commodity crops
Money begins to flow on second year of Trump bailout of U.S. agriculture
Two months after President Trump announced a $16-billion package to buffer the impact of the Sino-U.S. trade war on farmers and ranchers this year, the first driblet of the money is flowing — $100 million for market development. The awarding of the funds, announced by the USDA over the weekend, suggests the rest of the program could swing into operation in the days ahead.
Potentially more profitable, cotton takes over soybean ground
Cotton growers plan to expand their plantings by a sharp 3 percent this spring, taking away land from soybeans, the most prominent casualty of the Sino-U.S. trade war, said the National Cotton Council over the weekend. Meanwhile, the USDA said the soybean stockpile will double in size by the time this year's crop is ready to harvest, creating the largest "carryover" ever.
After the shutdown, a deluge of major USDA reports on crops, ag outlook
With the shutdown behind it, the USDA will begin today to clear out a month's worth of backlogged data, including major reports that could jolt commodity markets and color farmers' decisions on crops to plant this spring. Chief economist Robert Johansson said there will be one exception — the globe-spanning WASDE report that serves as a monthly crop report for the world.
In a surprise, farmers to cut corn and soy plantings by 2 percent
U.S. farmers intend to sow 3 million fewer acres of corn and soybeans this year than in 2017, said the USDA. The surprising development could draw down overly abundant U.S. stockpiles and bolster weak commodity prices.
Corn vs. soybean race for U.S. dominance could be a squeaker
The contest between corn, the longtime leader, and soybeans to be the most widely planted U.S. crop may be closer than initially thought, said USDA chief economist Robert Johansson, speaking at the agency’s annual Ag Outlook Forum.
Soybeans to tie corn in 2018 on way to becoming top U.S. crop
For decades, corn has been the most widely planted U.S. crop. But the era of “king corn” is ending and the reign of soybeans, the versatile oilseed and the more profitable crop, is dawning, said the Agriculture Department in its 10-year agricultural projections.
Leave NAFTA nuclear option on the shelf, say U.S. ag groups
Commodity prices will fall and export sales will be lost if the Trump administration withdraws from NAFTA, which generates one-third of U.S. agricultural trade, said U.S. farm and agribusiness groups in a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. With farm income down sharply, "2018 would be an especially damaging time to lose America's two largest food and agriculture product markets."
Three USDA reports this week will frame the ag sector outlook
In back-to-back-to-back reports, USDA economists will paint a numerical picture of the U.S. farm sector this week, with estimates of farm income, ag exports, and the output, demand and prices for 2018 crops. Most likely, they will add up to large crops, comparatively low grain prices and constrained income heading into the fifth year since the collapse of the commodity boom.
Minnesota doubles down on soybean biofuel
Minnesota ruled that biofuels will need to contain a mix of 20 percent soybeans or other renewable fuel sources, cutting the amount of emissions while boosting demand for soybeans, said MPR News. "This is an opportunity to add value to farmers' products," state agriculture commissioner Dave Frederickson said last Thursday, according to the report. "Given the fact that the first B10 mandate actually added about 63 cents per bushel, on every bushel sold, we're hoping to double that as we move into a B20 mandate."
Wheat yields better than expected in drought-stricken North Dakota
The impact of drought was readily spotted during the first day of the annual tour of the spring wheat crop, with wheat standing shorter than normal — barely knee-high in some fields, says Reuters. All the same, the yield per acre is higher than expected for a crop that is below average.
On the horizon: Huge corn and soy crops, low market prices
The U.S. corn and soybean crops will be slightly larger than expected, mammoth production that would assure lackluster commodity prices far into 2018, according to a USDA survey of growers. With normal weather and yields, the corn and soybean harvests would be the second-largest on record and would be piled on top of stockpiles that have been growing since the 2012 drought.
The Black Sea region gains stature, the U.S. loses commodity market share
Since the start of this century, the U.S. share of the world market in wheat, corn and soybeans has declined, with South America seen as the leading rival. In reality, “the Black Sea is the only area with a larger share of world production in 2014-16 than in 2000-02 for all three crops,” says economist Carl Zulauf of Ohio State University.
Global GMO plantings rose in 2016
The amount of GMO crops grown worldwide in 2016 was up from the year before. Increased GMO plantings in Brazil and the United States accounted for most of the rise.
Farmers optimistic at planting time though dubious about crop prices
Purdue’s monthly survey of producers reported a small uptick in farmer confidence with the arrival of the spring planting season despite an undercurrent of pessimism about what corn and soybean prices will be at harvest time.
Value of Nebraska farmland down 15 percent in three years
The University of Nebraska's annual Farm Real Estate Survey says the average value of farmland in the state fell by 10 percent in the past year, to $2,805 an acre. It was the third year of declines since land peaked at an average $3,315 an acre, an overall drop of 15 percent.
Climate change to help wheat; clearer skies boosted corn
A six-year study of grain crops in the Pacific Northwest says climate change is likely to boost dryland wheat by speeding the hardy crop toward maturity, reports Capital Press. Meanwhile, the journal Science says researchers credit 27 percent of the increase in corn yields over the past three decades to gains in the amount of sunlight that reached farm fields, possibly related to pollution controls.
Winter wheat crop weakens under cold and dry conditions
In the key wheat states of Kansas and Oklahoma, the winter wheat is in significantly poorer condition than it was in late November due to adverse weather in the past month, said Reuters, which compared current ratings with a Nov. 27 report.
Tough year ahead for farmers due to low grain prices, says Purdue
Grain prices will run at or near decade lows, keeping farm income in a slump, say Purdue agricultural economists. In the Purdue Agricultural Economics Report 2017, they say the average value of farmland in Indiana was $7,041 an acre, down by 13 percent from the 2013 peak because of weakness in the farm sector.