• Weekend negotiations progressed the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks but gaps still exist between the United States and Japan, according to trade representatives.

    The Pork Network reports the 12-nation trade deal still has gaps regarding market access and other hurdles. The United States insists that Japan should lower barriers to agricultural imports, but Japan refuses to budge and wants to protect sensitive products, such as pork.

    Japanese Economics minister had stated, “there is no prospect for an agreement on market access at the moment.” He did say they expect the two countries will reach a compromise in further trade negotiations.

  • USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service now offers an online tool for data.

    The tool allows for rapid access to Census of Agriculture maps and data about farms in more than 3,000 counties across the United States. The web maps will “give farmers, ranchers, researchers, planners, non-profits, and industry easy access to important data that impact nearly every aspect of agriculture.” The interactive maps allow users to navigate to an area and print and display that exact area’s data.

    Anyone can access and use the Ag Census Web Maps at agcensus.usda.gov.

More From News Talk KIT