The egg supply has completely recovered from the impact it suffered due to the avian influenza (AI) outbreak in 2015, surprising industry analysts. Initial forecasts had predicted an 18-month timeline for flocks and supply to return to pre-AI levels, yet producers have achieved this goal in one year’s time. Prices for both shell eggs and egg ingredients reflect this abundant supply. In fact according to industry analyst, Rick Brown, senior vice president, Urner Barry, whole egg prices are at a 10-year low. [node:read-more:link]

Members of the Clean Jobs Coalition who have negotiated together for many months over a massive Illinois energy bill have broken ranks after the bill’s introduction Tuesday, with some still supporting the bill, some opposing it, some hoping for pieces to be spun off and others remaining silent.  The schism within the coalition comes largely over the bill’s inclusion of demand charge rates — which are ardently opposed by solar developers and consumer groups — as well as over supports for coal plants that were introduced late in the game. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Department of Energy has issued a so-called presidential permit giving federal approval for Minnesota Power's plan to bring electricity into Minnesota from northern Manitoba hydroelectric dams. The permit approves the cross-border aspects of the Great Northern Transmission Line, in the works since 2012, and Minnesota Power officials declared it the last major regulatory hurdle before construction can begin on the power line early next year.State regulators in February approved the route for the 500-kilovolt line. [node:read-more:link]

The Clayton County Zoning Board of Adjustment voted 4-0 Tuesday night to approve a zoning change to allow the Pattison Sand Co. to expand its operations.  The panel’s approval was the final step in a yearlong process to rezone 746 acres from agricultural to heavy industry to facilitate underground mining of the silica sand used in the hydraulic fracturing process of extracting oil and natural gas.  A standing-room-only crowd packed the meeting room, and more than a dozen attendees spoke both for and against the proposal during the nearly three-hour meeting. [node:read-more:link]

Oil production in North Dakota continued its slide in September, dropping about 1 percent from the previous month at a rate state officials projected in their most recent forecast for the next biennium. September oil production was averaging 971,658 barrels per day, according to preliminary numbers from the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources. This was a drop of 10,353 barrels from the August figure of 982,011 barrels per day. [node:read-more:link]

Veteran House Agriculture Committee staffer Anne Simmons has been named to serve as the panel's Democratic staff director.  Simmons currently serves as the committee's senior policy advisor. She has been on the panel's staff since 1993. Before that, she was on the staff of then-Congressman Tim Johnson of South Dakota. Simmons was raised on a corn, soybean and livestock farm near Spencer, Iowa, and graduated from Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa. [node:read-more:link]

An architect of anti-immigration efforts who says he is advising President-elect Donald Trump said the new administration could push ahead rapidly on construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall without seeking immediate congressional approval.  Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who helped write tough immigration laws in Arizona and elsewhere, said in an interview that Trump's policy advisers had also discussed drafting a proposal for his consideration to reinstate a registry for immigrants from Muslim countries.  Kobach, who media reports say is a key member of Trump's transition team, s [node:read-more:link]

Organic and non-GMO sales in the U.S. amount to chicken feed, but that chicken feed is increasingly imported because U.S. farmers aren't in a position to fill demand for certified organic or even non-GMO feed.  The gap between supply and demand in organic and non-GMO feed markets offers an opportunity for farmers, but price takers aren't jumping to join the marketing wave. Premiums are also there for non-GMO crops, but they are significantly lower than organic and harder to predict. Regional factors play more into that. [node:read-more:link]

Canada’s softwood lumber and livestock producers are being targeted by Donald Trump’s transition team, which is advising the president-elect to extract terms more favourable to the United States in these areas in a renegotiation of the North American free-trade agreement. The head of Canada’s largest business group says a transition team memo obtained by CNN suggests Washington is about to embark on an “aggressive, protectionist approach to trade both with Mexico and with Canada.” The memo says on the first day he takes office – Jan. [node:read-more:link]

Harvest 2016 isn't officially over, but already predictions of a fourth and fifth consecutive year of grim commodity prices in 2017 and 2018 are putting a damper on agricultural lenders' attitudes. Those attending the American Banker Association conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, this week described attitudes anywhere from relative calm in parts of the Corn Belt to severe distress in cotton and cattle country. [node:read-more:link]