a historic ceremony on Friday, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association helped welcome the first shipments of American-produced beef into China since 2003. NCBA President Craig Uden joined Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue, U.S. Ambassador Terry Branstad, and Chinese officials at the ceremony in Beijing. The highlight came when Uden and Perdue participated in a “joint cutting of the prime rib.” Uden said restoring American beef access to China has been a top priority for many years. “We are excited to have the opportunity to provide Chinese consumers with safe, tender, and delicious beef once again,” said Uden. NCBA efforts to help restore access to the Chinese market finally paid off this year as U.S. and Chinese negotiators reached an agreement to break the 14-year stalemate. Uden said getting access to the world’s largest market is a step in the right direction. “We still have a lot of work to do, including negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with Japan that puts us on an even ground with competitors,” Uden says, “while also ensuring the NAFTA negotiations don’t mess up the great deal we’ve had with consumers in Canada and Mexico for years.”

Farm groups and Ag organizations spoke their mind during hearings before the International Trade Commission on the upcoming North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations. While they all had different messages, Politico’s Morning Agriculture Report said the overriding theme was a simple one: don’t harm agricultural exports. Each speaker pushed for benefits favorable to their groups while trying to hold onto or increase benefits from the original agreement. Several different commodity groups expressed general support for the agreement, saying it promoted jobs, growth, and productivity in America. Don Shawcroft, President of the Colorado Farm Bureau, told the committee, “NAFTA has facilitated a very significant increase of trade of U.S. agricultural products to Canada and Mexico, more than quadrupling the $8.9 billion in 1993 to $38.1 billion in 2016.” Non-Ag groups spoke before the committee as well. Automakers showed up to express support for the current NAFTA Rules of Origin. The trucking industry pushed to prevent Mexican truckers from driving in the U.S. Politico says most of the supporters were echoing the Chamber of Commerce by saying “do no harm,” a phrase repeated several times over the three days of hearings.

The Department of Agriculture is seeking public input on GMO labeling. The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service posted 30 questions for the public this week regarding labeling food items containing genetically modified ingredients. The feedback, according to Politico, will help the agency develop a proposed rule governing how food manufacturers disclose when products contain genetically engineered ingredients. Questions include: What terms should be interchangeable with “bioengineering”; whether AMS should require disclosures for foods containing highly refined products, such as oils or sugars derived from bioengineered crops; and the amount of a bioengineered substance needed to deem it bioengineered. The GMO Labeling legislation passed by Congress last year gave USDA two years to finalize the regulation. USDA says it is preparing to release the rule later this year.