The USDA posted its “shutdown plan” early Wednesday detailing how staffing, payments and programs at the massive agency will be affected and what operations will grind to a halt until a budget agreement can be reached in Congress. 

Rollins announced Thursday the U.S. Department of Justice signed a memorandum of understanding, “that represents a joint commitment by both agencies to protect American farmers and ranchers” from unacceptable increases in  feed, fertilizer, fuel, seed, equipment and other “essential goods.”

This Week's Lineup:

• No Ecosystem Exists Without Healthy Soils — It Starts with No-Till
• No-Till Alfalfa Works Wonders
• Beck’s Hybrids — a Homegrown Legacy
• No Till vs. Conventional Farming ROI
• No-Till Preserves Soil Health & Soil Biology

During the annual meeting of the National Assn. of State Departments of Agriculture, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins and Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Luke J. Lindberg said the administration is still focused on expanding market access, enforcing trade commitment and “boosting rural prosperity.. 

In this edition:

• Agrichemicals Firm Corteva Explores Splitting Seed and Pesticide Units
• Technical Thinking: Killing Weeds Like it’s 1974
• Viewpoint: Activist Hyped Study ‘Proving’ that Glyphosate Can Cause Leukemia is Junk Science
• On the Ground with Dani Nierenberg: To Roundup or Not to Roundup