Agricultural Economy

Bloomberg writers Michael Hirtzer, Dominic Carey, and Kim Chipman reported last week that, “The corn crop in the U.S. Midwest deteriorated the most in 8 years with hot weather adding to woes from drought and the Aug. 10 derecho windstorm that swept through the top-growing state of Iowa.”

The Pantanal, the largest continental humid area on the planet, is facing the greatest environmental tragedy in decades.

Wall Street Journal writer Kirk Maltais reported on Saturday that, “Following a growing season last year filled with battering rainfall and bitter trade wars, U.S. farmers hoped 2020 would provide them an opportunity to make up some ground. Instead, the situation has grown worse for many as prices remain depressed.”

On Thursday, the Federal Reserve Banks of Chicago and Kansas City released updates regarding farm income, farmland values and agricultural credit conditions from the second quarter of 2020.

Reuters writer Tom Polansek reported on Friday that, “A storm packing hurricane-force winds on Monday impacted 37.7 million acres of farmland across the Midwest, including 14 million in Iowa, the Iowa Soybean Association said on Friday, citing estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”

Wall Street Journal writer Jesse Newman reported last week that, “More U.S. farmers are filing for bankruptcy, as federal payments projected to reach record levels this year fall short of compensating for the coronavirus pandemic and a yearslong slump in the agricultural economy.”

An unprecedented survey carried out by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) reveals the behavior around the use of digital solutions in the field in Brazil during of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Argentine Ministry of Agriculture recently decreed a state of agricultural emergency after receiving an alert for a new locust cloud.  Currently, there are four monitored regions: Formosa, Chaco, Salta and Entre Ríos provinces.

In an update last week from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (“Agricultural Lending Consistently Slower”), Nathan Kauffman and Ty Kreitman stated that, “Agricultural financing activity slowed in the second quarter, according to the Survey of Terms of Lending to Farmers.”

A study published in the magazine Science caused a strong reaction from the Brazilian government last week. The publication shows that at least 17% of the meat and 20% of soybeans from the Amazon and the Cerrado that were exported to the European Union may have been produced in illegally deforested areas.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Board released its July 2020 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.

Last week, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas released its Agricultural Survey.  In part, the quarterly report stated that, “Bankers responding to the second-quarter survey reported overall weaker conditions across most regions of the Eleventh District.”

Last week, the advance of a locust cloud put the Brazil and Argentine authorities on alert. According to a bulletin released by the National Service for Health and Agrifood Quality (Senasa), the locust cloud came from Paraguay, where it destroyed corn crops. The cloud’s movement has been influenced by wind direction and high temperatures.

On Wednesday, the Senate Agriculture Committee held a Legislative Hearing to Review S. 3894, The Growing Climate Solutions Act of 2020.

Last week, USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) released its monthly Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook, which included updated information regarding meat production.

On Tuesday, the University of Missouri’s Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) released its June Baseline Update for U.S. Agricultural Markets.   The update incorporates government payment programs that were announced before June 1, 2020 and analyzes some of the market impacts of those programs.