The North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiation effort will return to Washington, D.C. this month for the fourth round of official talks. The negotiations will resume October 11th through the 15th, following a round of talks in Canada last month.

Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland said progress was made in the most recent meetings "on a number of bread-and-butter trade issues." Meanwhile, the U.S. has yet to introduce a proposal to increase protections for seasonal and perishable produce. The tabled issue is being closely watched by agriculture groups, including the National Pork Producers Council, which says the proposal could provoke America's NAFTA partners to push for mechanisms that make it easier to restrict U.S. farm exports.

By U.S. law and official notices to Congress, the earliest a deal can be agreed upon and concluded is March of next year. But, those watching the negotiations believe that would be too close to the midterm election cycle, as a comment period would extend into September 2018, even at the fastest pace, likely putting the potential final approval of a new NAFTA in 2019.

Agriculture groups expressed support for the Agricultural Guestworker Act of 2017, introduced Monday by Virginia Republican Representative Bob Goodlatte.

The bill would create an H-2C visa program that will allow American farmers and, packers and processors access to a legal and stable supply of workers.

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall says the bill addresses the needs of agriculture's current workforce.

The new program would allow undocumented workers, who can demonstrate agriculture work experience over the previous two-year period, to get an H2-C visa. An initial cap of 500,000 workers would be allowed under the program, with allowances to adjust the number depending on U.S. agriculture labor demand each year.

House and Senate Republicans from tax writing committees, along with the Trump Administration, rolled out a blueprint for tax reform this last week. Danielle Beck, director of governmental relations for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association in its Washington, DC office who handles tax issues for the organization, says the item in this proposed package that really jumps out for cattle producers, is the inclusion of full and complete repeal of the Estate Tax - or "Death Tax" as it is commonly known.


"We are thrilled that President Trump and Republican leadership continue to maintain their commitment to full, permanent repeal of the Death Tax," Beck said. "We're really lucky they recognize the burden that the Death Tax places on agricultural producers."


While the inclusion of this measure in the initial framework of the new tax code is a big win for the industry, Beck says it is something that will have to be seen through to the end in the final package. In addition, though, Beck is concerned not only with getting to the finish line with Death Tax repeal - she is also concerned about what positive provisions in the current tax code, might be modified to the detriment of ranchers. According to her interpretation of the proposal's language, everything is on the table and up for negotiation. Beck encourages producers to contact their state leaders in Washington and insist that they take action to protect those provisions and push for Death Tax repeal as soon as possible, with reform talks anticipated to begin by early November. (Click or tap here to send a sample letter provided by NCBA to your legislator.)


"The devil really is in the details," she said. "The language in the proposal includes eliminations for exemptions, deductions and credits on the individual side - and it also instructs lawmakers to look at the corporate side and modernize tax rules to better reflect the economic reality and provide little opportunity for tax avoidance for businesses."


Listen to NCBA tax expert Danielle Beck outline her concerns regarding the proposed Republican tax package, with me, on yesterday's Beef Buzz - click here.

In a somewhat surprised tone, starting out this week's article in the Cow/Calf Corner newsletter, Dr. Derrell Peel of Oklahoma State University, reports that despite the early potential that seemed to exist after the cool, wet August in the state, wheat pasture has developed relatively slowly in Oklahoma so far this fall.

Read Peel's complete analysis of the stocker markets and producers' profit potential, by clicking over to our website.

According to a recent article published by the Noble Research Institute, multispecies grazing can have great ecological and as economic benefits that can significantly improve the sustainability of your operation and the land you manage.

Grazing multiple species on the same land can more effectively utilize all of the browse and forage in pastures, target weeds and brush, and reduce parasite loads across pastures. These benefits could also lead to increased revenues or decreased costs.

However, running multiple species means adding layers of management and additional challenges, such as fencing needs, predator issues, working facilities and veterinary care.

When it comes to fencing, producers may not find existing hot-wire fences built with cattle in mind, totally effective for running sheep and goats on the same pasture. Additional strands of wires, or even net-fencing may be required to properly keep smaller species confined. This adds labor and cost to your operation.

Working facilities present a similar problem, often times not built to accommodate smaller animals. Sheep or goats could potentially slip through gaps in panels cattle could not. Smaller animals are often times more labor intensive to work with, and require special care - like hoof trimming at times.

Predation can be a major issue for sheep and goat producers in many areas of the Southern Great Plains. Managers use donkeys, llamas or guard dogs to protect herds. A good guard dog seems to be the most effective at keeping predators at bay. But, regardless of the guard animal type utilized, predator management is an added cost and an additional management skill that grazing land managers must develop when adding multispecies grazing to a ranch plan.

These are just a few of the issues that come along with adding multiple species to a grazing operation. Continue reading about the various considerations one should make before jumping into multispecies grazing, by clicking here, and decide if the potential benefits outweigh the related costs for your operation.