Growers reap one-fifth of winter wheat crop in one week
Farmers harvested 7.4 million acres of winter wheat in the past week, 19 percent of the total crop. The harvest is now 38 percent complete, according to the weekly Crop Progress report.
Soybean inventory expected to tighten slightly
Traders expect the USDA to lower by 2 percent its forecast of the U.S. soybean stockpile today in its monthly WASDE report. At the moment, supplies are projected to be the largest in eight years, at 385 million bushels, the result of a record-setting harvest last fall.
Rail snarl may have cost upper Midwest growers $570 million
The rail-car snarl of last winter may have cost corn, wheat and soybean growers in the upper Midwest $570 million, or 3 percent of their cash receipts for the crops, says a USDA report. To calculate the figure, department economists looked at the impact of higher shipping costs and lower local grain prices in Montana, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, where shipping delays were the worst due to a harsh winter, a large volume of grain awaiting transport and competition for rail service by the oil-shale industry.
USDA projects third mammoth corn crop in a row
U.S. farmers will grow their second-largest soybean crop ever this year, and the third-largest corn crop, according to the USDA's revised projections of spring planting. In the opening day of its Outlook Forum, the department projected corn plantings of 89 million acres and soybeans at 83.5 million acres. That's 1 million more acres of corn than was projected in December and 500,000 fewer acres of soybeans. It would put soybean plantings just below the record 83.7 million acres of 2014.
Near-record soybean harvest may follow last year’s top crop
U.S. soybean farmers could reap a near-record 3.81 billion bushels of soybeans this year, adding to an ample stockpile and pulling down prices, says economist Darrel Good of U-Illnois.
World cotton crop may be smallest in six years
Low market prices will reduce cotton planting by 6 percent worldwide and result in the smallest harvest in six years, says the International Cotton Advisory Committee.
Corn prices “firm to slightly higher” after harvest-time dip
Corn futures prices are the highest in five months and "are expected to remain firm to slightly higher" for the near term, says economist Darrel Good of U-Illinois.
World grain stockpile heads for 15-year high, food prices flat
Swollen by record wheat and corn harvests, the global inventory of cereal grains will be the largest in 15 years, up 8 percent this year, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
Corn harvest, despite big leap, lags far behind normal pace
Corn growers harvested nearly one-fifth of the U.S. corn crop last week - around 2.9 billion bushels - last week but the harvest is far behind its usual rate, says the weekly Crop Progress report.
Corn revenue per acre could be lowest since 2009
Gross revenue per acre for corn growers in northern Illinois is forecast to be the lowest in five years, says economist Gary Schnitkey of U-Illinois.
Slow harvest may ease storage squeeze for mammoth crops
The corn and soybean harvest is running far behind normal, says the weekly Crop Progress report. Some 31 percent of the corn crop and 53 percent of the soybean crop was in the bin at the start of this week.
After record harvest, US crop plantings may decline
Corn plantings could decline by 3 percent next year without pinching the U.S. supply, swollen by the second record-setting crop in two years, says economist Darrel Good of U-Illinois.
A record corn crop in Europe means fewer imports
Like the United States, the European Union is reaping a record corn crop this year, says USDA, estimating the European crop at 71 million tonnes.
Ebola safeguards may disrupt cocoa harvest
The ebola outbreak in western Africa could disrupt the cocoa harvest in two of the world's largest growers of the crop that yields chocolate and affect prices, says Politico.
Picking corn by hand, “a dying art”
U.S. farms are highly mechanized, one of the reasons a comparatively small number of people can produce a torrent of food, feed and fiber. Harvest Public Media went to western Illinois for a contest to harvest corn the old-fashioned way, by hand.
Record-setting US crops to get bigger, analysts say
The government will raise its estimates of the record-setting corn and soybean crops on Friday, according to two surveys of analysts ahead of the monthly crop report and the companion WASDE report on world crops.
World food prices fall to four-year low on harvest hopes
The World Bank says international food prices fell by 6 percent over a four-month stretch and are the lowest in four years. Lower wheat prices drove the decline, says the bank's Food Price Watch.
Food loss is low on US farms, high in other countries
Grain loss on the U.S. farm is less than 2 percent compared to 10 percent in some countries in Africa and Asia, says Harvest Public Media in its series about food waste. Thanks to good storage facilities, a speedy transport web and efficient harvesting practices, loss and wastage is low on U.S. farms and throughout the developed world. A UN report says 40 percent of food waste in developed countries is at the retail or consumer level while in developing countries, 40 percent of food waste is on the farm or during processing. An ISU professor says the on-farm losses in developing countries could be from 25-30 percent.