Reuters

The Chinese government has launched a campaign on TV, newspapers and the Internet to build public support for genetically engineered crops, says Reuters.

The oil boom in the northern Plains "is creating a crisis for farmers whose grain shipments have been help up by a vast new movement of oil by rail," said the New York Times.

With 2014 nearly two-thirds over, EPA sent its proposed biofuels mandate for this year to the White House for review, said The Hill newspaper, quoting an EPA official as saying the agency's goal "is to put the RFS (Renewable Fuels Standard) program on a path that supports continued growth in renewable fuels over time."

China barred pork imports from six U.S. processing plants and six cold storage facilities as part of its ban on the feed additive ractopamine, which helps hogs gain weight more rapidly, said Reuters.

U.S. farmers are headed for record-breaking harvests this fall, so large that corn and soybean surpluses will be the largest in years, analysts say in surveys ahead of the Aug 12 crop report.

The Russian ban on food and ag products from Western nations including the United States is likely to mean more business for Brazil, says Reuters.

USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service says its final environmental impact statement (EIS) for corn and soybeans genetically modified by Dow AgroSciences to tolerate herbicides including 2,4-D "affirms [our] preferred alternative to fully deregulate these new GE crops."

Russian President Putin says his country should retaliate against economic sanctions imposed by the West in the crisis over Ukraine, steps that could affect...

The U.S. hog population is down 5 percent from year-ago numbers, the government said in a quarterly report that showed the impact of the deadly Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus.

The Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus, which has killed 8 million piglets, could surge again in the fall, "likely killing another 2.5 million pigs over the next 12 months and amplifying an increase in pork prices," says Reuters.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is on a whirlwind tour of Europe this week with the goal of expanding trans-Atlantic agricultural trade.

Chinese quarantine officials are barring imports of distillers dried grains from the United States because they may contain a genetically modified organism that is not approved by China, said Reuters.

Farm and baking industry groups in Canada, Australia and the United States, who account for 45 percent of world wheat exports, called for commercialization of genetically engineered wheat.

The government "has no clear idea" how Porcine Epidemic Virus entered the United States a year ago, Reuters says. The virus, with a high mortality rate for newborn pigs, has killed 10 percent of the U.S. hog herd and helped push pork prices to high levels.

Vermont state senators passed, 28-2, a bill to require labels on foods made with genetically modified organisms and sold at retail - one of the final steps toward the first such state law.

Farm groups, seed companies and equipment manufacturers met in Kansas City to discuss common rules for gathering, use and ownership of Big Data without reaching a conclusion, says Reuters.

The National Weather Service sees an increased likelihood of an El Nino weather pattern developing by this summer and through the rest of the year.

Members of the House Agriculture Committe quickly approved their chairman's proposal to reauthorize the Commodity Futures Trading Commission while creating additional protection for customers' funds...