Exports of U.S. soybeans to China started off the new 2020-21 marketing year strong, and the latest USDA weekly sales data show the pace of trade is heating up.

Robert Rivas has been selected to serve as chair of the California Ag Committee and Ambassador Terry Branstad has announced he is stepping down from being the top U.S. representative in Beijing.

A World Trade Organization panel ruled Tuesday that the U.S. broke its international commitments by circumventing the WTO dispute system and hitting China in 2018 with tariffs on $234 billion worth of its goods.

The U.S. will be losing one of its staunchest advocates in China for U.S. beef, ethanol and other farm goods in early October. That’s when Ambassador Terry Branstad says he is stepping down from being the top U.S. representative in Beijing.

U.S. soybean exports are moving quickly out of U.S. ports, spurred on by larger than normal Chinese purchases as the new marketing year begins.

China has been ramping up its corn and soybean purchases in recent weeks, but USDA's latest trade data show Chinese imports through July this year are still below 2018 levels and are far from the pace needed to meet goals set in the “phase one” trade pact.

The nation’s producers are at their most optimistic since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year based on improved expectations for commodity prices and U.S. agricultural trade.

The corn market has been slow to react to China’s increase in purchases from the U.S. and to the destructive derecho that swept across Iowa, a new report from RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness says.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson supports Joe Biden’s plan to eliminate President Donald Trump’s tariffs on China but isn’t sure what the alternative is for countering Chinese trade practices.

The USDA is reporting Thursday yet another large Chinese purchase of U.S. corn, reinforcing assessments that the country’s demand for the grain is strong as it tries to rebuild its swine herd.