Drought in Argentina may take a toll on world grain supplies
Argentina is headed for its worst drought in three decades, and a downturn in crop production will likely slow the economic recovery in a country where corn and soybeans account for 36 percent of all exports, said Bloomberg.
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.
U.S. corn stockpile swells by half a billion bushels in one year
U.S. grain bins hold the largest stockpile of corn in three decades — 32-percent larger than a year ago — and there will be little chance to reduce it given that a bumper crop is being harvested this fall. The outlook suggests comparatively low market prices through late 2018 at a minimum, possibly adding to pressure for larger federal supports as Congress writes the new farm bill.
Grain prices to remain low into 2017
The global grain glut and weaker demand from China will keep grain prices low into next year, according to analysts at Olam International, one of the world's largest commodities traders, reports Bloomberg.
China vows to stop stockpiling corn, try other ag subsidies
Stuck with a six-month supply of corn in the warehouse, China “has pledged to end a costly corn stockpiling policy that has hit world markets,” says the Financial Times.