The Department of Agriculture’s Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report released Thursday shows the current U.S. inventory of hogs and pigs up four percent from March of last year. USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service says there were 71 million hogs and pigs on U.S. farms as of March 1, 2017. While an increase year-over-year, that figure is down one percent since the December 2016 report. The report also found that of the 71.0 million hogs and pigs, 64.9 million were market hogs, while 6.07 million were kept for breeding. Further, between December 2016 and February 2017, 31.4 million pigs were weaned on U.S. farms, up four percent from the same period one year earlier. Also, U.S. hog producers intend to have 3.01 million sows farrow between March and May 2017, and 3.05 million sows farrow between June and August 2017.

The Donald Trump administration seems more likely to pursue modest changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement in negotiations with Canada and Mexico. Trump called NAFTA a “disaster” during his campaign for President, but The Wall Street Journal reports his suggestions for NAFTA seem less likely to make sweeping reforms to the trade agreement. According to an administration draft proposal being circulated in Congress by the U.S. trade representative’s office, the U.S. would keep some of NAFTA’s most controversial provisions, including an arbitration panel that lets investors in the three nations circumvent local courts. The draft, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, talks of seeking “to improve procedures to resolve disputes,” rather than eliminating the panels. However, experts caution that the draft could be revised. The administration must give Congress 90 days’ notice under trade law before beginning formal NAFTA renegotiations.

The confirmation of Agriculture Secretary nominee Sonny Perdue now awaits a full Senate vote after the Senate Agriculture Committee on a voice vote approved the nomination. The vote occurred off the Senate floor in the midst of floor votes Thursday morning. Full Senate action has yet to be scheduled, and a packed schedule next week could mean the Senate won’t be able to consider Perdue’s nomination until after a two-week Easter recess that starts at the end of next week. The Senate is expected to consider the nomination of Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court next week, and that process is expected to be time-consuming. All but one Senate Ag Committee member voted in favor for Perdue. New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand insisted on a no vote and Perdue’s cousin, Georgia Senator David Perdue, abstained.

Cargill’s CEO took a stand for international trade during a speaking engagement this week. David MacLennan told the Financial Times Commodities Summit in Switzerland that the world is at a critical tipping point in international trade policy. He called on industries represented at the event to support the development of sound trade agreements and to be on guard against a growing sentiment toward more restrictive trade measures. MacLennan told the audience: “The success of our companies, our employees and the wider world depends on us making a strong, collective stand for trade.” In addition to advocating for comprehensive trade agreements, MacLennan argued for public policies that will result in the creation of a “new workforce paradigm” in which the public and private sectors work together to provide ongoing education and training to workers, including those whose jobs are threatened either by the consequences of trade, or by other factors such as greater implementation of robotics and information technology.

A new nationwide study has found Americans seem to remain confused about new fuel choices at the pump and their appropriate usage. The study was commissioned by the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute and surveyed more than 2,000 adults online. The poll found that more consumers have reported mis-fueling engines not recommended for ethanol blends higher than 10 percent, which includes small engine outdoor power equipment, increasing from three percent in 2015 to five percent in the most recent study. Study results show ethanol awareness in fuels remains steady, at 84 percent, and that 44 percent of outdoor power equipment owners are paying attention to the type of fuels they are using. Ethanol blends greater than 10 percent in small engines is not authorized by the Environmental Protection Agency. Regardless of the fuel, the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute says it’s also important to drain fuel out of small engines if they will be left unused for more than 30 days, or to add a fuel stabilizer.

An agriculture professor from the University of Illinois says very early planting is not worth the risks involved. Emerson Nafziger says planting well ahead of normal is unlikely to result in higher yields. In Illinois, he says some corn and soybeans were planted as early as February this year, with unseasonably warm and dry weather. However, he says “the earlier the better” typically doesn’t work well. Yields are usually no higher for crops planted in March or early April compared to those planted in late April or early May, so there’s little reward for taking the risk of very early planting. He says the primary cause of stand loss in both crops is heavy rainfall soon after planting, something early planted crops are more prone to. He says the potential for frost damage and standability issues due to wet April and May soils are also common in early planted crops. Planting very early also affects insurability, and if the crop needs to be replanted, can increase production costs.

In a sweeping and regressive executive order on energy, The National Farmers Union says President Donald Trump reversed years of progress in the U.S.-led fight against climate change. The order dismantles Obama-era policies that NFU says prepare the United States to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change. Farmers Union President Roger Johnson says the order “sends a very clear message to Americans and the rest of the world that our country will not lead the global effort to curtail climate change.” Trump’s executive order rescinds more than half a dozen federal regulations and guidance that aid in making the U.S. food system more climate resilient, according to NFU. This includes an August 2016 White House guidance for federal agencies to consider climate change in environmental reviews and a November 2013 order instructing the federal government to prepare for the impacts of climate change. Johnson says the Obama-era climate policies “created a path of sustainability” for farmers dealing with climate change by curbing carbon emissions that trap heat and change the climate.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is urging President Donald Trump to raise the restoration of U.S. Beef access to China when he meets with China’s President next month. NCBA signed a letter, along with the U.S. Meat Export Federation and the North American Meat Institute asking the President to talk beef trade with Chinese President Xi Jinping (she-gin-ping) in April at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. American beef producers have been denied access to China, a $2.6 billion import market, since 2003. Last fall China announced that it had lifted its ban on imports of U.S. beef, but attempts since then to negotiate the technical terms of access have been unsuccessful. NCBA CEO Kendal Frazier told Trump in the letter that “we strongly encourage you to take this important opportunity to convey the urgent need for China to reopen its market to U.S. beef.” In 2016, American beef producers sold $6.3 billion worth of U.S. beef to customers around the world, with three of the industry’s top foreign markets located in Asia.