crop prices
As farm income slumps, debate over the future
If there was any doubt, the agricultural boom ended in red ink for relatively large-scale Illinois farmers last year — an average loss of $2,971 per farm just one year after they notched a net farm income of $107,290, say three University of Illinois economists. Low crop prices were the culprit in Illinois, and across the nation, with comparatively low farm income expected for several years to come.
Big harvests expected to take prices to 10-year lows
Record-setting corn and wheat harvests worldwide will pull the average prices for this year's crops to lower prices than expected early this year, says a University of Missouri think tank. Although soybean prices will be higher than the think tank's projections in April, the three crops — accounting for 232 million acres of farmland this year — suggests no more than a minor recovery is likely.
Warning signs, although farm sector finances are relatively strong
After a review of farm-sector financial indicators, economist Brent Gloy says, "Caution going forward would be appropriate," particularly for operators who are borrowing money. The commonly used debt-to-asset ratio is low, Gloy writes at the Agricultural Economic Insights blog a day before USDA updates its farm-income forecast, but lesser-known yardsticks, such as the debt-service ratio and times-interest-earned ratio "indicate that financial conditions are as poor as any seen for some time."
Rice prices soar on flooding of crop in Louisiana
Two feet of rainfall over the weekend put the rice harvest in jeopardy in Louisana, the No. 3 rice state in the country. The deluge drove up futures prices by 6 percent on Monday, the largest one-day gain in five years, said Reuters. The rain flooded rice fields ready for harvest, according to a Louisiana State University rice researcher, and came on the heels of a USDA forecast of a record crop in the Pelican State.
Farmland values decline for first time in seven years
The average value of farmland including all land and buildings dipped $10 to $3,010 per acre acre in 2016 from a year earlier, the first such decline in the U.S. since the recession of 2009, the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service reported in its annual Land Values Summary. Land values have been pressured by booming harvests and falling crop prices.
Global food price index down marginally as bumper grain crop looms
Corn prices are down sharply around the world, reflecting favorable growing weather in the United States, helping to pull down the FAO Food Price Index. The UN agency said cereal prices fell by 5.6 percent and vegetable oil prices dropped by 2.8 percent during July, offsetting firmer dairy, meat and sugar prices.
Wheat stockpile grows as wheat plantings shrink
Record-high yields for the winter wheat crop, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. wheat production, will more than offset the smallest wheat plantings in years, says the USDA. With the larger-than-expected harvest, the U.S. wheat stockpile will top 1.1 billion bushels— twice as large as it was three years ago.
With bigger plantings, U.S. rice crop heads for a record
U.S. growers will harvest a record 7.78 million tonnes (245 million hundredweight) of rice, says the USDA, a hefty 6-percent increase from the projection made a month ago, thanks to larger plantings and higher yields. The larger crop is likely to depress the season-average price 5 percent from the $12.30 per hundredweight (100 pounds) for this marketing year, which ends July 31.
After setting a record, world soybean output stumbles
Global soybean production is down by a sharp 3 percent, with the latest reductions due to weather damage to the crop in Brazil, said the International Grains Council. The Brazil drop helped pull down inventories as the world heads into a new growing season. "Underpinned by demand for soybean products, consumption is seen expanding further, resulting in another season of tightening stocks," says the council's monthly Grain Market Report.
Big crops and low prices for U.S. farmers … again
Once again, the United States — one of the agricultural giants of the world and the largest farm exporter — is awash in grain. Stockpiles of corn and soybeans are far larger than expected and the fall harvest could see record corn production and the third bumper soybean crop in a row.
Farmland values in Nebraska fall for second year
The slump in crop and livestock prices was "the most negative factor for the second year in a row," with Nebraska farmland values down by an average 4 percent this year, said the University of Nebraska. The decline, to $3,115 an acre, lowered the value of land and buildings by $5.8 billion, to $132 billion, said the annual report.
Rising prices will attract largest-ever U.S. soy plantings, analysts say
When USDA releases its annual Acreage report today, analysts expect it will show the largest U.S. soybean plantings on record, as growers pare back on corn to pursue rising prices for soybeans on the futures markets. Bad weather damaged the soybean crop in South America and created an unexpected opening for U.S. farmers to make some money three years after the collapse of the agricultural boom.
Brexit vote hits U.S. ag futures, raises questions on trade and environment
The vote by Britain to leave the European Union had an immediate impact that can be felt by U.S farmers — lower futures prices for corn, soybeans and wheat during overnight trading, along with a stronger dollar that would make U.S. exports less competitive. The decision could affect U.S.-EU trade negotiations and the future of neonicotinoids, the pesticides blamed by activists for the plunge in honeybee populations.
Brazil, new No. 2 in corn exports, challenges U.S.
The agricultural giant of South America, Brazil, is altering the world corn market in ways that challenge the United States, the No. 1 grower and exporter, say USDA economists Ed Allen and Constanza Valdes. Brazil is now the second-largest corn exporter and its shipping season coincides with the U.S. harvest, which could mean lower market prices at the moment the U.S. crop cascades onto the market.
Crop outlook: Amid a boom, low-prices
If USDA agrees with analysts, its monthly crop report will say U.S. farmers are growing slightly more wheat and soybeans and marginally less corn than previously thought. One thing would not change in the report, due today at noon ET: a slump in commodity prices that began in 2014 is forecast to persist for years to come.
USDA announces $300 million in aid to cotton growers
With a worldwide glut pulling down cotton prices to their lowest level in eight years, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $300 million in one-time assistance to growers, based on ginning costs. The cost-share program is far smaller than the $1-billion-a-year cottonseed subsidy that the industry wanted and that Vilsack said was beyond his power to create.
Organic food keeps price premium as market grows
Shoppers paid a premium of more than 20 percent for organic foods from 2004-10 while the market for organic groceries was blossoming, says a USDA study, with consumers likely to spend more for products, such as milk and baby food, fed to children. Price premiums cut both ways: they encourage growers to expand production but if they are too high, they diminish the market for the goods.
Farmers tighten belts to endure low crop prices
Ag bankers across the Farm Belt expect the slump in farm income to persist through spring, with producers economizing on household spending and big-ticket purchases due to low commodity prices, according to reports by Federal Reserve banks in the Midwest and Plains.
Farmer income declines, but land prices rise in Plains
The decline in farm income in the central Plains intensified as crop prices remained weak this summer, according to 135 ag bankers who took part in a quarterly survey by the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. Six out of every 10 of the bankers said farm income during the third quarter was lower than a year earlier; only one in 10 reported an increase.