Leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee are expressing concerns over the Department of Agriculture’s reorganization plans. Senators Pat Roberts and Debbie Stabenow wrote Secretary Sonny Perdue recently, noting that stakeholders have expressed concerns over the USDA plan to place economics functions under the Office of the Secretary and to move most of the employees of the Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture out of Washington, according to the Hagstrom Report. Roberts and Stabenow say stakeholders are worried that relocating positions outside of Washington will lead many employees to leave USDA and cause a loss of expertise, along with making it difficult for USDA researchers to work with other federal agencies on issues such as infectious diseases. The Economic Research Service has been under the undersecretary for research, education and economics. However, Perdue plans to put the Office of the Chief Economist under the Office of the Secretary and ERS under the chief economist. Last week, USDA extended the comment period for the proposal to October 15th.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says Canada must make changes to dairy trade with the United States as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations. Speaking on C-SPAN, Perdue said U.S. farmers don’t have the same access to Canada that Canada has to the U.S., specifically referring the Class 7 dairy products in Canada. Perdue says: “Class 7 has got to go.” Dairy trade is one of the final sticking points as part of the NAFTA talks between the U.S. and Canada. Talks were expected to resume this week between the two. Canada’s Chrystia Freeland said of the negotiations that: “It’s going to take flexibility on all sides.” However, no specifics on the progress made towards reaching an agreement have been announced. There is no clear deadline set for the talks, but optimism remains that an agreement can be reached this month.

A coalition of more than 150 business groups, including several in agriculture, wrote a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer this week regarding trade. The Hagstrom Report says the groups fear additional 10 percent or 25 percent tarrifs, put in place under Section 301 authority, will backfire. The letter says, “Continuing the tit-for-tat escalation with China only serves to expand the harm to more U.S. economic interests, including farmers, families, businesses, and workers.” The letter adds that unilaterally imposing tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in goods invites retaliation and has not resulted in meaningful negotiations or concessions. Rather than lead to negotiations, the groups say the tariffs continue to miss the mark. The tariffs actually raise costs on American businesses and consumers. They say without any timeline for when the tariffs will be removed, the added costs and negative effects on businesses, farms, and citizens will only compound over time. Groups signing the letter include the Ag Transportation Coalition, the Corn Refiners Association, and many more.

Senate Ag Committee Leaders said the farm bill compromise offered by House Ag Chair Michael Conaway doesn’t go far enough. Politico says Conaway described it as a “significant compromise.” The disagreement has slowed the efforts to reconcile the House and Senate Farm Bills. Senate Ag Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow says the offer isn’t even close to something that the Senate can accept. The differences don’t lie in just the SNAP program. There are unresolved differences remaining in the commodity, conservation, and energy titles. Ag Chair Pat Roberts also says the two sides aren’t as close as he’d like with time growing short. Only seven combined legislative days remain before the September 30th deadline, which is when the current bill expires. The House is actually scheduled to be out of Washington during the entire week of September 17th, which means less time for handling some of the other big issues like negotiating a government spending deal. Roberts says things went in reverse on Thursday after a “very good conversation” on Wednesday. After the meeting on Thursday, Roberts says, “Today, that walked back a little bit.

The American Soybean Association will give a scholarship to a high school senior who is interested in pursuing agriculture. The Soy Scholarship is a $5,000 one-time award presented to a high school senior who plans to pursue agriculture as an area of study at any accredited college or university in the 2019-20 academic year. The scholarship is managed by ASA and made possible through a grant by BASF Corporation. High school seniors may apply online Sept. 10-Nov. 19, 2018. The scholarship is awarded in $2,500 increments (one per semester) for the 2019-20 school year. The student must maintain successful academic progress and be in good standing with the college or university to receive the full amount of the scholarship. Final selection will be made in December during the ASA Board meeting. The student will be notified mid-December, with an official announcement made during Commodity Classic in Orlando, Feb. 28 – March 2, 2019. In addition to the scholarship, BASF will provide the winner and one parent or guardian with a trip to attend Commodity Classic in Orlando, where they will receive special recognition at the BASF booth and the ASA Awards Banquet on Friday night of the Commodity Classic.

While trade issues remain a top priority for the soy industry, the American Soybean Association is taking a moment this fall to highlight the importance of monarch habitat in its overall conservation efforts, which include soil and water quality, and pollinator preservation. This week ,ASA launched a month-long effort on social media to showcase the importance of monarch habitat. Three randomly-selected participants who post their unique monarch or monarch habitat pics on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter with the hashtag #Beans4Monarchs during the contest period will be selected to each win one $100 gift card, to be awarded in October. ASA says that monarch habitat promotes biodiversity and sustainability near farmlands, including attracting pollinators, improving soil health and water quality, housing natural enemies of crop pests, and increasing wildlife diversity. Yet, the monarch population has been alarmingly on the decline since the 1990s. The goal of ASA’s #Beans4Monarchs program is to help turn around those declining numbers and promote fit farmlands through healthy monarch habitat.

President Donald Trump has called on Congress to pass a farm bill with work requirements in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. However, there appears to be no clear path forward for the bill if the requirements are included. The bipartisan Senate version of the bill does not include the requirements, and Senators say a bill with the requirements will not pass the chamber. Meanwhile, many U.S. House members remain hopeful the requirements will remain in place. But, as private meetings are now underway to finalize the farm bill, a compromise is on the table, as presented by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway. Little details have been spelled out yet, but following the first public meeting of the conference committee, Conaway told Politico that leaders of the committee had “difficult conversations” about the differences in the House and Senate versions of the bill. Lawmakers have just more than a week to finish a farm bill to get it signed by the President before the current legislation expires. However, Conaway says: “This system can move lightening quick if it wants to and glacier-like if it wants to.”