The Governors’ Biofuels Coalition is asking President Donald Trump to support several changes to federal law to support biofuels production. A letter signed by coalition chairman, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts, asked the Trump Administration to change the fuel volatility limitations placed on E15 in current law, according to DTN. For years, the ethanol industry has called on the Environmental Protection Agency to equalize the Reid vapor pressure, or RVP, regulations for E10 and E15 during the summer driving season. Because of those requirements, E15 has largely not been available to some wholesale suppliers and retailers who receive only E10 blends. The governors also asked the administration to update corn ethanol’s lifecycle carbon emissions profile to reflect advances in ethanol production technology, and said the EPA should enforce the Renewable Fuel Standard as approved by Congress. The coalition includes governors from 21 states throughout the U.S.

The White House has no position on proposed changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard yet, but is mulling over a request by Carl Icahn. The Donald Trump administration is reviewing the proposal that would change the burden of complying with biofuel quotas from refiners to blenders. However, White House officials say the administration has no position “either way on this issue at this time,” according to Reuters. Icahn is a majority owner in CVR Energy and has long pushed for the change. News of an alleged executive order requiring the change last week pitted ethanol groups against each other. The Renewable Fuels Association supported the request because of an agreement of a waiver allowing gasoline blends with 15 percent ethanol to be sold year-round in U.S. markets. Growth Energy condemned the request, saying the proposal would undermine “America’s progress under the RFS.”

Following the confirmation of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Tennessee over the weekend, three Asian countries have imposed bans on chicken from the state. More than 73,000 birds will be culled on the chicken breeding farm contracted to Tyson Foods stemming from the first report of HPAI in the United States this year. Government officials in Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan all announced bans on the import of poultry from Tennessee as well as from Wisconsin, where low pathogenic H5N8 bird flu was also confirmed. The H7 strain found in Tennessee prompted the state to place 30 other farms in the area under quarantine for testing, according to meat industry publication Meatingplace. In 2015, HPAI killed 48 million birds in the United States. HPAI is plaguing parts of global poultry production as several countries in Europe and Asia are dealing with multiple outbreaks. HPAI was last found in the U.S. in an Indiana commercial turkey flock in January 2016.

President Donald Trump penned a letter this week reiterating his support for the Renewable Fuel Standard. The Renewable Fuels Association released the letter during the National Ethanol Conference in San Diego, California. Trump told the ethanol industry in the letter that “your president and this administration values the importance of renewable fuels to America’s economy.” RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen thanked Trump for reaffirming his support, which has been in question because Trump appointed former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency, according to the Hagstrom Report. Pruitt has close ties to the fossil fuel industry, but has upheld that he will enforce the RFS as per the laws set by Congress.

The House Agriculture Committee has scheduled two subcommittee hearings on the next farm bill next week. The Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry will hold a public hearing next Tuesday morning regarding conservation policy in the next farm bill. That afternoon, the Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture will hold a public hearing regarding international market development and the next farm bill. The hearings follow a full House Agriculture Committee pre-farm bill hearing last week, and a Senate field hearing this week. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway, a Texas Republican, earlier this month called for a different farm bill approach than 2014, deciding program needs first, before proposing budget cuts. Conaway noted real 2014 farm bill savings were $100 billion, not the $23 billion claimed at the time.

Senior officials from Canada and Mexico say renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement will happen with all nations at the table. The trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico is being targeted by President Donald Trump for “tweaking.” Trump has indicated he may pursue individual trade agreements with both Canada and Mexico. However, the two nations said this week any renegotiations should include all three involved nations. Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland says “we very much recognize that NAFTA is a three-country agreement.” Leaders from Mexico say the deal is a “three partners conversation,” and will continue to be, according to Politico. Freeland said any formal launch of trade talks are still far away. She says Canada’s priority right now is to make clear to U.S. administration officials and lawmakers the value of Canada as a trading partner.

The CEO of global agribusiness company Bunge Limited says U.S. corn is a better deal for Mexico than corn from Argentina or Brazil. Soren Schroder says he does not think Mexico would start heavily buying corn from South America, simply because the U.S. offers a better deal, according to DTN. Schroder says Mexico purchasing corn other than from the U.S. would require a price shift in Brazil and Argentina. Concerns over Mexico sourcing corn beyond the U.S. surfaced this month after a Mexican lawmaker planned to introduce legislation to instruct the nation to buy corn from South America, rather than the United States. The bill is seen as a response to trade rhetoric by U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, and build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico while implementing an import tax of 20 percent on Mexican goods entering the United States.