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The European Union is preparing a list of American goods to hit with retaliatory tariffs after the U.S failed to comply with a World Trade Organization dispute panel regarding its tariffs on olives from Spain -- a case that puts the WTO at odds with U.S. law and the ways the country protects its agriculture producers. 

The federal government and states have made progress in their efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, particularly when it comes to reducing sediment loads in the watershed. But nitrogen and phosphorus reduction goals are still below goals set for the end of 2025, a likely topic of discussion for when officials meet later this month to discuss the bay’s future.

The Farm Service Agency has so far distributed roughly $2.3 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding for distressed borrowers with farm loans, according to a new Government Accountability Office report.

The world’s largest commodity trader plans to slash about 8,000 of its global 164,000-person workforce as part of a sweeping effort to cut costs and restructure. 

Farmer sentiment improved in November, with some producers feeling better about their finances in 2025 and more optimistic that they’ll get relief from regulations, according to the latest Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer.

Colorado farmer-owned cooperative ProEgg tapped Greg Bilobran as CEO. The U.S. Grains Council hired Alicia Koch as director of global ethanol export development. Jennifer Warren departed from the National Sorghum Producers.

Faith Mabry, communications director for Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., left her  position. National Oilseed Processors Association executive vice president of government affairs David Hovermale will retire at the end of the year.  

The House on Tuesday passed a bill that would reauthorize a slate of conservation grant programs that fund Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts, assistance for producers that lose livestock to endangered predators, and wetlands conservation projects.

Democratic challenger Adam Gray has defeated Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., in the final House race of 2024.

A federal judge has vacated USDA’s 2020 rule exempting genetically engineered plants from regulation, which likely will delay USDA approval of crops engineered with traits to resist herbicides.

USDA’s latest forecast for farm earnings estimates that net farm income will be down 6.3% this year to $140.7 billion, when adjusted for inflation. USDA estimates net cash farm income will be 3.5% lower this year at $158.8 billion.