The US and Japan have agreed an initial trade deal that will eliminate or lower tariffs on certain products traded between them. Duties on some agricultural goods will be removed or lowered, while digital products will also benefit. Under the deal, over 90% of US food and agricultural products going into Japan will either be free of any duty or receive preferential tariff access, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). The U.S. ag community has reacted positively to the news. (BBC)

Many companies are finding sustainable home improvement solutions in soy. “Corporate sustainability initiatives and consumer demand for safe products drive soy technology development to replace petrochemicals and other additives,” said Lee Walko, biobased business developer and technical adviser to the United Soybean Board. A growing list of large and small companies have implemented soy in their products. There are more than 1,000 soy-based home products currently on the market, from flooring and roofing products to candles and carpets. (FarmWeekNow)

U.S. farmers are embracing an alternative means of turning sunlight into revenue during a sharp downturn in crop prices: solar power. Solar panels are being installed across the Farm Belt for personal and external use on land where growers are struggling to make ends meet. Farmers have two options for adding solar power on their farms: lease land for energy companies to generate power to funnel electricity into the grid or install their own solar panels to cut their electricity bills. Both methods can amount to more than $1,000 a month in improved margins. (Wall Street Journal)

Industrial hemp growers are still working through some kinks to comply with state rules and have a successful growing season. One requirement of growers is that the level of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in hemp plants be kept below .3 percent. According to some growers, certain hemp seed is proving to be more THC potent than expected and soil conditions in the Midwest only amplify that. Many are seeing higher THC levels because of the kinds of seeds available on the market when the program launched, many of which were designed for different conditions than land in Illinois. (WGLT)

Taiwan plans to buy $2.2 billion worth of corn and soybeans from Illinois in the next two years, which is welcome news to farmers hurting from the trade war with China. Taiwanese buyers signed letters of intent with Illinois crop marketers, according to a statement from Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday. There are two agreements for $1.1 billion apiece to buy corn and soy in 2020 and 2021. The deal is more than double Taiwan’s purchases in recent years. (Crain’s Chicago Business)

As the UN convenes what it calls a ‘Climate Action Summit’ this week in NYC, a recently released film and research paper by an Illinois and American Farm Bureau-affiliated group sets outs to demonstrate how agriculture can be a solution to climate change. In USFRA’s short docudrama “30 Harvests,” a farmer listens to a TV interview of another explaining how the soil they manage sequesters carbon. “It’s a very exciting time to be in farming because we will be one of the first industries to have a negative carbon footprint.” (FarmWeekNow)