China has committed to buy at least $80 billion in U.S. farm products over the next two years and the country also agreed to sweeping structural changes that promise to improve trade on a more permanent basis for U.S. beef, pork, rice, corn, wheat, soybeans and other commodities.

The dramatic increase in purchasing of U.S. farm products that China has agreed to will be spread among a wide range of commodities and sectors, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue tells Agri-Pulse. 

In this opinion piece, Phil Borgic, a hog farmer from Nokomis, Ill., and owner of Borgic Farms, Inc., urges FDA to stop standing in the way of biotechnology regulation.

A congressional agreement to fund the government for fiscal 2020 includes an additional $1.5 billion in disaster relief for farmers and would revive the biodiesel tax credit and extend it through 2022.

China has agreed to purchase $40 billion to $50 billion in U.S. agricultural commodities annually for two years as well as remove significant ag trade barriers, a senior Trump administration official told reporters Friday.

President Donald Trump remains resolute that China commit to specific promises on amounts of U.S. ag commodities that it would buy as part of a trade pact, Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue said Wednesday.

House and Senate negotiators will have to sort through some sharply different priorities and spending targets for USDA and other departments and agencies important to agriculture.

Leaders of the three largest seed and chemical companies say it’s technologically possible to reduce farming’s environmental footprint while feeding a growing global population, but they worry policymakers and regulators will stand in the way.