A special agriculture roundtable discussion took place on Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina. The goal was to highlight a recent wave of nuisance lawsuits in the state targeting hog farms. Lawmakers and agricultural leaders discussed the growing threat to farmers and how out-of-state lawyers are using nuisance lawsuits to get around states’ right-to-farm laws. The discussion included the economic impact of these lawsuits on the rural economy and America’s farmers. American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall told the gathering that these suits pit neighbor against neighbor and communities against each other. “The regulations need to be on trial lawyers,” he says. “We need to let our farmers and ranchers do what they do best, which is feed the world. They aren’t a nuisance. They deserve a fair shot to grow and succeed.” North Carolina Farm Bureau President Larry Wooten says he’s very concerned about the scars left over in North Carolina and in rural communities because of these lawsuits. North Carolina Ag Commissioner Steve Troxler says these nuisance lawsuits won’t stop at animal agriculture. “If we don’t do something about it now, there’s not a farm in America that won’t be affected,” Troxler says.

The American Soybean Association is back in Washington, D.C., just weeks after their July Board of Directors meeting. Grower leaders are meeting with officials at the Department of Agriculture and with lawmakers to talk over options for offsetting the long-term damage from China’s retaliatory tariff on American soybeans. John Heisdorffer, ASA President, says they know that President Trump is aware of just how hard the tariff battle is hitting agriculture, especially soybeans. “The recent announcement that the European Union is buying more soybeans is a welcome step,” Heisdorffer says. “Given the scale of potential damage from the tariff, we need more market-opening measures if we are going to survive the repercussions on soybean exports.” The ASA is asking officials to increase funding for export promotion in the new farm bill. The soybean growers are also asking the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee to support negotiating new free trade agreements. ASA is asking that the North American Free Trade Agreement is in place by the end of the year. They also want bilateral agreements in place with countries like Japan and others to help expand overseas access. The last item they’re asking for is increased funding to upgrade inland waterways.

China immediately responded to the latest U.S. tariff threat by publishing a list of $60 billion in U.S. imports it will lay tariffs on. That’s dependent on whether or not the U.S. follows through on its latest trade threats. Bloomberg says China will levy duties ranging from five percent up to 25 percent on more than 5,000 kinds of U.S. imports if America follows through on its threat of another $200 billion in tariffs. Beijing will impose five percent tariffs on more than 600 types of U.S. goods, including planes and computers. A 10 percent tariff goes on almost 1,000 products, including textiles. A 20 percent tariff will apply to more than 1,000 items, including chemicals and paper. The one that hits agriculture hardest will be a proposed 25 percent duty on items like meat, wheat, and wine. A Ministry of Commerce statement says, “The implementation date will be subject to U.S. actions, and China reserves the right to continue introducing other countermeasures.”

The U.S. government is taking comments on a proposal to increase the tariff on Chinese imports from the current 10 percent rate up to 25 percent. The tariff increase would cover a wide selection of Chinese imports, including fruits, vegetables, garlic, and more. On June 18th, President Trump directed U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to identify another $200 billion worth of Chinese goods for additional tariffs at a 10 percent rate. China retaliated in kind with duties on U.S. imports. Now, Lighthizer says the President asked him to consider raising the proposed rate of the additional duty from 10 percent up to 25 percent. Some of the fresh Chinese imports will include onions, apples, cauliflower, and broccoli. The comment period will close on September 5th. The USDA says it’s working on their three-pronged approach to help growers hurt by the retaliatory tariffs. However, California leaders are critical of the plan, saying they’re asking Congress to provide more support to specialty growers, who they fear won’t necessarily be helped by the tariff relief plan.

If one were to draw a line roughly at or south of Interstate 80 across the central U.S. and look south, drought conditions would raise major alarm bells. As such, a split through Corn Belt shows much of the area south of the Interstate 80 corridor in a classified drought. The latest Drought Monitor released Thursday shows areas of extreme and exceptional drought classifications in parts of Kansas and Missouri, through Oklahoma and Texas, and throughout the Southwestern United States. In North-central and Northwest Missouri, pastures take the look of winter and evidence of corn being chopped for silage is seen. Little relief is expected for the Midwest, but the Drought Monitor does suggest that over the next week, temperatures could be as much as 10-20 degrees below normal during the period along with 1-2 inches of precipitation. For July, the West, Southwest, South, and Northeast were among the warmest third of historical records which date back 124 years. Total precipitation amounts for the month of July were below average for much of the Midwest and Northwest. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Midwest, to the North, and east, few classified droughts are evident.

The Senate earlier this week approved a number of appropriation bills, including the 2019 Agriculture appropriations bill, before heading off to a two-week long recess. The Senate voted 92-6 to pass a bill that funds the Agriculture Department and related agencies, and other federal agencies such as Transportation, Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency. Senate leadership is hopeful to pass other funding bills later this fall, but President Trump has threatened a government shutdown when the fiscal year ends September 30th if Congress does not pass immigration enforcement, border security and border wall measures, according to the Hagstrom Report. Of the provisions in the ag appropriations bill, Republican Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota points out the bill continues funding his Agriculture Risk Coverage pilot program to allow for an alternate calculation method for crop payments when National Agricultural Statistics Service data is insufficient. The bill also increases funding for the Agricultural Marketing Service to help provide producers with marketing opportunities for U.S. agricultural products.

Canada may be sitting out on the North America Free Trade Agreement talks, for now. However, Canadian officials say they are “perfectly happy” doing so, because “they have a number of issues to discuss that Canada does not need to sit in on,” according to Politico. That includes auto rules in the agreement, a contentious issue between the U.S. and Mexico. Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland is away from the talks, attending a meeting in Singapore this week. If Mexico and the U.S. can agree on auto rules of origin and other topics such as the trade of steel and aluminum products, many say that would be a positive sign towards reaching a new NAFTA. Still, much work remains, including talks with Canada on dairy issues, as the U.S. dairy industry wants Canada to abandon its dairy supply management program, a move Canada has repeatedly shot down. Those talks will have to wait, though, with the Trump Administration focused on striking a deal with Mexico first.