Author: staff

By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS, April 9 (Reuters) – The European Union will launch its first countermeasures against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs next week, the bloc’s members agreed on Wednesday, joining China and Canada in retaliating and escalating a global trade conflict. The approval came on the day that Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs on the EU and dozens of countries took effect, including massive 104% duties on China, extending his tariff onslaught and spurring more widespread selling across financial markets. The 27-nation bloc faces 25% import tariffs on steel and aluminium and cars as well as the new broader tariffs of 20% for almost all other goods under Trump’s policy to hit countries he…

The National Sorghum Foundation is now accepting applications for its 2025-26 academic scholarships for college students studying agriculture. “The future of agriculture depends on strong, passionate leaders,” said Foundation Chair Jeff Dahlberg. “These scholarships are one way we can invest in the next generation and support students who are committed to advancing sorghum and agricultural innovation.” The National Sorghum Foundation awarded $4,500 in scholarships to last year’s recipients: Charles Colvin of Penn State, Andrew Marchetti of Texas A&M, and Allie Herring of Texas Tech. Each received $1,500 for their academic excellence in agricultural studies. Herring, the Bill Kubecka Memorial Scholarship…

By Leah Douglas April 9 (Reuters) – Several U.S. Department of Agriculture employees who worked on the agency’s bird flu response will leave at the end of April, straining the federal capacity to monitor the spread of the virus, according to a source familiar with the situation. The USDA on April 1 gave employees seven days to decide whether to take financial incentives to quit, part of the effort by President Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk to shrink the federal workforce. Three out of 13 employees in the USDA’s National Animal Health Laboratory Network took the offer and will leave on April 30,…

By Ryan Hanrahan Fortune’s Stuart Dyos reported on Sunday that “Trump administration officials and lawmakers have begun exploring a relief package for U.S. farmers as agricultural trade groups warn of economic repercussions from tariffs. That’s as retaliation against President Donald Trump’s sweeping import taxes could harm U.S. exports of farm products.” “‘We are setting up the infrastructure that if, in fact, we have some economic consequences in the short term to our farmers and perhaps our ranchers, that we will have programs in place to solve for that,’ Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters last week,” according to Dyos’ reporting.…

1. Grains, Soybeans Higher in Overnight Trading Grain and soybean futures were higher in overnight trading amid unfavorable weather in some growing areas.  Dry conditions continue in parts of the U.S. southern Plains where hard red winter wheat is growing.  About 59% of Kansas, the biggest producer of winter wheat in the U.S., is suffering from drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.  That’s up from 57% a week earlier and 29% three months ago, the monitor said.  Forty-eight percent of Oklahoma, the second-largest grower of winter varieties, was seeing drought conditions. While that’s unchanged week to week it’s…

By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday issued Texas’ first permit to allow drilling to inject and store carbon dioxide to oil company Occidental OXY.N. The company’s Oxy Low Carbon Ventures received a so-called Class VI permit to drill three CO2 wells in Ector County in the Permian Basin for its Stratos direct air capture joint venture with asset manager BlackRock BLK.N, to inject 8.5 million metric tons of CO2. “EPA is committed to approving permits as quickly as possible and ensuring they meet requirements to protect drinking water sources,” said EPA Regional Administrator Scott Mason. Carbon sequestration had…

Petaluma Poultry, a division of Perdue Foods, has taken legal steps to protect the privacy and safety of an associate and his family following what the company says is repeated harassment and privacy violations by the animal-rights group Direct Action Everywhere. On Friday, the company filed a complaint for injunctive relief with the California Superior Court in Sonoma County after Perdue said that DxE targeted the associate, who is a material witness in a case involving DxE operative Zoe Rosenberg. Rosenberg faces criminal charges related to illegally entering a Petaluma Poultry facility in 2024. DxE has been harassing the associate,…

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) – U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will tell the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday that nearly 50 countries have approached him to discuss new sweeping tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. The comments echo U.S. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett’s disclosure over the weekend that more countries have reached out to the White House to begin trade negotiations. Why It Matters Getting countries to discuss new terms on tariffs could be a sign of progress for the Trump administration, which touched off a global trade war that escalated further on Monday when Trump threatened to increase duties on China and the European Union proposed counter-tariffs of its…

Bayer AG, parent company of Monsanto, is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in ongoing litigation over its Roundup weedkiller. On April 4, the company filed a petition for “certiorari,” asking the Court to rule whether federal law regulating pesticides preempts associated state laws related to Roundup labeling. The fundamental issue is whether the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) preempts state failure-to-warn claims where the Environmental Protection Agency has uniformly found that glyphosate — the active ingredient in Roundup — is not carcinogenic. “Whether FIFRA preempts a state-law failure-to-warn claim where EPA has repeatedly concluded that the…

What Happened One of the more talked about and anticipated reports published by the USDA is the March Prospective Plantings report. The 2025 report was released last Monday. Throughout the winter, there’s much talk amongst farmers and industry professionals concerning which direction farmers will lean — planting more corn, soybeans, or otherwise. Typically, there is a trade-off between corn and soybean acres. This year proved no different. Corn acres were, as expected, higher than a year ago at 95.3 million, adding 4.7 million. However, the pre-report estimate was 94.3 million. Soybeans lost 3.6 million acres from a year ago, coming…