2 More Rounds of NAFTA Talks and Ethanol Export Record
From the Ag Information Network, I'm Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.
**The U.S., Canada and Mexico have agreed to at least two more rounds of NAFTA negotiations.
As reported in Agri-Pulse, the principal negotiators announced Monday at the end of the sixth and final round of talks that some progress had been made, but all sides were still at odds over many key issues.
A Canadian official says the next round will be held in Mexico later this month or early March. The eighth round may be held in Washington D.C., but dates have not been set.
https://www.agri-pulse.com/articles/10534-nafta-talks-to-continue-after-modest-gains-in-latest-round
**Giving ethanol and biodiesel plant leaders much to celebrate, the ethanol industry exported a record 1.3-billion gallons of the fuel last year.
In the U.S., President Trump kept his word to support the Renewable Fuel Standard, the federal mandate that requires oil companies to blend biofuels into their products.
According to agricultue.com, that success didn't come easy in Washington D.C., where biofuels lobbyists fought efforts by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to weaken or roll back the RFS.
https://www.agriculture.com/news/business/biofuels-grow-in-spite-of-political-headwinds
**On the same day Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue released a 42-point list of farm bill principles, Iowa Senator Charles Grassley said the 2018 bill should end the "dishonest" practice of crop subsidy payments to nonfarmers.
Agriculture.com reports Grassley's package would limit growers to $125,000 a year per person in payments and limit farms to one manager who is eligible for subsidies.
Currently, there is no effective limit on payments per person, and the eligibility rules are nearly toothless.
https://www.agriculture.com/news/farm-bill-reform-would-end-dishonest-subsidies-says-midwestern-senator
