China responded to President Trump’s new tariffs by threatening tariffs of its own on 106 U.S. products, including on soybeans, cars and some airplanes, in the latest escalation of what risks becoming a tit-for-tat trade war between the world’s two largest economies.    The plan, which was announced Wednesday, would see Beijing slap 25 percent levies on a range of U.S. goods worth about $50 billion. Chinese officials did not set a date for implementation, saying what happens next will depend on whether the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

A low-cost, high-volume livestock-rearing method pioneered in North Carolina came under fire Tuesday as jurors began hearing a lawsuit from neighbors who say the world's largest pork corporation is endangering their health and making their lives miserable. The legal action is the first in a string of federal lawsuits against the hog-production division of Virginia-based Smithfield Foods. [node:read-more:link]

An Arkansas judge has ruled that six farmers in the state this summer can spray a weed killer made by Creve Coeur-based Monsanto Co. and BASF SE that was blamed for hurting millions of acres of U.S. crops last year.The decision is the latest twist in the saga surrounding herbicides based on the chemical known as dicamba and immediately sparked concerns about the potential for more damage. [node:read-more:link]

To understand how President Vladimir Putin is weaning Russians off foreign food, look no further than the apple trees growing in the Krasnodar region near the Black Sea, where a Soviet-era orchard once flourished. They’re mostly from Italy. Russia is the world’s largest apple importer because local varieties spoil faster than those grown in Europe or China and shoppers often prefer the taste of imported fruit. [node:read-more:link]

Rhode Island is launching a program to buy farms and sell them to new farmers for dirt cheap. A farm bought for $500,000, for example, could then be sold for $100,000. It is an unconventional approach to ensure that farming remains viable. Under the program, the state will buy a farm at the full appraised value, which takes into account the land's worth if it was developed. The state will then resell the farm at the agricultural appraised value, which is its worth solely as a farm. That is typically 20 percent of the full value, Ayars said. [node:read-more:link]

Significant changes to the Margin Protection Program for dairy producers were made in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. The Farm Service Agency has recently announced new implementation rules to accommodate the changes. Mark Stephenson and Andrew Novakovic, dairy economists with the University of Wisconsin and Cornell University, respectively, will conduct a webinar Monday, April 9th, at 1 p.m. Eastern, to walk you through these changes and to assess impacts on producers who participate.  [node:read-more:link]

China said it would place 25% trade tariffs on 106 US goods, including soybeans, aircraft and orange juice.The tit-for-tat action comes hours after Washington detailed about 1,300 Chinese products it intended to hit with tariffs - also set at 25%.Wall Street opened sharply lower, but regained ground by mid-day.After starting down more than 400 points or 1.75%, the Dow was only down by about 0.6% by late morning. [node:read-more:link]

The Tree Defender was originally created by growers for growers to provide an immediate solution to citrus greening by preventing psyllids from infecting trees. Having been in the field now for over three years, Tree Defender can still confidently say that no psyllid has yet to be found on any tree being covered by their protective, breathable screen.The goal is to use Tree Defender to protect young trees from psyllids and greening during their first two years as they are in a vegetative and growing state. [node:read-more:link]

The Environmental Protection Agency has opened its own "back-door waiver" to the Renewable Fuel Standard by granting retroactive exemptions to RFS obligations to more than a dozen small refiners, including some that are part of highly-profitable refining conglomerates. I smell a rat. I smell a rat," said Scott Irwin, an agricultural economist at the University of Illinois who studies the Renewable Fuel Standard. [node:read-more:link]

The 2018 outlook early this year was for modest profitability. Now, it has shifted to losses. The reasons are clear. Higher costs and lost exports as China has implemented a 25 percent tariff on U.S. pork that goes into effect today, April 2, 2018. Several forces are driving costs higher, but feed is the primary culprit. Since the start of the year, corn futures are about 27 cents per bushel higher and soybean meal futures are about $55 per ton higher. This means that feed cost are nearly $3 per live hundredweight higher. [node:read-more:link]