The European Union’s antitrust regulator said the deadline for a review into the proposed Dow DuPont merger has been suspended because the companies have yet to turn in the required information. A European Commission spokesman said, “To comply with merger deadlines, the companies must submit the required information to investigators in a timely fashion.” A Dow Jones report said the EU opened an in-depth investigation into the proposed deal on concerns that the merger would cut down on competition in crop protection, seeds, and certain petrochemicals. The proposed merger was first disclosed in December of 2015, and would unite the two companies before the split into three separate units. Dow and DuPont quietly made concessions to the EU in July in order to address concerns about antitrust issues. The commission will restart its clock on the merger review once the companies submit the required paperwork. The most recent deadline for the review had been set for early 2017.

The Environmental Working Group and the Union of Concerned Scientists gave their reactions to the Heritage Foundation paper on the upcoming 2018 Farm Bill. The Heritage report called for an end to commodity support programs and federal crop insurance, saying that farm programs should only help in times of deep crop losses. The Hagstrom Report says Environmental Working Group Vice President Scott Haber said the report confirms how far the “so-called safety net” has strayed from its intended purpose. “It’s to help farmers weather the ups and downs in agriculture, and not to guarantee a level of income that’s well above incomes in average American households.” He said the EWG doesn’t support all the recommendation in the Heritage Foundation report, but they are pleased that the report will force policymakers to examine these programs more closely. Mike Lavender is the Washington representative for the Food and Environment Program within in the Union of Concerned Scientists. He said, “The Heritage report highlights many of the ill effects of the current farm program.” Lavender said there must be continued support for farmers, especially when they need it most, but added, “That support shouldn’t come at the cost of incentivizing certain crops and practices over others or supporting the largest and wealthiest farm businesses over others.”

Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said his committee will hold hearings on proposed consolidation in the chemical and seed sectors of agriculture. The Hagstrom Report says his announcement comes at the same time that Bob Young, Chief Economist from the American Farm Bureau Federation, expressed concerns about the three corporate mergers currently being considered. Grassley will hold the hearing on September 20, telling reporters that “if the mergers go through, you’d have a big three instead of a big six.” Grassley is referring to the proposed mergers of Dow and DuPont, the ChemChina plan to buy Syngenta, and the offer by Bayer to buy Monsanto. An article in the Financial Times reported yesterday that Young said, “Any one of the proposed mergers would have been okay, but to have three of them hit at once, it kind of makes one wonder.” Young said he’s concerned about the cost of inputs for farmers. “The obvious concern is would the mergers bring you to a point where they charge more than would otherwise be the case with more competition,” said Young.

Early reactions to the Heritage Foundation Report that calls for an end to commodity support programs and crop insurance have been swift. Dale Moore of the American Farm Bureau Federation says the Heritage Foundation hasn’t considered the current farm economy in their report that would leave farmers without a viable safety net. He said the challenges to cotton and dairy producers have been particularly difficult. “Congress and agriculture groups have worked toward a more market-oriented system in recent years,” Moore said. Tom Sell of the lobbying firm Combest, Sell and Associates said congress has rejected this line of thinking in the past. They recognize that farmers take on extraordinary risks to produce food for a market that’s been very distorted and volatile in recent years. “They know the Heritage Foundation is trying to demean policies that total one-quarter of one percent of the overall federal budget,” Sell said.

The Heritage Foundation is already laying out its case for ending commodity programs and crop insurance policies in the 2018 farm bill. Pro Ag obtained a report that lays out the agenda for the lobbying arm of the organization to implement when farm bill negotiations get going. The report says most farmers are able to manage risk without taxpayer help. They say the $15 billion annually spent on programs actually promotes riskier farming practices, such as limited crop diversification and farming land prone to flooding and erosion. The report says some farmers would lose their land, but they feel the government should not be guaranteeing that all farming operations survive and even flourish. The Foundation wants several programs enacted in the 2014 farm bill to be eliminated, including support programs like Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage. The group also wants to eliminate the dairy insurance program and current U.S. sugar policies to be discontinued as well. They want federal crop insurance to only cover deep yield losses and disasters, and not cover revenue loss.

A recent report from the Environmental Protection Agency was highly critical of the herbicide atrazine, which helps reduce soil erosion and runoff problems, which keeps soil healthy and water clean. EPA released its draft ecological risk assessment as part of the re-registration process for atrazine and if its recommendations stand, farmers will basically lose the use of the herbicide Tillage is an effective way to control weeds but disturbing that top layer of soil leads to a loss of 90 percent of crop residue from the soil. Tillage damages the soil and leaves it more vulnerable to erosion from wind and water, which in turn leads to more runoff of fertilizer and pesticides. Atrazine was one of the first products to be used on a widespread basis because it’s a broad spectrum product. It reduced the number of times farmers had to drive over their soil and that decreased erosion and runoff problems. Iowa State University Professor of Weed Science Bob Hartzler said farmers have made significant progress adopting reduced till and no-till methods of growing a crop and atrazine plays a key role in making these practices more sustainable. The National Corn Growers wants farmers to comment on the EPA’s proposal at NCGA dot Com forward slash atz.

Deputy Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Alexis Taylor is leading a trade delegation to Hong Kong and Shanghai through September 15. It’s part of an effort to extend USDA’s Women in Agriculture Initiative abroad as well as expanding export opportunities for U.S. food and agricultural products. Leaders from seven state agriculture departments as well as 23 U.S. agribusinesses and organizations are along on the trip as well. Taylor said the trade mission will be an opportunity to discuss the impact that women in China and America are having on agriculture and their visions for the future. The U.S. has strong trading relations with both China and Hong Kong. Last year, China was the number two export market for U.S. commodities and is expected to return to the top spot next year. In contrast to China, Hong Kong is more of an export market for consumer oriented products. With a population that’s over 7.2 million people packed into just over 400 square miles, Hong Kong imports more than 95 percent of its food supply.