Agribusiness Update for Monday 3/18/13

This is the Agribusiness Update...I’m Greg Martin...

Ag’s Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan is leaving USDA. In a prepared statement she said quote, “I hope that during my tenure, I was able to help open USDA's doors a little wider, inviting new and discouraged constituencies to participate in USDA programs.” Exactly when she will leave and her future plans are unknown.

With U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk leaving his post - Deputy Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis became Acting Trade Representative on Friday. Kirk says Marantis has been a leading voice for the President’s trade policies in Asia and Africa - and has been instrumental in successes from the completion of the U.S.-Korea trade agreement to the advancing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and beyond.

The Senate Budget Committee passed the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2014 by a vote of 12 to 10 Thursday. Senate Ag Committee member Mike Johanns of Nebraska says the budget - introduced by Senate Budget Chair Patty Murray on behalf of Senate Democrats - is nothing short of a fiscal fiasco on par with Obamacare.

That’s today’s Agribusiness Update from the Ag Information Network.