U.S.-China Talks and China's Pig Herd Halved
From the Ag Information Network, I'm Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.**After two days in Shanghi, little progress was reported in trade talks between the U.S. and China, but more meetings have been scheduled for early September.
As reported in agweb.com, the low-expectations from both countries appear to have dampened hopes of a potential breakthrough.
President Trump has cast doubt on any hopes of an imminent easing in trade tensions between the U.S. in China as well.
https://www.agweb.com/article/little-progress-reported-in-china-officials-to-meet-in-september?mkt/
**The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will take comments until September 27th in an effort to create a clearer definition of "agricultural commodities" in its hours-of-service regulations.
Thepacker.com reports, the Federal Register states, during harvesting and planting seasons as determined by each state, drivers transporting agricultural commodities are exempt from the hours-of-service requirements within a 150-air-miles from the source.
This is prompted by worries the current definition may not be understood or enforced consistently when determining whether the hours of service exemption applies.
https://www.thepacker.com/article/agency-seeks-clarify-ag-exemptions-hours-service-regulation?mkt/
**China's pig herd could be cut in half by the end of 2019 as the epidemic of African swine fever sweeps through the world's top pork producer.
According to agrimarketing.com, a forecast from Dutch bank Rabobank says China's herd was already estimated to have shrunk by 40% from a year ago.
The report states, pork output will likely drop another 10% to 15% in 2020 and production could take more than 5 years to recover to pre-outbreak levels.
https://www.agrimarketing.com/s/125309