corn crop
For the second time, Nebraska has top U.S. farm district
Stretching from Wyoming to Iowa and larger in area than New York State, Nebraska’s 3rd congressional district is again the No. 1 farm district in the nation, with $16.6 billion in crop and livestock production, says the new edition of the Census of Agriculture.
U.S. corn crop could be smallest since 2012 drought
Based on surveys conducted ahead of USDA reports due for release today, analysts say corn plantings will total 86.7 to 87 million acres after a rainy and cold spring. That would be well below the 92.8 million acres that farmers had planned to seed.
A ‘black swan’ casts shadow on soggy Farm Belt
Mired by a rainy and chilly spring, U.S. farmers may soon give up on planting corn in rain-soaked parts of the Farm Belt because it is getting too late for money-making yields, said economist Scott Irwin of the University of Illinois. "I truly believe we are in 'black swan' territory as far as late corn planting is concerned," he said over the weekend, using a term popularized during the financial crisis a decade ago.
Sharply lower farm-gate prices forecast for U.S. crops
Farmers growing the three major U.S. crops — corn, soybeans and wheat — can expect a sizable decline in the average sales price for this year's harvest instead of the mild upturn that was forecast in late February, said the USDA. In its first projection of the fall harvest, the USDA said season-average prices for the three crops would be 8 to 10 percent lower than anticipated at its Outlook Forum.
Wet fields mean corn planting will run late
A larger-than-usual portion of the U.S. corn crop will be planted so late that yields could be depressed, said two University of Illinois economists on Thursday. “A reasonable estimate is that late corn planting in 2019 will be at least 5 to 10 percent above average.”
‘Flat-lining’ of U.S. gasoline use may hurt ethanol sales and corn farmers
For years, larger and larger sales of corn ethanol were almost a given. For one thing, the Renewable Fuel Standard guaranteed biofuels a share of the gasoline market, and car-happy Americans used more gasoline every year. The joyride, however, may be ending, says a University of Illinois economist.
U.S. crop production unlikely to suffer much from floods
Spring flooding in the northern Plains and western Corn Belt will have a marginal impact on corn and soybean plantings, according to a USDA survey of growers and initial tallies of flooded land. With normal weather and yields, there would be limited impact on production of the two most widely grown U.S. crops, thanks to the huge amount of cropland nationwide.
Farmers say they will plant fewer acres this year
Aside from planning a 4-percent expansion of corn area, U.S. farmers aren't enthusiastic about spring planting. With little improvement expected in commodity prices, growers say they will plant fewer acres of soybeans, wheat, cotton, rice, sorghum and oats than in 2018, and they'll stand pat on barley.
Big soy crop globally even if U.S. cuts back
U.S. farmers will harvest a sharply smaller soybean crop this year, driven away from the oilseed by weak market prices and a staggeringly large soy surplus resulting from a string of bumper crops. Even so, the International Grains Council projects the third year in a row of record-large soybean production globally.
Trump’s trade war knocks soybeans out of running for top U.S. crop for a decade
The neck-and-neck race between soybeans and corn for the title of No. 1 U.S. crop is over after one lap, with corn the victor and soybeans out of the running due to trade war with China. The USDA says corn will be the acreage king for years to come while soybeans recover slowly from the loss of sales to China, which used to buy one of every three bushels of U.S. soybeans.
Big corn and soybean inventories add to sour farm economy
Already-bulging U.S. corn and soybean stockpiles are much larger than expected, said a USDA report, compounding the effects of a trade war and bumper crops on the farm economy. Farm income this year is forecast to be the lowest since 2006.
Midwest scores big on Trump tariff payments; decision on second round in early December
Nearly half of the $4.7 billion in Trump tariff payments will go to five midwestern states that are the largest soybean and hog producers in the country, said a farm group analysis on Tuesday. At the same time, an environmental group challenged the USDA to explain its opaque development of the bailout package.
Farmers to cool on soybeans, switch back to corn as No. 1 crop
Stung by a trade war with China, ordinarily the purchaser of one-third of the U.S. soybean crop, farmers will switch decisively to corn in 2019, reinstating it as the most widely grown crop in the country, according to a Farm Futures survey of growers.
In rarity, soy tops corn in U.S. plantings
U.S. farmers planted nearly 2 million more acres of corn and soybeans than they planned in late winter, but soybeans, for the first time in 35 years, will be the most widely grown crop in the country, said the USDA's annual Acreage report. The soybean harvest could be the second-largest ever and corn the third-largest, assuming normal weather and yields.
Studies: Corn at risk from climate change
Two newly published studies highlight the risk that climate change could lead to the failure of corn crops around the world and reduce the nutritional content of vegetables, reports InsideClimate News. While looking at different subjects, the studies "reiterate the prospects of food shocks and malnutrition with unchecked global warming."
U.S. corn faces a 25-percent EU tariff in metals fight
American corn faces import levies of up to 25 percent, according to a 10-page list of potential targets for retaliatory tariffs released by the European Commission, reported AgriCensus. The tariffs would counter the Trump administration's announcement that it intends to imose high tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum.
Brazil to displace U.S. as world’s largest corn exporter, says analyst
Brazil, the agricultural giant of South America, will supplant the United States as the world's largest corn exporter before a decade passes, says a top Brazilian commodity consultant. The prediction underlines diminishing U.S. dominance of the world market. Brazil already is the largest soybean exporter and a close second to the U.S. as a soybean grower.
String of record-large corn and soybean crops to extend into this year
U.S. farmers are headed for massive corn and soybean harvests this year that will mean another year of large stockpiles and will throttle farm-gate prices into the summer of 2019, according to updated USDA projections. The bumper crops would be the latest in a string of record-setting harvests that began early this decade.