The outlook for wheat and corn crops in the major grain-growing countries of the world has improved by 10 million tonnes in the past month, said the International Grains Council in forecasting the second-largest global grain harvest ever. Despite an upturn in consumption, the grain carry-over at the end of 2016/17 would be a record 474 million tonnes, up 6 million tonnes from 2015/16, the current record.

A white paper commissioned by the Organic Trade Association says organic "hot spots" have higher household incomes and lower poverty rates than rural counties in general. The author of the white paper, Penn State economist Edward Jaenicke, says, "The growing market interest in organic agriculture can be leveraged into effective policy for economic development."

The child-poverty rate in rural America was 26.7 percent in 2012, the highest rate in more than four decades, according to Census Bureau data. An analysis by the USDA's Economic Research Service says income inequality was the primary reason for the increase, far outweighing the effect of the overall decline in rural family income due to the recession of 2007-09.

Businessman Donald Trump says he will look to Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad for advice on ethanol, a favorite fuel in farm country but under perennial attack as a boondoggle, reported the Des Moines Register. Branstad "is a tremendous guy and a friend of mine, and we're going to talk about it," Trump said at a news conference in North Dakota ahead of a speech on energy policy.

For the first time, scientists have found methane-producing microbes living near the earth's surface, rather than in volcanic vents in the ocean floor, says the American Geophysical Union. The study "also shows the newly-discovered microbes are likely capable of using carbon dioxide to produce methane — a finding that could have implications for future carbon sequestration projects."

Monsanto says Bayer isn't offering enough to justify a merger but that it's open to continued talks with the German company. An official at Johns Hopkins' Center for a Livable Future says a merger would "be a real shock to the food system" because of the potential of higher prices to farmers for seeds and agricultural chemicals in a sector undergoing consolidation, reported Marketwatch.

Less than three months after USDA began inspection of catfish imports, the Senate voted, 55-43, to nullify the program. The method it chose, a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act of 1996, has knocked out only one federal regulation, a Labor Department rule on ergonomics in 2001.

Cash rental rates for corn and soybean land in Iowa are down a cumulative 14.7 percent since 2013, according to a survey by Iowa State University. The average rate for this year, $230 an acre, is down 6.5 percent from last year's $246 an acre.

Scientists say that antibiotics in cattle "boost methane production in cow pats — apparently by favoring antibiotic-resistant, methane-producing organisms in the gut," says the BBC. "The researchers say it’s proof that antibiotic use on farms has unintended, cascading effects on the environment."

Three big mergers among the world's largest seed and agricultural chemical companies are under way or proposed — Bayer and Monsanto, ChemChina and Syngenta, and Dow and DuPont — creating concerns among growers of fewer choices and higher prices when they go shopping. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Harvest Public Media, “I’m not going to respond directly to particular business transactions."

Grocery shoppers will pay lower-than-expected prices for beef, poultry and dairy products, thanks to the strong dollar and larger meat production, said the monthly Food Price Outlook. For beef, the change in price would be dramatic — down by 2.5 percent this year after two years of steep increases.

A report by the United Nations Environment Program says drought and higher temperatures, forecast as part of climate change, can trigger a build-up in crops of chemical compounds that are toxic to animals and humans. Nitrates can accumulate to dangerous levels in grain during drought, while carcinogenic fungal aflatoixins are expected to become an increasing risk in higher latitudes as average temperatures rise.

A 12-week strike by farmworkers in the San Quintin Valley of Baja California, 200 miles south of San Diego, disrupted produce markets across North America and forced concessions from powerful agribusinesses a year ago.

The new administration of President Michel Temer in Brazil plans to end the ban imposed in 2010 on foreign ownership of farmland, said Reuters. Brazil barred foreign ownership during a wave of concern that countries such as China would invest heavily in farmland but the rules boomeranged to an extent by making credit harder to obtain.

The average cost of cleaning and disinfecting an egg farm hit by highly pathogenic avian influenza during the 2014-15 epidemic was $8 million, according to three researchers who examined the $879 million the government spent to combat the disease.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack spoke wryly about the approaching end of his eight-year run in the Obama cabinet during a session with organic producers — "there'll be an opening in about six months" — and said he expects to return to Iowa.

In the long recovery from the recession of 2008-09, one big thing is missing in rural and small-town America: new businesses. "Rural areas have seen their business formation fall off a cliff," says the Washington Post, citing a net loss of businesses in nearly two of every three rural counties from 2010-14, a much worse situation than what happened in the wake of previous recessions.

Texas native Chandler Goule, a senior official at the National Farmers Union, will become chief executive of the National Association of Wheat Growers effective July 5, reports Agri-Pulse. The selection follows a suggestion by Jim Palmer, the departing NAWG leader, that the commodity group should recruit someone with experience in farm policy development and advocacy.