commodity prices

A bill proposed by Sens Pat Roberts of Kansas and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota would give futures customers more time to provide the funds to cover their margin requirements following a trade. A CFTC rule says the money must be deposited by the morning following a trade. Roberts and Heitkamp say the deadline should be the close of business on the day after a trade - easier for end users to satisfy.

Corn Belt farmers could lose money on this year's crop if prices are in the range that USDA expects, says economist Gary Schnitkey of U-Illinois. At farmdoc daily, Schnitkey presents sample balance sheets showing potential revenues and costs for a corn farmer in central Illinois with high-yielding land. There is a $100 range for revenue, depending whether prices are $3.65 a bushel or $4.35.

In two reports today, the Agriculture Department will clarify how tight soybean stocks will get this summer and how large, possibly record-setting, the fall harvests will be.

Private and public lenders are scheduled to testify on availability in rural America at a House Agriculture subcommittee hearing.

When commodity prices fall, growers may collect payments from crop insurance as well as deficiecy payments from traditional crop subsidies, says economist Carl Zulauf of Ohio State University in an analysis.

Farmland prices fell for the seventh month in a row in the Rural Mainstreet Index compiled by Creighton University, but at a slower rate.

In a nationwide survey, farm lenders "are not as optimistic as they were in the fall of 2013," say Kansas State University economist.

States are following the law in averting cuts in food stamp benefits tied to utility costs, said Rep Jim McGovern of Massachusetts during a lively moment in a House Agriculture Committee hearing.

Ag economist Jason Henderson of Purdue says "what has me a little nervous" is an upturn in borrowing as the farm sector heads into a period of lower commodity prices and farm income.

Record yields will result in record large US corn and soybean crops, USDA said at its Outlook Forum, based on current commodity prices, which affect plantings, and on normal weather.