President Donald Trump Tuesday moved forward with plans to allow year-round sales of E15 fuel blends. The move met applause from many U.S. biofuels and commodity groups, as year-round E15 has been a goal of the industry. Trump made the announcement at the White House before rushing off to a rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The move, according to biofuels groups, will bring a little bit more certainty into the marketplace for farmers. However, American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers CEO Chet Thompson reportedly told Reuters that “the only certainty from today’s actions are a lawsuit.” Regardless, a small demand bump for corn is likely. National Corn Growers Association President Lynn Chrisp says corn farmers have advocated for the move because it will “grow demand, provide consumers with more options at the pump and improve economic conditions across rural America.”

Elevated winter colony losses have not resulted in enduring declines in colony numbers, according to new data released by the Department of Agriculture. Instead, the number of U.S. honey bee colonies is either stable or growing depending on the dataset being considered. USDA says at the state level, loss rates are uncorrelated with year-to-year changes in the number of colonies, suggesting that beekeepers are able to replace lost colonies within the course of a calendar year. The data shows between 2007 and 2013, winter colony loss rates in the United States averaged 30 percent, which is approximately double the loss rate of 15 percent previously thought to be normal. That’s because large and mysterious losses of honey bee colonies led entomologists to classify a set of diagnostic symptoms as Colony Collapse Disorder and spurred major efforts to measure, quantify, and understand pollinator loss.

Language against trade talks with China in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is not surprising, according to a Chinese editorial. The South China Morning Post, an English language newspaper based in China, says the policy is perhaps the worst feature of the USMCA for Beijing, as it may become a template for future trade talks Trump holds with allies such as Japan, India and the European Union. Article 32.10 in the preliminary agreement gives the U.S. “virtual veto power” over any bilateral deal Canada or Mexico may wish to reach with “a non-market country,” being China. The editorial calls the policy a “last minute demand” by the U.S., adding that ” there was probably little Canada and Mexico could or would do to resist it.” China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner and the fourth-largest trading partner for Mexico.

The overhauled North American Free Trade Agreement, now named the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, will accomplish important objectives for U.S. agriculture, according to CoBank. However, a report by CoBank says what was not accomplished in the agreement is just as important. The report says that while having an agreement improves certainty, brings more market access and allows the White House to focus trade talks on fewer fronts, it does not provide a pathway to eliminate existing retaliatory tariffs where industries such as dairy and pork have been hardest hit. A CoBank representative says Canada and Mexico still have tariffs in place that affect the U.S. dairy, pork and beef sectors, adding “U.S. agriculture will have much more to celebrate when those barriers are removed.”

At a ceremony to be held Monday, Oct. 15, 2018, at the Missouri Department of Agriculture, Gov. Mike Parson and Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn will proclaim October as Pork Month in Missouri in recognition of the commitment of the state’s pork producers. As the official Missouri Pork Month celebration, the event will recognize the farmers and farm families that raise the more than 3.4 million hogs raised in the state. Missouri’s pork industry ranks seventh in the nation and contributes $1 billion to the state’s economy annually.

The Claims Administrator of the $1.51 billion settlement reached in In re Syngenta MIR162 Corn Litigation, No. 14-md-2591-JWL-JPO and other related actions issues the following announcement on behalf of Settlement Class Counsel to remind corn farmers, ethanol plants, and grain handling facilities that the deadline to file a claim in this settlement is this Friday, October 12, 2018. Corn farmers, ethanol plants, and grain handling facilities should go to the settlement’s official website, www.CornSeedSettlement.com, to submit claims quickly and easily online. These electronic claims must be submitted by October 12, 2018. Class members can also download claim forms from www.CornSeedSettlement.com to print and mail to the Claims Administrator. Hard copy claim forms must be postmarked by October 12, 2018. For more information, go to www.CornSeedSettlement.com, email the Claims Administrator at Questions@CornSeedSettlement.com, or call 1-833-567-CORN (1-833-567-2676). The Claims Administrator will help everyone with this process.

Food banks are benefiting from President Trump’s trade war with China. USA Today reports the tit-for-tat trade war offers more variety for U.S. food banks through the administration’s trade mitigation package for farmers. With the Department of Agriculture buying commodities to help ease the burden on farmers, those items will show up in U.S. food banks, including meat, dairy products, fruits and vegetables. As part of the trade aid package, USDA announced it would purchase roughly $1.2 billion in commodities that are “unfairly targeted” by China. Of the purchases to be spread over the current fiscal year that started this month, pork is expected to account for nearly half, $559 million, followed by apples, oranges and orange juice, dairy products and pistachios – each at more than $80 million.