The Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration agreed to a joint regulation of cell-cultured foods.

The announcement follows a public meeting from last month featuring discussion on how best to regulate cell-cultured, or so-called lab-grown products. Feedback from the meeting suggested a joint-regulatory approach.

Meat industry publication Meatingplace reports that FDA will manage cell collection, cell banks, and cell growth and differentiation. USDA will take over during the cell harvest stage, and then will oversee production and labeling of cell-based meat products.

The two agencies will work out technical details on collaboration and information sharing. In a statement, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and FDA Commissioner Scott Gottleib said, “USDA and FDA are confident that this regulatory framework can be successfully implemented and assure the safety of these products.”

China’s former trade chief says the nation’s tactics in the trade war with the U.S. are not well thought out. In criticizing the handling of the trade war, Long Yongtu told a Chinese media event that it was inappropriate to involve political considerations in trade talks, according to the South China Morning Post. The official said: “We don’t think deeply enough,” referring to the focus on politics rather than economic impact. He claimed it was “unwise” to impose tariffs on U.S. soybeans because “targeting agricultural products should be the last resort.” China responded at the beginning of the tit-for-tat trade war by implementing a 25 percent duty on U.S. soybeans, altering global soybean trade. Yongtu said, “China is in dire need of soybean imports.” China has sourced much of its recent soybean purchases from Brazil since the start of the trade war with the United States.

The Department of Agriculture has canceled trade mitigation program payments to Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods following industry complaints. Politico reports USDA canceled a $250,000 contract with Smithfield following public complaints that a Chinese-owned company would receive U.S. relief funds intended for farmers losing money from the U.S.-China trade war. Smithfield has requested that USDA terminate the contract and no funds have been transferred, according to USDA. The contract was part of the Food Purchase and Distribution Program within the $12 billion trade mitigation package. Iowa Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley was a vocal critic of the payment, saying he didn’t understand why Smithfield qualifies for the funding that was meant to help U.S. farmers. Last month, a Smithfield Foods statement noted the company met USDA’s eligibility standards, while pointing out the Smithfield is still a U.S.-based company employing thousands of Americans and that its U.S. meat products are made in its nearly 50 domestic facilities.

Nearly $840 million in trade aid has been handed out to farmers from the Department of Agriculture so far this year. The payments stem from the trade mitigation package announced by USDA to help offset trade war loses for farmers. The package, worth $12 billion, has paid out $837.8 million to farmers. Top aid recipients are soybean, wheat, corn dairy and hog producers, according to Reuters. The five states that received the highest amount of aid were Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Indiana and Minnesota. The second set of payments is expected in December, and USDA says producers who signed up for the first round will be automatically included in the second round of payments. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has said that there are no plans to extend the aid into 2019, for now.

Eastern Corn Belt farmers are facing similar conditions reported by the Western Corn Belt. The St Louis Federal Reserve Bank, following a Kansas City Fed report, says bankers reported that farm income had declined, and that farm household spending and capital expenditures remained below levels compared with a year ago. The survey includes seven Midwest and Midsouth states, including Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. Overall, bankers were slightly less optimistic when asked about the prospects for farm income in the fourth quarter of 2018. As one Missouri lender stated, farmers are hurting, expecting “no change in the marketing plans because they have bills to pay and will need to sell the crop to make those payments.” The report says small farmers are hurting because of the low prices and are usually the ones who do not have on-farm storage to allow them to hold their harvested crops.

The price gap between U.S. and Brazilian soybeans is narrowing, a signal some suggest that trade progress could be made between the U.S. and China. CNBC reports narrowing U.S.-Brazil soybean price differentials imply greater market optimism regarding a meeting between President Trump and China’s President at the upcoming G20 Summit. Even with the 25 percent tariff on U.S. soybeans, the average differentials have shifted from a 24 percent U.S. discount to Brazil in mid-October, to a 17 percent discount last week and a 13-15 percent discount this week. Market experts say the differential could partly account for any movement of U.S. beans to South America for local crushing or even re-export. The G20 Summit, where President Trump and his counterpart from China are expected to discuss trade on the sidelines, begins November 30th.

Farm income and credit conditions continued to deteriorate in the third quarter of 2018, according to a Federal Reserve Bank survey. The Tenth District Survey of Agricultural Credit Conditions shows more than half of bankers reported lower farm income compared to a year ago, and the decline in farm income was sharpest in states with higher concentrations in corn and soybeans. The district includes seven Midwest and Plains states in the Western Corn Belt. The survey found prices for most major commodities remained lower than a year ago amid elevated supply expectations and ongoing trade disruptions. The prolonged period of depressed farm income has placed more pressure on borrower balance sheets. According to bankers across the region, many crop producers in 2018 had a modest deterioration in working capital. For the fifth straight year, a majority of bankers reported having borrowers with some depletion of short-term operating funds. Stress on farm finances also contributed to an increase in the expected sale of mid- to long-term assets in 2018.