The House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee budget discussed Wednesday does not align with the budget proposal for agriculture by President Donald Trump. The bill totals $20 billion in discretionary funding, which is $876 million lower than the fiscal year 2017 enacted level and $4.64 billion above the president’s budget request, according to the Hagstrom Report. The bill allows for a total of $144.9 billion in both discretionary and mandatory funding, that’s $4.6 billion above the president’s request and $8.5 billion below the fiscal year 2017 level. In releasing the bill this week, the Committee said it “focuses funding on programs that bolster U.S. agriculture, support rural communities, maintain and promote food and drug safety, and provide nutrition for those in need.” The bill provides for $73.6 billion in required mandatory spending for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is outside the discretionary funding jurisdiction of the Appropriations Committee for SNAP. That level is $4.87 billion below last year’s level and $2.6 million below the President’s budget request.

Farm groups including the National Corn Growers Association, the American Farm Bureau and the U.S. Grains Council gave testimony Tuesday during hearings on the North American Free Trade Agreement. The farm groups told the U.S. Trade Representative’s office that concerns over the renegotiation effort have disrupted relationships with U.S. agriculture customers, and that a new NAFTA should protect the market gains agriculture has developed. U.S. Grains Council Chairman Chip Councell says buyers’ concerns in Mexico are translating into dollars lost in farm country. He says that the last several months have highlighted how important it is to maintain ta strong, stable relationship with U.S. trading partners. A representative of the American Farm Bureau Federation says a new NAFTA agreement must not only protect market gains, but build upon them. Colorado Farm Bureau President Don Shawcroft says: “A modernized NAFTA should at best eliminate, at worst reduce, barriers to trade that keep our farmers and ranchers from having a level playing field with our neighbors.” AFBF says that NAFTA renegotiations present a prime opportunity to address challenges fruit and vegetable farmers have faced with Mexico, as well as a chance for dairy, row crop and wheat farmers to settle issues with Canada.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is kicking off efforts to reorganize the department. Politico reports that the department has launched a commission to reorganize, modernize and trim the department. The commission will form a plan to reform USDA, which will be based on Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s reorganization plan announced in May. The commission is part of a Trump Administration effort to reorganize federal agencies to “improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability” of the executive branch. The commission for USDA includes officials from Secretary Perdue’s office and others within USDA serving as acting deputy undersecretaries. The effort is being coordinated by Donald Bice, the associate director of the Office of Budget and Program Analysis. A former USDA official told Politico that USDA has been working on the plans for weeks, since President Trump announced his budget proposal, saying “this is going to be a tough year at USDA.”

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt told lawmakers Tuesday that the EPA has sent its repeal of the Waters of the U.S. rule to the federal register, beginning the process of ending the regulation. During a Senate budget hearing Tuesday, Pruitt told lawmakers the measure was being sent to the federal register the same day. The formal withdraw of the Obama-era rule follows through on a campaign promise by President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order requiring an EPA review of the rule. While the regulation went into effect in August of 2015, a federal court put the rule on hold. EPA intends to follow the federal rulemaking process in repealing the rule, meaning the process should take at least a year to repeal and replace. The notice of repeal by the EPA was met by celebration from agriculture groups, including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. NCBA President Craig Uden called the move a “step in the right direction,” while noting that the rule “isn’t dead yet.” NCBA and others have vowed to submit comments during the rulemaking process to rescind the rule.

As a temporary ban on dicamba-based herbicide use on field crops awaits approval by the state’s governor and a legislative panel, Missouri is keeping a close eye for similar problems. Dicamba drift issues started to emerge in Missouri in late June, and the state so far has received more than 60 complaints, according to the St Louis Post-Dispatch. However, this year, the situation is different., compared to the complaints filed last year in the state. Missouri last year mostly dealt with off-label sprayings or use of older, more volatile herbicides containing dicamba. This year, a University of Missouri professor says applicators are using the new products, and using them correctly, adding “they’re doing the best they can do.” Missouri urged producers earlier this month to comply with herbicide label directions. The state’s Legislature this year changed fines related to violations, giving the state’s agriculture department the authority to issue a fine up to $10,000 per violation, or $25,000 per violation for repeat violators, to any person found to have knowingly used any herbicide for a crop for which the herbicide is not labeled for use, leading to drift issues and crop injury in nearby fields.

Following Friday’s announcement by the Department of Agriculture to authorize emergency grazing in drought-stricken states, farm groups offered praise to the move. USDA authorized emergency grazing for Conservation Reserve Program lands in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. The announcement came just days after elected officials, the National Farmers Union, and several Farmers Union state divisions urged USDA to address severe drought conditions in the region. NFU President Roger Johnson says many producers in the area are having to downsize their herd because of dwindling feed supplies, and that without relief, many more would make the same decision. Emergency grazing is authorized to begin immediately and extends through September 30th, unless conditions improve.

Brazil is seeking to reverse a ban on Brazilian beef imports enacted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week. The Associated Press reports Brazil’s agriculture minister will travel to the U.S. to address officials regarding the ban. While the U.S. says the ban will remain in place until Brazil takes corrective action to safety concerns, Brazil says it will fight to end the ban. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s decision was announced three months after a major scandal into allegations of bribed meat inspectors that were allowing tainted meat to pass inspection. Perdue says that since USDA started inspecting 100 percent of beef imports from Brazil, U.S. inspectors have refused entry to 11 percent of Brazilian fresh beef products, about 1.9 million pounds. Brazil’s agriculture minister attributed USDA’s safety concerns to the lumps some steers develop as a result of an allergic reaction to a vaccine against foot-and-mouth disease. He claims the lumps did not represent a public health hazard.

Canada’s Ambassador to the United States is firing back at claims that Canada is hindering the trade of poultry with the United States. Canadian Ambassador to the United States David MacNaughton told a group of senators who say Canada has denied access to U.S. poultry and eggs that their claims are “inaccurate.” McNaughton cited statistics on Canadian imports of U.S. poultry and eggs, saying Canada will continue to “stand up” for Canada’s farmers and their supply management system for dairy, poultry and eggs, according to the Hagstrom Report. The comments were responding to a separate letter sent to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, which asked the Trump administration to address poultry trade during renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The group, led by Delaware Democrat Tom Carper, claims trade barriers by Canada have harmed the U.S. poultry industry for 20 years.

Three of the bigger activist groups filed suit against Sanderson Farms, a major poultry-producing company. Politico’s Morning Ag Report says the Organic Consumers Association, Friends of the Earth, and Center for Food Safety all allege that the company is guilty of false advertising. Sanderson Farms’ chicken is marketed as 100 percent natural. The groups say the chicken contains a range of unnatural and even banned substances. The groups point to recent testing by USDA as proof of their accusations, saying the tests found 49 instances in which samples of the company’s products tested positive for synthetic drug residue. The groups say in their lawsuit, “33 percent of 69 FSIS inspections, conducted in five states, found residues that no consumer would consider natural.” The groups highlighted a number of the study’s findings, including 11 instances of antibiotics that are also used in human medicine, as well as some that are prohibited for use in animals. The groups say some of the products also tested positive for a steroid as well as growth promoters, all of which shouldn’t be in ‘100 percent natural’ products.

Ag groups are weighing in on Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue’s announcement that the U.S. has suspended all fresh beef imports from Brazil due to safety concerns. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Craig Uden supports the move to suspend Brazilian imports because it’s a result of USDA’s science-based testing protocol of imported beef. “This proves our food safety system works effectively,” Uden says. “NCBA supports science-based trade and keeping our food supply safe.” Leo McDonnell, U.S. Cattlemen’s Association Trade Committee Chair, says his group also supports the decision to suspend the imports. “Since March, the Food Safety and Inspection Service has refused entry on 11 percent of Brazilian beef imports,” McDonnell says. “It’s for that reason the USCA remains adamantly opposed to the imports of Brazilian beef products.” House Ag Committee Chair Mike Conaway says halting imports from Brazil is an appropriate and necessary measure as Brazilian officials work to correct the situation. National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson says his group has had concerns about Brazilian beef imports for a long time. Johnson says overseas beef scandals can undermine consumer confidence in the entire beef industry, risking American producers’ bottom lines.