soybean

Only a fraction of the corn and soybean crops are still in the field, says the weekly Crop Progress report. It says 89 percent of corn and 94 percent of soybeans have been harvested.

U.S. farmers are likely to plant more land to soybeans in 2015 than they did this year despite lower commodity prices, says economist Dan O'Brien of Kansas State University.

Strong demand in the opening weeks of the marketing year and lower market prices are forecast to result in record exports of U.S. soybean meal, said USDA. It estimated sales of 12.8 million short tons, up 10 percent from 2013/14.

The practice of coating soybean seed with neonicotinoid pesticides as a safeguard against insect damage provides "negligible overall benefits to soybean production in most situations," says an EPA analysis.

The soybean stockpile was a bare-bones 92 million bushels at the start of this month, less than a week-and-a-half supply with the new crop still reaching maturity, said the quarterly Grain Stocks report.

In a Federal Register notice, USDA said it has drafted an environmental assessment and a finding of no significant impact if a parasitic wasp, Aphelinus rhamn, is used as a biologic control against the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines.

A software program to help farmers decide which farm subsidy program is best for them is available for free, said Kansas State and Oklahoma State universities. In an announcement, the universities said they plan a webinar to provide an update of farm program details and to discuss how to use the decision tool. They said "this computer aid will allow farmers to evaluate the program and to start thinking about the option that best fits their farm."

The global corn carry-over is forecast to climb by nearly 10 percent this marketing year, to 189.9 million tonnes, according to USDA estimates. David Widmar of the blog Agricultural Economic Insights says it would be the largest inventory in 15 years, since 194.4 million tonnes at the end of 1999/2000, and the fifth-largest on record. But it would equal 19.6 percent of consumption, a manageable level, writes Widmar, when the stocks-to-use ratio was above 30 percent in 1999/2000.That said, the ratio has risen for the past five years. "If this doesn’t abate either through greater demand of reduced supplies it’s hard to paint a rosy picture for corn prices," concludes Widmar. "Time will tell."

Biodiesel production is booming in Brazil and Argentina and will put a pinch on exports of soybean oil, the feedstock for making the biofuel, says the Agriculture Department. Biodiesel is forecast to consume one-third of soy oil in the two countries during this marketing year, double the amount that was used six years ago. "In contrast, exports are forecast to fall from more than half of total use to just over 40 percent over the same period," said USDA'S "Oilseeds: World Markets and Trade" report. Brazil and Argentina are the largest soybean producers in the world after the United States.

Private consultants expect the U.S. corn and soybean crops will be larger than estimated by the government. USDA will update its forecasts on Sept 11. Three consultancies - INTL FCStone, Lanworth and Allendale - release assessments this week. Lanworth was the only one to lower its estimate of the corn crop, to 14.646 billion bushels, but that is higher than the other two forecasts and 4 percent larger than USDA's estimate of 14.032 billion bushels based on Aug 1 conditions, said AgriMoney.

Groups representing soybean, corn and hog farmers in Iowa formed an alliance to encourage farmers in the Hawkeye state to voluntarily reduce nutrient runoff, said DTN.

The U.S. soybean crop could be as much as 6 percent smaller than now forecast if yields drop slightly or if plantings turn out to be smaller than reported, say projections presented at a Kansas State University risk-management conference.

Analysts are chewing over the arcane Crop Acreage Data page posted by USDA in hopes of a clearer picture of this fall's corn and soybean harvests.

Crop conditions in Iowa and Illinois, the two biggest corn- and soybean-growing states, out-shine U.S. ratings in a year that seems headed for record harvests, said USDA data. The neighboring Midwestern states grew 31 percent of U.S. corn and 27 percent of U.S. soybeans last year, says USDA.

U.S. farm exports will hit a record $149.5 billion in the year ending on Sept 30, up 5 percent from the previous estimate due to higher corn, wheat and soybean prices as well as larger export tonnage, said USDA in a quarterly report. The record now is $140.9 billion, set in fiscal 2013.

Brazil's Agriculture Ministry is considering a ban on second-season soybean in Mato Grosso, the major soybean state, as a control against the rust fungus and a newly arrived plant pest known as the earworm, says AgroSouth News.