Agricultural Economy

In its monthly Oil Crops Outlook report yesterday, the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) indicated that, “U.S. soybean production for the 2023/24 marketing year (MY) is projected to climb by more than 5 percent to a record high of 4.5 billion bushels based on higher yield and marginally higher planted area.”

Bloomberg writers Michael Hirtzer and Tarso Veloso Ribeiro reported on Friday that, “America’s wheat fields have become so plagued by drought that farmers are now poised to abandon crops at the highest rate in more than a century.”

Late last week, the Federal Reserve Banks of Chicago, Kansas City and Minneapolis released updates regarding farm income, farmland values and agricultural credit conditions from the first quarter of 2023.  The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas also released its Agricultural Survey for the first quarter in late March.

DTN writer Russ Quinn reported last week that, “For the first time in several months retail fertilizer prices are somewhat varied, according to prices tracked by DTN for the first week of May 2023.”

Adam Liptak reported in Friday’s New York Times that, “The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a California law that sought to address cruelty to animals, saying the state could require pork sold there but produced elsewhere to come from breeding pigs housed in spaces that allow them to move around freely.”

Gabriel T. Rubin reported on the front page of today’s Wall Street Journal that, “Inflation edged slightly lower in April, likely keeping the Federal Reserve on course to pause interest-rate increases at its next meeting.”

DTN writer Russ Quinn reported last week that, “Most average retail fertilizer prices continued to be down from the previous month in the fourth week of April 2023, according to sellers surveyed by DTN.”

Bloomberg writers Megan Durisin and Mumbi Gitau reported today that, “Global food prices rose for the first time in a year, just as the rampant run-up in grocery costs begins to cool in some countries.”

Donnelle Eller reported on the front page of the Sunday Des Moines Register that, “Iowa farmers have a lot on their minds as they hook tractors onto planters this year: Skyrocketing interest rates are helping drive a 20% hike in the cost to plant the crop, along with higher seed, fertilizer, chemical and land costs, said Chad Hart, an Iowa State University agricultural economist.”

DTN writer Russ Quinn reported last week that, “Most retail fertilizer prices continued to shift lower the third week of April 2023, according to retailers tracked by DTN. However, for the first time in several months, multiple fertilizers were slightly higher.”

Scott Dance reported in Saturday’s Washington Post that, “Record winter snowfall across northern Minnesota, which quickly melted in a spell of unprecedented spring heat, is dramatically swelling waterways along the upper Mississippi River basin.”

In an update last week from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (“Interest Rates Rise and Farm Lending Softens”), Nate Kauffman and Ty Kreitman indicated that, “Growth in farm lending activity at commercial banks was limited in the first quarter of 2023 as interest rates climbed higher.”

DTN writer Russ Quinn reported last week that, “Average retail fertilizer prices were down again the second week of April 2023, continuing a trend that has been in place since the beginning of the year, according to sellers surveyed by DTN.”

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Board released its April 2023 Beige Book update, a summary of commentary on current economic conditions by Federal Reserve District. The report included several observations pertaining to the U.S. agricultural economy.

DTN writer Russ Quinn reported last week that, “Retail fertilizer continues to shift lower, according to prices tracked by DTN for the first full week of April 2023. The trend has been in place since the beginning of the year.”

Nidhi Subbaraman reported in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal that, “To stop the devastating global bird-flu outbreak that has killed over 100 million poultry, the U.S. and Europe are embracing a tactic many countries have long resisted: vaccines.”

Gwynn Guilford and Nick Timiraos reported on the front page of today’s Wall Street Journal that, “U.S. inflation eased in March to its lowest level in nearly two years, but underlying price pressures likely keep the door open for the Federal Reserve to consider another interest-rate increase at its May meeting.”

DTN writer Russ Quinn reported last week that, “All average retail fertilizer prices were down from last month in the fourth full week of March 2023, according to sellers surveyed by DTN.”

Bloomberg writer Agnieszka de Sousa reported today that, “Global food costs fell for a 12th straight month to reach the lowest level since July 2021, though there is still little sign the rout is actually feeding through to grocery shelves.”

Keith Schneider reported in today’s New York Times that, “Despite federal and state programs to convert corn into ethanol and soybeans into biodiesel to fuel cars and trucks, the United States has never before regarded farming as a primary energy producer.”