Precipitation totals last month added up to the third-wettest May on record. The historically wet month has come to an end, wrapping up the fourth-wettest spring, following the sixth-wettest winter. Drier conditions prevailed for some of this week, but only 45 percent of corn has been planted as of June 2, compared with the five-year average of 100 percent. (FarmWeekNow)

A bipartisan group of senators joined some Corn Belt farm groups in appealing to the Agriculture Department to ease restrictions on haying and grazing of cover crops. Crop insurance rules bar harvesting or grazing of cover crops on prevented planting acreage before Nov. 1. Farm groups, who want that date moved up, say that producers are already struggling to find adequate forage and feed. “Cover crops will be an important soil building and risk management tool on 2019 crop year acres prevented from being planted due to the extremely wet spring planting season,” the senators wrote. (Agri-Pulse)

Ending a second day of tense negotiations, U.S. and Mexican officials failed Thursday to reach a deal to avert import tariffs President Trump is threatening to impose Monday. The tariffs are an attempt to force Mexico to stem the flow of Central American migrants across the southern U.S. border. Trump has stated he will impose a 5 percent tax on all Mexican goods until “the illegal immigration problem is remedied.” (Associated Press)

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently extended their decision on whether monarch butterflies are a threatened or endangered species to Dec. 15, 2020. The original deadline was June 30. More time “provides the Service with additional opportunity to evaluate the monarch’s status to determine whether listing the species is warranted,” the federal agency stated. Illinois is also developing a state plan in case monarchs are put on the federal list. On Earth Day, a coalition of agricultural entities released a 20-year ag plan to help monarchs as part of the Illinois Monarch Project. (FarmWeekNow)

President Trump wants Congress to quickly approve his trade deal with Canada and Mexico, but his own team is divided over how to force a reluctant Democratic-controlled House to act. Democrats in Congress want changes to the trade deal and time to work on them. Vice President Mike Pence’s team and other senior advisers pushing to exert pressure by sending the accord to Congress, triggering a procedural countdown that would force a decision from the House. Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. trade representative, is wary of this approach. (Wall Street Journal)

HOUSE VOTE REMAINS – The Illinois state Senate approved a proposal on Wednesday to legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 years and older beginning on January 1, 2020. “Illinois is poised to become the first state in the nation that put equity and criminal justice reform at the heart of its approach to legalizing cannabis, and I’m grateful that the Senate has taken this important step with a bipartisan vote,” Gov. Pritzker said in a statement. The measure needs to be approved by the House and signed by Pritzker before becoming law. (NPR Illinois)