The Department of Agriculture announced a new jobs program that will use the national apprenticeship system to hire new employees as agricultural commodity graders. The graders are a key role in USDA’s mission to protect American consumers. The program, piloted by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, combines on-the-job training with theoretical and practical instruction in the classroom and online. Apprentices who complete the paid training program will meet the qualifications for a position as a USDA Agricultural Commodities Grader. USDA employs more than 11,000 veterans and since 2009 has provided more than $505 million in direct farm loans to help more than 7,400 veterans start, maintain or grow their farming operations. Find more information online at AMS dot USDA dot gov (www.ams.usda.gov).

China may soon impose measures to protect its soybean industry, based on remarks from a leading figure in the country’s agricultural production sector. A trade official at China’s Agriculture Ministry said it might be necessary to introduce anti-dumping tariffs and other measures to curb imports and protect domestic production. Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today reports trade officials in China have long talked about protecting China’s agricultural industries, both to ensure food security and to alleviate poverty, which is most prominent in China’s rural areas. However, one industry contact questioned the potential moves, questioning “they want to protect their domestic industry and their consumers?” Noting that import protection leads to higher prices, the source said the talk “sounds more like jawboning prices down further.”

A new report released Monday by the Department of Agriculture shows the U.S. biobased industry in 2014 contributed $393 billion and 4.2 million jobs to America’s recovering economy. The report also indicates that the sector grew from 2013 to 2014, creating or supporting an additional 220,000 jobs and $24 billion over that period. USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack says the report shows America has an appetite for everyday products—including plastic bottles, textiles, cleaning supplies and more—made from renewable sources. The new report shows that the industry directly supported 1.53 million jobs in 2014, with each job in the industry responsible for generating 1.76 jobs in other sectors. In 2013, the industry was found to contribute $369 billion and four million jobs to the U.S. economy. Vilsack announced the report Monday at the National Press Club in Washington D.C.

New research by the from The Center for Food Integrity shows consumers want more information about food and how it’s produced. The research, announced last week, shows only 28 percent of consumers strongly agree they have access to all the information they want regarding food, how it’s produced and safety. Charlie Arnot, CEO of CFI says “the industry still has work to do.” The results show that consumers want transparency in very specific areas, including the impact of food on health, food safety, animal well-being and the environment. Further, the research says consumers want fair and honest information. CFI also found that third-party verification is important, particularly when it comes to animal well-being and food safety.

Legislation to expand financial protections in the Packers and Stockyards Act to transactions made electronically is headed to the White House after the Senate cleared the measure by unanimous consent last week. The bill would amend the law to include sales made using video or through an online auction house. The bill would also specify that funds can be transferred electronically, such as through a debit or credit card. Currently, the law allows only check or wire transfer to settle sales. Pro Farmer reports the bill now moves to the president’s desk, though the White House has not issued a position.

The Department of Agriculture said last week it will require meat packers to report cattle purchases made through an online auction platform. Politico reports the move is an effort to bring more transparency to pricing following the May launch of the Fed Cattle Exchange, an online cattle auction site. Starting Wednesday, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service will start including these transactions in weekly price reports. The price reports are used by companies like Tyson Foods and Cargill to determine prices to pay ranchers for animals. USDA noted participation in the cash slaughter market has declined significantly since 2010, as the industry uses more forward contracts to sell cattle. That makes it difficult to determine prices, justifying the move to require online sales reporting.

A new report says China wants to incorporate the use of genetically modified organisms in agriculture, but the Chinese people do not. And Bloomberg says the latest food safety scandal in China might be its most damaging scandal yet. A former doctoral student at a national testing center in China accused the testing center of scientific fraud, including claims that records were doctored extensively, among other things. China’s Ministry of Agriculture responded by suspending operations at the center. That’s just the latest in a series of scandals that is not dampening China’s public hostility towards GMOs. Opponents claim GMOs are unsafe, but that goes against the scientific consensus within and outside of China. Bloomberg suggests that until China’s government addresses the lack of confidence in its food safety programs, it’s likely to face considerable and growing opposition to a GMO program. While farmers in China do not use GM crops, the nation does, however, allow imports of GM crops to enter the country.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and others are asking the Treasury Department to withdraw the newly proposed estate tax regulations. NCBA joined more than 3,800 organizations in a letter sent to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew opposing the proposal. NCBA says the proposed regulations would permanently change estate planning for families that own a controlling interest in a privately-held entity. NCBA says the regulations would eliminate or greatly reduce available valuation discounts for family-related entities, which in turn would increase the tax on inheritance, such as farms. Government affairs director for NCBA, Danielle Beck, says “the Administration is causing unnecessary economic harm to family businesses,” that is because producers are often forced into selling land or cattle to pay the tax, and in some cases, are put out of business.