U.S. crop prices head downhill after roller coaster climb
After soaring to sky-high levels following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, U.S. corn, soybean, and wheat prices are coming back to earth as supplies expand worldwide, said the Agriculture Department. The average price for corn this marketing year will be 27 percent lower, wheat 18 percent lower, and soybeans 10 percent lower than last season, said USDA analysts in a new look at global supply and demand.
U.S. disaster payments are needed, say organic livestock producers
Abnormally high feed costs, partly the result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, are ruining organic livestock producers and federal relief payments are vital to keep farmers in business, said organic trade groups and businesses. "A perfect storm of trade disruptions, international conflicts and acute drought conditions has created a situation no farmer could have planned for or foreseen," said the 13 groups in a letter to lawmakers released on Monday.
COP27: Food industry plan to end deforestation ‘falls short’
A plan to end deforestation in soy, palm oil, beef and cacao production by 2025 — released by 14 major agricultural commodity companies including Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, and JBS — falls far short of what would be needed to meet global climate goals, environmental groups say. No paywall
Corn to take a leading role as farmers chase high commodity prices
Lured by two years of strong market prices, U.S. farmers will expand crop plantings significantly in 2022, with corn area rising by 3 percent despite sharply higher fertilizer costs, said economist Scott Irwin of the University of Illinois on Monday. This stands in contrast to many other early projections that say farmers will shy away from corn, the most widely grown crop in the country, in 2022 because of higher input costs and put more land into crops such as soybeans, wheat and cotton instead.
China sets monthly record for purchases of U.S. food and ag
Although it is likely to fall short of its “phase one” target, China purchased a record $4.8 billion of U.S. food, agricultural and seafood products during October, contributing to the surge in grain and soybean prices, analysts said on Monday. “The big question right now for …
Farmers could see “very low returns” on corn and soybeans
Midwestern farmers are likely to see “very low returns” from corn and soybean crops this year, said economist Gary Schnitkey of the University of Illinois as spring planting gets under way. When overhead costs such as seed, fertilizer, equipment and insurance are counted, returns per acre …
A new round of retaliation worries for U.S. farmers
President Trump could order $60 billion in tariffs on Chinese products before the end of the week, according to the Washington Post and other reports. U.S. agricultural leaders said they expect farmers will be hit if China retaliates. "Has there ever been a retaliation that didn't include agriculture?" asked Chuck Conner, head of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives.
FDA proposes to revoke heart-healthy claim for soy protein
Nearly two decades after it agreed that consumption of soy protein reduced the risk of heart disease, the FDA proposed revocation of the so-called health claim because of new research that questions the relationship. It would be the first time the agency revoked any of the 12 health claims authorized since 1990.
Is a slowdown in U.S. soy, corn and poultry sales to Mexico a signal of the future?
"Faltering trust between trading partners on both sides of the border" may be slowing U.S. farm export to Mexico as the nations prepare to renegotiate NAFTA , says Farm Futures. It says that U.S. exports of corn, soybeans and chicken meat to Mexico declined during the first four months of this year, a period when the new Trump administration floated the idea of a border tax and when U.S.-Mexico relations soured.
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.
Rural Argentineans say massive increase in glyphosate is making them sick
In Argentina, the use of glyphosate increased 1,000 percent between 1994 and 2010, as soybean farmers fought off resistant weeds, says the BBC. With large amounts of the herbicide still being applied to fields, some experts think that it may be responsible for a surge in health problems among rural residents.
Low prices pull down U.S. crop plantings
Farmers say they'll plant the third-largest amount of corn grown since World War II and the third-highest soybean area on record, superlatives that disguise some of the bad news in the annual Prospective Plantings report.
First-year price of 2014 farm-bill crop subsidies, $6.5 billion
The government will make its first crop-subsidy payments under the 2014 farm law in October, with an estimated transfer of $6.5 billion to follow, said USDA deputy undersecretary Alexis Taylor at a House Agriculture Committee hearing.
Heading for lowest corn and soy prices in five years
Harvest time is months away but one result is clear - the lowest corn and soybean prices in five years - if crops are as large as USDA's planting data indicate. Analysts such as economist Darrel Good of U-Illinois say the average price for this year's corn crop could be "near $4" a bushel and soybeans "perhaps $10.50" for the 2014/15 marketing year. AgriMoney says the average cost of production in Iowa is $4.29 for corn and $11.13 for soybeans according to Iowa State University figures.
Farmer survey points to record soy plantings, sorghum surge
U.S. growers intend to plant a record amount of land with soybeans this spring, and to boost the acres of sorghum, now in high demand for export to China, according to Farm Futures magazine's survey of 1,297 growers in 41 states during the first half of March. Its estimates of 87.25 million acres of soybeans and 8.4 million acres of sorghum are higher from forecasts by Kansas State University and the think tank FAPRI.
Farmers’ planting plans point to No. 2 soy, No. 3 corn crops
U.S. farmers intend to sow a record amount of land to soybeans and pare back on corn planting this spring, the government said in a report that puts the second-largest soybean crop ever and the third-largest corn crop on the horizon. Mammoth crops would mean at least one more year of comparatively low commodity prices after the price peaks of 2012. Abundant supplies would help hold down food price inflation.
USDA approves GE cotton and soy that tolerate dicamba
The government approved cultivation of genetically engineered cotton and soybean varieties from Monsanto that tolerate the weedkillers dicamba and glufosinate. So-called super weeds that are resistant to glyphosate, a widely used herbicide known as Roundup, have prompted work on biotech plants that can be matched with other herbicides.USDA said a Federal Register notice of its decision was scheduled to appear on Tuesday, the effective date for deregulation of the new Monsanto strains.
Less winter wheat is sown, suggesting less wheat, more soy
Wheat farmers planted the smallest amount of winter wheat in five years and 5 percent less than last year, said the government, based on a survey of growers in early December. Winter wheat is planted in the fall, lies dormant during the winter and sprouts in the spring for harvest in early summer. The total of 40.2452 million acres was far below trade expectations and also was the second-smallest figure in a decade.