**U.S. beef exports shattered the previous value record in August, topping $750 million for the first time. August pork exports were fairly steady with last year’s volume, but retaliatory duties in Mexico and China continued to pressure pork export value.

U.S. Meat Export Federation President Dan Halstrom says South Korea has been the growth pacesetter for U.S. beef in 2018, but demand is strong in a wide range of markets. He adds long-term prospects for U.S. beef in Japan have brightened even further.

**USDA intends to reopen the rulemaking process known as “Farmer Fair Practices Rules.” That announcement was made by a Department of Justice attorney arguing on behalf of USDA in court last week.

According to agweb.com, DOJ attorney Weili Shaw says USDA intends to put the rulemaking process for Farmer Fair

Practices, formerly known as the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, or GIPSA, on its spring 2019 regulatory agenda.

**President Trump made it easier Tuesday to sell more ethanol in vehicle fuel, delivering a victory to corn farmers and biofuel producers that could translate to long-term market gains.

Agweb.com reports, Trump directed the EPA to lift summertime fueling restrictions on gas containing up to 15 percent ethanol. He also went to a rally in Iowa, the nation’s top producer of both that biofuel and the corn used to make it.

The shift is seen as helping bolster Midwest Republicans in tough election contests.

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