The Canadian Food Inspection Agency last week released six ranches, or premises, from a federal quarantine after a micro-outbreak of bovine tuberculosis was reported in September. Officials in Canada say “appropriate testing” of the six ranches released from quarantine have been completed on the cattle at those locations. Online publication AgCanada reports quarantines still apply on about 45 premises — mostly in southeastern Alberta and a few in southwestern Saskatchewan — covering about 26,000 cattle. That figure includes 18 premises where cattle are confirmed to have been exposed to one of the six TB-positive animals found so far in the investigation. Animals now considered part of that “herd” includes those which commingled with TB-infected animals on community pastures. An estimated 10,000 cattle and calves from those 18 premises have been or are booked to be destroyed. Meat from slaughtered animals that are later ruled to have been TB-negative will be eligible for food use. Full testing of all cattle under quarantine is expected to be completed early next month.

The European Union and Japan are nearing completion of negotiations on a free-trade deal. The negotiations got a boost recently when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, according to Reuters. The European Union over the weekend said the free-trade deal with Japan is possible by early next year if Japan opens to EU farm goods and Europe can grant open access to cars from Japan. EU trade officials say negotiators made significant progress in the past two weeks, and Japan has indicated a deal could be reached by the end of this month. However, it looks more likely that a deal will be completed early next year.

A former U.S. trade official says the Trans-Pacific Partnership is not really dead and could resurface during President-elect Donald Trump’s term. Wendy Cutler, a former acting deputy U.S. Trade Representative, told the Washington International Trade Association last week she believes TPP was a victim of “bad timing.” She argued the agreement is too important for U.S. economic and strategic reasons for the U.S. to permanently abandon the agreement. Politico points out that Cutler helped negotiate part of the trade agreement before leaving the U.S. Trade Representative’s office. She said the plan for TPP was to conclude the talks a lot earlier, but added “the deal that was on the table two years earlier wasn’t the one we were prepared to take home,” so negotiators waited to get a better agreement. Now however, that agreement remains stalled thanks to election year politics.

A Scientific Advisory Panel studying glyphosate links to cancer heard testimony last week on the topic. The Environmental Protection Agency gave a presentation last week before the panel saying the consensus is that based on the scientific data EPA has collected, glyphosate is unlikely to cause cancer in humans. In addition to the EPA presentation, the panel also took public comments. One significant event before the panel was witnesses calling into question the research done by Christopher Portier, co-author of a report from the International Agency for Research on Cancer. In July of 2015, Portier gave a scientific briefing in London, saying he was convinced that glyphosate causes genetic damage to humans, which in turn would lead to cancer. Many scientists and glyphosate supporters called his research into question. Witnesses before the scientific panel testified that Portier admitted some of his research into tumor development was done incorrectly. A number of farmers and representatives from the agriculture industry also testified before the Scientific Advisory Panel.

A report on the Magic Valley Dot Com website says Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter is being looked at by the Trump Administration as a possible Secretary of Agriculture. He’s one of several candidates mentioned as a possible successor to Tom Vilsack. Otter’s name came up as a possible nomination for Interior Secretary, but reports surfaced this week that the Interior nomination will go to Montana Republican Representative Ryan Zinke. Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and South Dakota Republican Representative Kristi Noem have also been mentioned as candidates. Recent reports indicate Noem isn’t interested in the job. Otter has already said this term will be his last as Idaho Governor. One of the Ag Secretary’s jobs is to develop foreign markets, which is something Otter has a lot of experience with. He’s led several trade missions as governor and traveled overseas as President of potato giant Simplot International, traveling to more than 80 countries.

U.S. Wheat Associates and the National Wheat Growers Association are happy to see two actions filed against China recently regarding its trade policies. The U.S. Trade Representative is challenging Chinese policies that distort the wheat markets, thereby harming wheat growers around the world. Both organizations say it’s important that the U.S. government take a strong stand on enforcing trade rules. They say it’s crucial for building trust in existing and new trade agreements. The U.S Trade Representative filed the request for a consultation with the World Trade Organization this week. The U.S. Trade Rep says China is not fairly administering its annual tariff rate quotas for commodities like corn, rice, and 9.64 million metric tons of wheat. The request says China unfairly makes it more difficult to export wheat into the country. The request also asks the WTO to convene a panel for a hearing on the dispute it filed back in September against China’s excessive market price supports for corn, rice, and wheat. “The fact is, these two actions go hand in hand, demonstrating how Chinese government policies create an unfair advantage for domestic wheat production,” said Gordon Stoner, president of the National Wheat Growers Association.

(Missourinet) – Missouri Agriculture director Richard Fordyce says the U.S.’s challenging relationship with Cuba could be softened by the death of Fidel Castro, but he doesn’t expect a major shift any time soon. The U.S.’s cancellation of a large shipment of sugar from Cuba and America’s refusal to export oil to the communist nation led to America’s trade embargo against Cuba in the 1960s.

“It’s really not an easy situation. We’ve had an embargo with Cuba for over 60 years and those kind of things don’t come down overnight. I’m positive that as we continue to work and continue to talk about these issues, that we’ll be able to get to some sort of a resolution at some point,” says Fordyce. “The relationship between Cuba and the U.S. in 1961 and 1962 was very fragile. We came very, very close to nuclear war. There’s still people that remember that and there’s still people that know that’s a very scary time.”

Fordyce says Missouri must continue to stay engaged with Cuba and hopes a trade delegation will return to the country in the near future.

“I’m very positive that something will start to move, but it’s not going to be a wholesale change by any means,” says Fordyce.

He says improving the relationship with the communist country could result in other opportunities in places like Latin America and Central America.

Agriculture advisers for President-Elect Donald Trump don’t want North Dakota Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp as Agriculture Secretary. While Heitkamp has sided with agriculture and Republicans at times, Trump’s agriculture allies consider Heitkamp a snub against Trump’s network of rural supporters. Politico over the weekend reported Heitkamp topped the list to head USDA, but Trump’s inner agriculture circle told Politico they were “blindsided” by the news. Trump has yet to offer Heitkamp the post, and it is also uncertain she would accept the job, as she would leave a vacant seat in the Senate which would likely be filled by a Republican in a special election. Political insiders said Tuesday that it does not appear Trump is “close” to naming a new Agriculture Secretary just yet, despite recent speculation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The average value of Iowa farmland declined 6 percent over the past year, and this is the first time those values have dropped for three years in a row since the 1980s farm crisis.

The Des Moines Register reports that Iowa State University estimates that Iowa farmland is now worth about $7,183 per acre on average.

But assistant Iowa State University economics professor Wendong Zhang says the state is unlikely to see another crisis soon because farmers are generally in better financial shape.

Most Iowa farmers increased their financial reserves during the boom that preceded the current drop in crop prices. And Zhang says government safety nets are better than they were in the 1980s and interest rates remain low.

Plus, the overall debt level for farmers remains lower.