USDA
Soy crop to set record, corn to fall short, says KSU
U.S. soybean growers will harvest a record 3.6 billion bushels of the oilseed this fall but the corn crop, at 13.3 billion bushels, will run 4 percent short of a record, estimated economist Dan O'Brien of Kansas State University. O'Brien also forecast 2014/15 end stocks of 1.3 billion bushels of corn, largest since 2009/10, and 417 million bushels of soybeans, largest since 2006/07.
Rockey to head new food and ag research foundation
The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), created by the 2014 farm law, has hired Sally Rockey as its executive director. She begins work in September.
Bird flu’s implications for large-scale operators
The worst epidemic of avian influenza ever to hit U.S. poultry farms resulted in the death or culling of 48.1 million fowl, most of them turkeys and egg-laying hens. Iowa, the No. 1 egg state, could see "total economic damage" of $957 million, says Fortune. U.S. egg production, estimated down by 5 percent this year, is not expected to recover until 2016.
USDA to label more bioproducts, revise biorefinery assistance
Along with releasing a report on the size of the biobased industry, the Agriculture Department said it will increase the number of items that carry the USDA Biopreferred label.
Biosecurity lapses helped spread of avian influenza epidemic
The worst avian flu epidemic ever to hit U.S. poultry farms was spread in part by lapses in biosecurity among producers as well as "environmental factors," said the government in an initial report on the disease that will depress table egg and turkey production into 2016. USDA's animal health agency said it plans to meet with industry and state officials in July to discuss security standards.
China to sell part of its massive cotton stockpile
China, the world's largest importer and consumer of cotton, "will start to sell down its massive cotton stockpile this year," says Reuters. Beijing holds half, or more, of the world's stockpile of cotton.
WTO moves closer to decision on U.S. meat-labeling rules
The World Trade Organization has sent an interim report to the three North American nations - Canada, Mexico and the United States - sparring over country-of-origin-labeling rules for cuts of poultry, beef and pork, says a spokesman for the U.S. trade representative's office.
USDA gets bigger role in GMO preemption bill
The sponsors of a House bill to prevent states from requiring special labels on GMO foods are considering a new version that would put the USDA in charge of certifying if foods are made from genetically modified organisms or not. The bill, filed by Mike Pompeo of Kansas and GK Butterfield of North Carolina, would keep labeling voluntary at the federal level.
USDA publishes conservation compliance, sodbuster rule
The Agriculture Department published an interim rule on Monday to require farmers to practice conservation in order to qualify for federally subsidized crop insurance coverage. The so-called conservation compliance requirement was one of the hardest-fought items in the 2014 farm law.
Soybean planting far behind normal in Kansas and Missouri
Growers in Kansas and Missouri, which produce more than 10 percent of the U.S. soybean crop, have planted less than half as much of the soybean land as usual for the first week in June, says the weekly Crop Progress report.
Amid tight supplies, a mammoth soybean crop on the horizon
Three years of ever-tighter U.S. soybean supplies will end this fall in a record harvest if USDA estimates prove true. Its Acreage report, based on a survey of 71,000 operators, estimated soybean plantings at a record 84.8 million acres, or 8 percent above the mark set in 2009, which is also the record year for soybean production at 3.359 billion bushels. Plantings would be 4 percent larger than farmers planned in March.
Retail egg prices sharply higher, up 42 percent in a week
The U.S. average egg price in grocery stores zoomed by 55 cents a dozen for Grade A Large eggs from the preceding week, a 42-percent increase, said the USDA weekly retail report. Egg prices are rising as a result of the worst avian influenza epidemic ever to hit U.S. poultry flocks. Stores sold a dozen Grade A Large eggs for $1.87, compared to $1.32 a dozen in the week ending June 5.
USDA pricetag for bird-flu epidemic may top $500 million
In a Bloomberg interview, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the government may spend more than half a billion dollars to fight the avian-influenza epidemic and to compensate poultry producers for their flocks.
Smaller corn, soy supplies but big harvests on horizon
Stockpiles of U.S. corn and soybeans are smaller than expected, giving a boost to futures prices in the near term, although massive harvests of the two most widely planted crops in the nation are on the horizon.
Fewer food-insecure people now but conditions will worsen
There are fewer food-insecure people in the low- and middle-income nations of the world, about 475 million, or 46 million less than last year, says the government.
Egg prices drop 7 cents as bird-flu epidemic wanes
After increasing by 68 percent in five weeks, the price of eggs in supermarkets is down slightly. The average price for a dozen Large white eggs Grade A or better is $1.98 this week, 7 cents less than the previous week, according to the USDA's National Retail Report. "Shoppers will ... find some relief," says the report, noting more stores are featuring eggs in their advertisements.
U.S. share of world wheat market low for second year
The United States, the world's largest wheat exporter until two years ago, is in an export slump for the second year in a row, according to the Grain: World Markets and Trade report.
Plenty of holiday turkey despite avian influenza losses
"Much has been made of a potential supply disruption impacting the availability of turkeys during the Thanksgiving holiday," say economists John Newton and Todd Kuethe of U-Illinois, who rebut the idea at farmdoc daily. They say the monthly Cold Storage report shows turkey stockpiles are 5-percent larger than a year ago and other USDA reports show turkey production from January-April was up by 7 percent from the same point in 2014.
Ten RECs get $4.4 billion in New ERA clean energy funding
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $4.37 billion in grants and loans to 10 rural electric cooperatives on Thursday for clean energy projects that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1.1 million tons a year. With the awards, the USDA has allocated nearly $9 billion of the $9.7 billion available in the Empowering Rural America program.