A study commissioned by the Plant-Based Foods Association says 76 percent of survey respondents are in favor of allowing dairy terms on plant-based items, while those self-described as consumers were 97 percent in favor. The Food and Drug Administration accepted comments on the issue of labeling non-dairy imitators as dairy items recently.

National Milk Producers Federation spokesperson Chris Galen says, however, that the survey shows “that the vegan community was confused about the question being asked by FDA.” Galen says the purpose of the FDA comment period was to assess whether all consumers, “not just those sending back postcards,” understand the nutritional inferiority of the plant-based alternatives, per comments made by former FDA commissioner Scott Gotlieb.

Galen called the comment period “a qualitative review of evidence that there is a lack of understanding that not all products labeled as ‘milk’ have the same nutrition.” The National Milk Producers Federation is confident the data it and other organizations provided will help provide the rationale for the FDA to enforce its standards against labeling plant-based alternatives as dairy products.

A large coalition of agriculture groups is urging for swift action in the negotiation and implementation of a U.S.-Japan trade agreement. The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, along with many agriculture organizations, signed a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer this week.

The groups say the U.S. food and agriculture industry is increasingly disadvantaged by competing regional and bilateral agreements with Japan that have already been implemented, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the European Union-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement. As a result, U.S. exporters of wheat, beef, pork, dairy, wine, potatoes, fruits and vegetables, and other products are facing collapse of their Japanese market share as these sales are handed over to their competitors.

Agriculture is seeking an agreement with Japan that includes market access provisions that at least equal the terms of the other agreements. Further, the groups say the agreement must include an accelerated phase-in of tariff cuts to ensure the U.S. is not facing a disadvantage compared to other countries, and address non-tariff barriers.

Farm groups and agriculture lenders are urging lawmakers to pass disaster aid. More than 135 farm groups and banks last week penned a letter urging President Trump and Congress to “put aside political differences and supply urgently needed relief.” The organizations, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, highlighted the “unprecedented destruction” in the letter from 2018 and 2019.

Farmers and ranchers are especially anxious for relief because the disasters have come on top of an ongoing downturn in farm income. In response, many banks have tightened credit, placing some growers in jeopardy of not receiving critical funds needed to plant this year’s crops without some form of federal relief. Estimated agriculture losses in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina alone total nearly $5.5 billion.

Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri currently estimate losses at more than $3 billion. Further, the groups say droughts have devastated the Southwest, and wildfires have done the same in the West. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico encountered its own humanitarian crisis from hurricanes Irma and Maria. For many farmers, the groups say, these events have meant near complete losses.

Americans for Free Trade, a coalition of business organizations, is urging the Trump administration to include tariff elimination in the U.S.-China trade talks. The coalition Monday sent a letter to Trump urging five specific outcomes from U.S.-China trade talks, which the White House has said are nearing completion.

The letter, which was signed by 151 coalition association partners, is asking for the full and immediate removal of all recently imposed tariffs, including U.S. tariffs and China’s retaliatory tariffs as part of a final deal. The organization also wants a deal that levels the playing field for U.S. companies by addressing China’s unfair trade practices that put American technology, innovation and intellectual property at risk.

Further, the coalition seeks the avoidance of any enforcement mechanism that would trigger further tariffs, and clarity on how the tariff exemption process will be carried out in the event of a deal. Finally, the coalition is asking for an economic assessment by the administration examining the costs of tariffs for American businesses and consumers.

The Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency Monday announced several enhancements to the Dairy Revenue Protection, Livestock Gross Margin and Livestock Risk Protection Programs. Risk Management Agency Administrator Martin Barbre says the changes “strengthen risk management options and provide peace of mind in times of unpredictable market fluctuations.”

The Livestock Gross Margin program protects against loss of gross margin or the market value of livestock minus feed costs. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 removed the livestock capacity limitation, which allowed the program to remove the individual capacity limitation under the cattle, dairy and swine program. The Livestock Risk Protection program protects livestock producers from the impact of declining market prices. Improvements include expanded coverage for swine, fed and feeder cattle to all states.

The Dairy Revenue Protection program is designed to cover unexpected declines in the quarterly revenue from milk sales compared with a guaranteed coverage level. Improvements for the 2020 crop year include changes in minimum declarations for butterfat and adjusting coverage levels.

Learn more about the changes at www.rma.usda.gov.

The latest outlook from the Federal Reserve regional surveys shows low prices, severe weather, and trade tensions continue to weigh heavily on large segments of the agricultural economy. Politico says the Fed gathers information eight times a year on economic conditions in its 12 districts to make up its Beige Book Report.

For example, southeastern states faced “abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions.” Cash prices were lower for cotton, rice, soybeans, broilers, and eggs compared to last year. Farm conditions remained “weak” in the Ninth District, which includes much of the Upper Midwest. Severe flooding in South Dakota and southern Minnesota is expected to heavily impact planting.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago oversees much of the Corn Belt, saying low corn and soybean prices remain a big problem for growers in that region. The Fed’s farm contacts also expect soybean prices to remain low. That means the corn-soybean acreage totals could be closer to a more typical 50-50 split after soybean acres jumped higher in 2018.

A World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel found that China has administered its tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) for wheat, corn, and rice, inconsistently with its WTO commitments. The way China runs its TRQ administration isn’t transparent, not predictable, not fair, and it ultimately prevents TRQs from filling. In turn, that denies U.S. farmers’ access to China’s grain markets, a clear violation of its WTO commitments.

A USDA release says the panel report is the second significant victory for American agriculture this year. Together with the victory against China’s excessive domestic support for grains, this will help American farmers compete on a more level playing field. China’s grain TRQs have annually underfilled.

USDA estimates that if Chinese TRQs had been fully used, the country would have imported up to $3.5 billion worth of corn, wheat, and rice in 2015 alone. Secretary Sonny Perdue says, “Making sure our trading partners play by the rules is vital to providing our farmers the opportunity to export high-quality, American-grown products to the world. The announcement is another victory for American farmers and fairness in the global trade system.”

The European Union revealed a list of $12 billion in potential tariffs on American imports. The Wednesday announcement came out in response to the U.S. not removing subsidies on Boeing aircraft. That move comes a week after the U.S. threatened to impose tariffs on EU imports worth $11 billion because of European Union subsidies given to French aviation manufacturing company Airbus.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s Office says those subsidies adversely affect the United States. The European Union’s tariff threat appears to be targeted at American agriculture, one of President Trump’s biggest support bases. A good number of the proposed tariffs are aimed at ketchup, nuts, tobacco-seed oil, and many other food items. Back in 2011, the World Trade Organization found that Boeing received billions of dollars in subsidies from the U.S.

Earlier this month, the WTO said the United States had not removed some of those subsidies. Other products like chocolate, frozen orange juice, vodka, video game consoles, and even bicycle pedals are also on the EU’s proposed tariff list.