Dominic LeBlanc, the Canadian official responsible for overseeing trade with the U.S., is coming to Washington today to meet with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The meeting comes after Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday, he was lifting retaliatory tariffs to match exemptions included in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement in an effort to jump-start U.S. trade talks with the U.S.
Beef price inflation expected near 10%
USDA is raising its forecast for retail beef prices this year, but food inflation is still expected to remain relatively in line with the 20-year trend.
In their monthly Food Price Outlook, USDA economists estimate beef will cost 9.9% more this year over 2024. That’s up from the 8.8% estimate USDA had in July. The higher forecast comes as cattle supplies continue to be tight, and the border remains closed to Mexican cattle.
Grocery prices overall are expected to be up 2.2% this year, which is below the 20-year average inflation rate of 2.6%. Dairy products are only expected to cost 1.4% more this year, and USDA sees price decreases for fruits and vegetables and fats and oils.
Looking ahead: USDA is expecting the cost of eating at home to rise just 1.2% in 2026. If that happens, it’s good news for GOP reelection campaigns.
Take note: Separate USDA data shows that retail beef demand is at its highest level in 25 years, according to a CoBank analysis.
“Twelve months ago, the question was whether beef demand would hold up at higher prices, but today most analysts are fairly certain that beef value risk is to the upside,” said Brian Earnest, lead animal protein economist with CoBank. “Retail per capita beef consumption is headed for 60 pounds this year.
U.S. consumers can’t seem to get enough protein these days, and among animal proteins beef remains king.”
Maryland health department says no risk from screwworm case
The Maryland resident who had a case of New World screwworm has recovered, according to the Maryland Department of Health.
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“The investigation confirmed there is no indication of transmission to any other individuals or animals,” the agency says in a statement. “Currently, the risk to public and animal health in Maryland from this introduction is very low.”
The lack of communication from health officials about the infection angered at least one cattlemen’s group.
R-CALF USA cited a Reuters report quoting an email from a beef industry executive who said, "We remain hopeful that, since awareness is currently limited to industry representatives and state veterinarians, the likelihood of a positive case being leaked is low, minimizing market impact."
The Maryland Health Department statement said it had investigated the matter in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USDA, the Maryland Department of Agriculture, and local and state partners.
Free trade advocates to hit the road: The group Farmers for Free Trade is planning a “Motorcade for Trade” tour across the U.S. The RV tour will begin next month in Nebraska.
EPA planning to respond to organophosphate petition, court told
EPA says it plans to respond to environmental groups’ request to cancel registrations for 13 organophosphate insecticides within the next few years, according to a court filing.
Several environmental groups in 2021 submitted a petition requesting EPA cancel registrations for 15 organophosphates they said may harm public health. The groups filed a lawsuit in June seeking a court order requiring the agency to issue “a full and final response” for 13 of these.
The agency aims to address the claims for most of the challenged organophosphates next year, though its response to claims over one substance — phosmet — will be done in conjunction with a registration review that has yet to come out, according to court documents.
EPA's workload: Edward Messina, the director of EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs, told the court that in addition to 13 of the substances challenged in the case, the agency must also conduct registration reviews for 786 other pesticides by next October.
USDA must prepare EIS on rangeland spraying for grasshoppers, crickets
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has to take a new approach to spraying of rangelands to control grasshoppers and Mormon crickets, a federal judge has affirmed.
In an order addressing violations of the National Environmental Policy Act, U.S. District Judge Marco Hernández gave APHIS two years to complete a full environmental analysis of the 17-state program.
The judge’s order confirms that APHIS “has a legal duty to use integrated pest management — an approach to managing pests that combines multiple strategies to minimize economic, health and environmental risks,” a Center for Biological Diversity news release said. The group brought the lawsuit with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.
RFK Jr. heads to Texas to celebrate MAHA win
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be in Texas Wednesday to celebrate new Make America Healthy Again legislation with Gov. Greg Abbott.
The ceremonial signing of the MAHA bill will take place at the Texas Capitol in Austin. Then on Thursday Abbott will hold a roundtable for rural health stakeholders.
The Texas legislation requires that, starting in 2027, food sold in the state would have to have warning labels covering any of 44 ingredients, including food dyes and additives that are banned in other countries, even if they have federal approval.
Final word
“Wind doesn’t work. They started to use solar panels that took over the land all over the Midwest, where the farmers said, ‘What happened to my land?’ They'd have a 10-mile-by-10-mile solar field that they couldn't farm. The most valuable ... farming land in the world, probably the most vibrant in the world. And they put solar plants all over the place. It's ridiculous. A big, massive black field of solar that all comes out of China, all plastic, all comes out of China.” — President Donald Trump discussing energy at the White House during a visit by South Korea President Lee Jae Myung. Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins recently announced cutbacks in solar funding for two Rural Development programs.
Philip Brasher and Noah Wicks contributed to today’s Daybreak.
