U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer charges Canada is not making needed concessions to strike a deal on the North American Free Trade Agreement. As the U.S. ideal deadline will pass this weekend, the U.S. is gearing up to move forward with a Mexico-only agreement. Lighthizer said there was “some distance” between the two sides on issues such as access to Canada’s dairy market and how best to settle trade disputes, according to AgCanada. Lighthizer says the U.S. believes the concessions are “essential” to reaching an agreement. President Trump has demanded changes in NAFTA, including making dairy a top priority, asking for more market access to Canada, and an end to the Class 7 product dumping on the global market. The Trump administration says the text of a deal is needed by Saturday to allow the Mexican government to sign it before leaving office on November 30th.

The farm bill and the North American Free Trade Agreement seem certain not to meet the weekend deadline, leaving more uncertain times for agriculture. Negotiators were trying to reach an agreement on the farm bill this week, but the clock is all but out of time as the current bill expires Sunday. Monday means critical trade programs will not have funding, including the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development program, seen as key units of USDA given the current trade climate. Leaders of the farm bill conference committee met Wednesday and are not ready to offer an extension on the current farm bill. House Agriculture Committee chairman Mike Conaway says “the world didn’t stop turning” when previous farm bills expired without a new law in place. Conaway told Politico “putting this off makes no sense whatsoever,” adding “the decisions to be made are on the table.” Adding further uncertainty, the U.S. is likely to forge ahead with its handshake agreement with Mexico on NAFTA, leaving Canada behind, for now. Regarding NAFTA, dairy is one of the main holdups, as the U.S. wants better market access.

AgGrad has announced it is launching the first ever AgGrad 30 Under 30 program. This program was created to celebrate the up-and-comers and people that the agriculture community should know as the future influencers to watch in the agribusiness community and beyond. AgGrad’s 30 Under 30 are making an impact through their contributions in their career, community, and to the industry at large. “We are very excited to shine the spotlight on the young professionals shaping the future of agriculture,” says Tim Hammerich, Founder of AgGrad. “The individuals that will be recognized through this program are at the forefront of agriculture and will one day be the leaders in agribusiness, research, advocacy, entrepreneurship and production.” The winners will be announced March 2019 on AgGrad’s social media channels and featured in a special print and online publication. To nominate someone for AgGrad’s 30 Under 30, visit 30under30.ag

The new KORUS agreement offers a sigh of relief for U.S. beef and pork. The U.S. Meat Export Federation says the market access terms secured in the original KORUS not only helped increase U.S. red meat’s market share in South Korea, but also bolstered consumption by making U.S. beef and pork products more affordable and accessible to Korean consumers. Those terms are maintained in the new agreement, as a USDA official noted “nothing has changed” for agriculture. U.S. red meat exports to Korea set a record last year of $1.7 billion, up 19 percent year-over-year and up 69 percent from 2012, when KORUS entered into force. The trend continues this year with both U.S. beef and pork export value increasing more than 50 percent compared to a year ago. The United States is the largest supplier of beef to Korea and trails only the European Union as the second-largest pork supplier. Korea is now the second-largest value market for U.S. beef and fourth-largest for U.S. pork.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts conceded this week a farm bill by the September 30th deadline is not likely. Overseeing the conference committee between the House and Senate, Roberts says it will be tough to see action completed on the farm bill before the November elections. He told Politico, though, he doesn’t want to consider extending the current farm bill because “it gives people the chance to weigh in again and delay” the negotiations, making an agreement a bigger challenge. The biggest challenge for the conference committee remains in the nutrition title of the farm bill, according to Roberts. The House version includes work requirements in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that is not welcome in the Senate and would prevent a farm bill from passing the chamber. Roberts says if the committee could get beyond the SNAP issue, “I think we could get ourselves a farm bill.”

Friday the United States Department of Agriculture will tally how much of last year’s corn and soybean crops are still left in the bin around the nation. The Grain Stocks report is more of a census of what’s on hand than an estimate. This is because USDA collects information from more than 9000 grain elevators, terminals, and other storage facilities around the United States. It helps them to determine the total number of last year’s bushels on hand as of the first day of September. University of Illinois Agricultural Economist Todd Hubbs says his calculations aren’t far off from what USDA has already projected the report should show. USDA’s ending stocks figure from the September World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates report for soybeans is 395 million bushels. Hubbs calculations is 4 million bushels larger but still very close to that figure. Because soybeans aren’t fed directly to livestock it is much easier to keep track of the total numbers of bushels used. That is not the case for corn. The feed and residual figure often times will vary outside of expectations says Hubbs. USDA’s corn current ending stocks projection is 2.002 billion bushels. Hubbs’ number is just a little bigger at 2.02 billion. The Grain Stocks report is scheduled for release at 11am central time this coming Friday.

Stalled talks between the U.S. and Canada regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement are expected to continue this week, as the U.S. desires to reach a deal by September 30th. Informal talks are likely over the next few days, according to Reuters, as global attention turns towards a U.N. meeting this week. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says nothing had formally been arranged for this week, however, leaving further uncertainty as to whether the U.S. will continue to seek a trilateral agreement. The U.S. appears likely to forge ahead with a U.S.-Mexico only trade agreement until the U.S. can reach an agreement with Canada beyond the September 30th deadline. Trudeau offered some pushback over the weekend, saying Canada would not be rushed into reaching an agreement and that he would not sign “a bad NAFTA deal.” Dairy market access remains a sticking point between the two nations, among a handful of other remaining issues.

Hopes of an on-time farm bill are diminishing as lawmakers now have less than a week to finish a bill, get it passed by both chambers again, and on the President’s desk for signature. The current farm bill expires September 30th, and the conference committee still must agree on changes in the conservation programs of the farm bill and the nutrition title. Top agriculture lawmakers don’t seem to be concerned, but farm groups are sounding the alarm bells as Congress runs out of time. Senate Agriculture Committee leadership last week said the real deadline that would impact farmers is in December. But, as Politico points out, many programs would be left in limbo regarding funding. For instance, mandatory funding is available for conservation programs, but without a farm bill, the Department of Agriculture’s authority to operate the programs expires. The bill’s Foreign Market Development program, deemed critical to developing new trade markets, could also lose funding. Lawmakers have yet to make any serious considerations towards extending the current farm bill to allow Congress time to deliver the next.