EU

The European Commission, with one member for each of the EU nations, could meet as early as today to decide on a short-term extension of EU approval of use of glyphosate, the most widely used weedkiller in the world, said Farmers Weekly, based in Britain. An EU appeals committee failed to reach as qualified majority — meaning support by 55 percent of EU members with 65 percent of the population — at the end of last week, with approval for the chemical to expire on Thursday.

The vote by Britain to leave the European Union had an immediate impact that can be felt by U.S farmers — lower futures prices for corn, soybeans and wheat during overnight trading, along with a stronger dollar that would make U.S. exports less competitive. The decision could affect U.S.-EU trade negotiations and the future of neonicotinoids, the pesticides blamed by activists for the plunge in honeybee populations.

EPA chief Gina McCarthy told lawmakers that the agency played no major role in the decision by the WHO's cancer agency to list glyphosate, the most widely used weedkiller in the world, as probably carcinogenic to humans, said DTN. The House Science Committee has questioned the classification by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and whether the IARC is skewing EPA's current review of the herbicide.

As Britain votes today on whether to leave the EU or remain a member, "it is no coincidence that food and drink is at the heart of so much of the debate," says the Guardian. On one hand, food and drink is the largest manufacturing sector in the nation and on the other, the EU's Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) "swallows up nearly 40 percent of the total EU budget."

Dairy farmer Rob Warnock says he'll vote for Britain to leave the EU despite the likely loss of $60,000 a year in EU subsidies, says The Associated Press. While Warnock believes the referendum will be a wake-up call to the national government on the matter of better agricultural policies, his father is skeptical that will happen, so he says he will vote to stay.

The European Commission’s plan to temporarily extend the glyphosate sales license was thwarted Monday when France, Germany, and Italy abstained from voting on the proposal, leaving the commission short of the requisite population threshold for approval, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Because member states disagree, the European Commission, the administrative arm of the EU, will ask for a short-term extension of the license allowing the use of glyphosate while safety studies of the weedkiller are completed, said Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis.

In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, farm-state senators say Europe must take large steps toward opening its market to U.S. farm exports or prospects for approval of a U.S.-EU free-trade agreement will fade.

Only 6 percent of farm managers in Europe are under the age of 35, but 31 percent are 65 or older, says the news site EurActiv in a series of infographics.

Thanks to a generally favorable growing season, wheat growers in the European Union reaped a record 160 million tonnes of the grain in 2015, part of a record-setting harvest worldwide.

Two EU sources told Reuters the 28-nation bloc is unlikely at a meeting this week to approve use of the weedkiller glyphosate through 2031. That is an about-face from expectations when the two-day meeting of experts opened on Monday.

Experts from the 28 nations of the European Union "appear set to endorse a European Commission proposal to extend authorization of glyphosate for 15 years, until 2031," said Reuters.

A proposal to give EU nations the power to restrict or ban GMO food and feeds that are approved by the EU overall has been opposed by the Environment Committee of the European Parliament, said World-Grain. "EU members are concerned that the proposal might prove unworkable and lead to reintroduction of border controls between pro and anti-GMO countries," the article states.

Economic sanctions against Russia are magnifying the problems of French livestock producers, who have higher production costs than other EU members and nowhere to sell their animals in Europe's glutted meat market, says Politico.

A new law in France requires supermarkets to donate unsold food to charity rather than destroy it, says the BBC.

Exports of U.S. pork are down by 17 percent for the first half of this year compared to 2014, due to the strong dollar and to increased competition for sales to Asia, says the U.S. Meat Export Federation, a trade group based in Denver.