Amid the market challenges farmers and ranchers are facing because of the coronavirus outbreak, the new USMCA trade deal offers the U.S. agricultural industry a ray of optimism. (Post Register)

The pandemic is speeding the shift from human meat cutters to robotic butchers, but machines can’t yet match people’s ability. (Wall Street Journal)

The Appropriations Committee will meet at 10 a.m. to consider a trio of fiscal 2021 measures, including the Agriculture-FDA bill. (Politico)  

Last month USDA announced alternative housing resources for season ag laborers and other ag workforce. Learn more on our USDA page.

Bayer AG is scrapping a $1.25 billion proposal for resolving future lawsuits over whether its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, highlighting the difficulty of settling litigation over a product still on the market. (Wall Street Journal)  

The local Prairie Farms Dairy operation will end production and lay off 62 employees in the coming weeks as it moves to a distribution-only facility, the organization said in filings made to state and local governments Wednesday. (The Pantagraph)