The U.S. Department of Agriculture says direct payments made to farmers are expected to increase roughly 31 percent this year to $13.9 billion. Direct farm program payments are those paid directly by the U.S. Government to farmers and include fixed payments, crop price and revenue-based payments, and other payments such as conservation payments and disaster relief. The forecast reflects changes made in the 2014 Farm Bill that eliminated several programs and added new support programs, the Price Loss Coverage program, or PLC and the Agricultural Risk Coverage program, known as ARC. PLC and ARC together are expected to account for over $9 billion in 2016, about 96 percent of all crop price, and revenue-based payments. The majority of ARC payments were paid to farms with a history of corn production, followed by wheat and soybeans. PLC payments were primarily made to farms with a history of long-grain rice, peanuts, and canola production.

The Senate has just four working days on the calendar between now and July first, the date the Vermont GMO labeling law goes into effect, to reach a compromise on a national GMO labeling law. Politico reports that makes Friday, June 24th, the last day to get legislation to President Barack Obama’s desk to beat Vermont. The House will go on recess on the 24th and not be available to consider any bills passed by the Senate. Meanwhile, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts continually insist that negotiations are ongoing. The committee’s ranking member, Senator Debbie Stabenow, is demanding a mandatory labeling agreement. The biggest sticking point appears now how the label will be presented to the consumer. The Coalition for Safe Affordable Food, which previously opposed a mandatory label, now says a smart label directing consumers to more information would be acceptable, but on-package GMO labeling would not be acceptable. The coalition represents 43 national farm groups and countless state organizations.

The U.S. Federal Reserve Wednesday chose to keep its benchmark interest rate at current levels as economic growth has again been slower than The Fed predicted. Following a two-day meeting, The Fed also said it now expects to raise interest rates more slowly in coming years than it had previously anticipated. The New York Times suggests The Fed is struggling to adapt its plans to the reality of an economy that refuses to boom. Seven years after the official end of the recession, the news remains a mix of good and bad. Most recently, job growth has weakened even as broader measures of economic activity have picked up. A statement by The Fed said the domestic economy was feeling less drag from the weakness of the global economy, noting that exports have strengthened. However, Fed officials said before the meeting that they remained concerned about a relapse.

For the second year in a row, USDA’s Farm Service Agency says its $2.65-billion operating loan program will likely run out of funds before the end of the fiscal year. USDA officials say the funds will likely run dry by the end of June, around three months before next year’s program starts on October first, according to Pro Farmer. Cash-strapped farmers and cautious banks have turned to the program amid the global grains downturn. These FSA loan guarantees and direct loans are typically considered loans of last resort, but an increasing number of agriculture lenders have turned to the program. The recent rebound in crop prices has not cooled demand. USDA data shows that at the end of May, applications for operating loans were up 23 percent and funding obligation had climbed 19 percent. USDA officials and banking experts estimate the backlog of applications could total as much as $650 million by October.

A federal court order shows arguments on the merits of a lawsuit against the Waters of the U.S. rule will likely be scheduled beyond February of next year. DTN reports a court order this week from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati appears to keep the stay in place, blocking the rule through that time. The federal court blocked the rule when implemented last August, and numerous legal challenges to the law were consolidated by the three-judge panel earlier this year. The petitioners in the case, including agriculture interest groups, states and other industries, will be required to file briefs on the merits by September 30th, 2016. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers are required to respond by November, 30th of this year.

The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee continues to negotiate a legislative deal on GMO labeling before the Vermont law goes into effect next month. Committee Chairman Pat Roberts says negotiations are ongoing this week with the committee’s ranking member Debbie Stabenow, according to Politico. However, as the negotiations continue, two sets of groups remain dug in on each side of on-package language versus QR codes. The Coalition for Safe Affordable Food initially supported only voluntary labeling, but is now open to a legislative deal that would make GMO disclosure mandatory if other disclosure methods, like QR codes, 1-800 numbers and websites, could be used. The Center for Food Safety, the Organic Consumers Association, Food Democracy Now and other advocacy groups are standing firm in favor of on-package language, as will be required in Vermont.

Recent attempts to undermine biofuels in previous defense department spending bills have been unsuccessful. However, as House lawmakers meet to debate the Fiscal Year 2017 Department of Defense appropriations bill, National Farmers Union hopes a provision exempting the military from using biofuels will not be made law. NFU President Roger Johnson said the “recurring efforts to neutralize biofuels through the defense department appropriations process are disappointing.” As written, the appropriations bill would exempt the military from Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The Section prohibits federal agencies from buying synthetic fuels with a larger greenhouse gas footprint than traditional petroleum. NFU says the military’s use of biofuels has encouraged the development of newer technologies that are often kept from the market due to “exploitative practices of Big Oil.”

The legal battle over the slogan “The Other White Meat” may get going again this summer in the courts. The National Pork Producers Council will continue to fight for a slogan that’s gained 300 percent in value and is widely recognized across the U.S. A report in DTN says the concern is growing that all checkoff programs could be in trouble because of the threat of lawsuits. The National Pork Board purchased the trademark from the NPPC in 2006. In 2012, the Humane Society of the U.S., Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, and an Iowa pork producer accused the Pork Board of opposing Humane Society efforts to legislate mandatory humane animal treatment. They called Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack’s approval of the sale and annual payments to the NPPC as an “abuse of discretion.” Both sides in the suit filed a proposed schedule of court hearing for this summer as well as a motion for summary judgment in August. Based on court documents, it does look like this will continue into 2017.