U.S.-China Trade Relations and Organic-Transitional Reporting

U.S.-China Trade Relations and Organic-Transitional Reporting

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.

**Most farmers responding to a California Farm Bureau survey reported they’d lost sales or customers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the voluntary survey, 57% said they’d seen sales drop, mainly due to stay-at-home orders that reduced restaurant demand.

Another 42% of respondents said they or a family member had seen their off-farm income decline.

**What’s the future of the U.S. trading relationship with China?

Produce Marketing Association vice president, Richard Owen tells thepacker.com, the relationship is not stable despite the Phase 1 trade agreement signed earlier this year.

Owen believes recent criticism from President Trump over China’s failure to buy enough U.S. ag products, and its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic is politically driven in this election year.

But Owen says China will be hard-pressed to meet its $19.5-billion obligation given the fact their economy was shut down for six to eight weeks.

https://www.thepacker.com/article/us-trading-relationship-china-still-thin-ice?mkt/

**The USDA Risk Management Agency is allowing organic and transitional farmers to report their acreage differently, citing stay-at-home and social distancing orders.

Agweb.com reports, instead of in-person crop insurance conversations, producers can report acreage for the 2020 crop year if they’ve requested written certification from a certifying agent by their acreage reporting date.

RMA administrator Martin Barbre says as the pandemic continues, RMA is also continuing to add more flexibilities to assist America’s farmers and ranchers.

https://www.agweb.com/article/usda-eases-organictransitional-acreage-reporting-rules?mkt/

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