Bloomberg reporter Jonathan Gilbert reported yesterday that “Argentina is on course to produce its best soybean crop in five seasons — 52 million metric tons — as El Nino-fueled rains water fields that were parched by several years of drought.” “An Argentine soy harvest of 52 million tons would surpass last year’s miserly crop by 160%, impacting […]
Farm Policy News
Red Sea Attacks Continue, Could Affect U.S. Corn
Reuters reported yesterday that “U.S. and British naval forces shot down 21 drones and missiles fired by Yemen-based Houthis on Tuesday towards the southern Red Sea, the United States said, with Britain hinting at further measures to protect international shipping lanes.” The attack was the largest attack by the Houthis in the Red Sea since mid-November, […]
German Farmers Protest Ag Subsidy Cuts
CNBC writer Sophie Kiderlin reported at the beginning of this week that “Farmers across Germany on Monday began protests against the government’s economic and agricultural policies, blocking roads and highways with tractors and marching through major cities.” “Farmers are protesting the government’s plans to reduce or withdraw tax breaks for the agriculture sector, which were […]
El Niño could bring record heat in 2024
Despite a crushing winter storm currently working its way across the United States, some scientists are predicting that 2024 “may beat 2023 as the hottest year in recorded history,” according to Bloomberg reporting from Zahra Hirji, Olivia Rudgard, and Brian Kahn. “In 2023, the average was about 1.4C higher than the pre-industrial era; early estimates suggest […]
Lawmakers looking to avoid another government shutdown
As the United States Congress returns to session this week, “lawmakers will, once again, have less than 10 working days to avert a shutdown in some of the federal government’s agencies, including the Agriculture Department,” Politico’s Garrett Downs reports. “That’s due to the last stopgap resolution’s ‘laddered’ approach, which created two separate deadlines for two […]
California’s Proposition 12 Takes Full Effect
California’s Proposition 12 farm animal confinement law took full effect at the beginning of the year, a little more than 5 years after voters approved it as a ballot measure in the state. The law “bars sales in California of pork, veal and eggs from animals whose confinement failed to meet certain minimum space requirements,” […]
Corn futures fall more than 30% in 2023
Grain futures ended 2023 significantly in the red, according to recent Reuters reporting from Brendan O’Brien, with corn futures suffering their “biggest yearly drop in a decade while wheat and soybeans also posted steep annual declines after bumper harvests in Brazil and resilient Black Sea trade tempered concerns about weather and war.” The most active […]
FT: Low Corn Prices “Heap Pressure on Farmers”
Financial Times writer Susannah Savage reported yesterday that, “The price of corn has tumbled to a three-year low as supplies from the US and Brazil surge while demand stagnates, helping to cool food price inflation but heaping pressure on farmers who had been expecting high prices to last.”
2023 Farm Sector Income Forecast, November
“The USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) indicated on Thursday that, “Farm sector income is forecast to fall in 2023 after reaching record highs in 2022. Net farm income, a broad measure of profits, reached $182.8 billion in calendar year 2022, increasing $42.4 billion (30.2 percent) from 2021 in nominal dollars.”
NYT: “Carriers Want to Replace Jet Fuel with Ethanol to Fight Global Warming”- Water Use Concerns
New York Times writers Max Bearak, Dionne Searcey and Mira Rojanasakul reported yesterday that, “Vast stretches of America are dominated by corn, nearly 100 million acres of it, stretching from Ohio to the Dakotas. What once was forest or open prairie today produces the corn that feeds people, cattle and, when made into ethanol, cars.”
Dollar Falls to Three Month Low
Financial Times writers Colby Smith and Stephanie Stacey reported yesterday that, “The dollar hit a three-month low on Tuesday and US Treasury yields slid as investors grew increasingly confident that the US Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates by mid-2024.”
Ukraine “Shipping More Grain” as Threats Persist, While Storm Batters Black Sea Region
Associated Press writers Hanna Arhirova and Courtney Bonnell reported in today’s Los Angeles Times that, “Grain thunders into rail cars and trucks zip around a storage facility in central Ukraine, a place that growing numbers of companies have turned to as they struggle to export their foodstuffs to people facing hunger around the world.”
Fertilizer Prices Mixed, While Brazilian Soybean Production Estimates Adjusted
DTN writer Russ Quinn reported last week that, “Retail fertilizer prices saw mixed moves again during the second week of November 2023, according to sellers surveyed by DTN.”
Special Convoys to Assist in Black Sea Transports- Corridor “Essential for Ukrainian Farming to Survive”
Financial Times writer Christopher Miller reported over the weekend that, “Russia launched its largest drone attack of the war in the early hours of Saturday morning, targeting Kyiv in what Ukrainian officials fear is the start of a winter campaign aimed at destroying the country’s energy infrastructure.”
Record Brazilian Soybean Crop Expected
Earlier this week, Reuters writer Roberto Samora reported that, “Brazil’s soybean crop is expected to reach a record 161.6 million metric tons in 2023/24, agribusiness consultancy Agroconsult said on Wednesday, despite weather issues that are seen keeping overall production below the country’s potential.”
China to Encourage “More Reasonable Level” of Pig Production
Reuters writer Dominique Patton reported this week that, “China’s sow herd at the end of October was still larger than needed at 42.1 million pigs, state media reported on Monday, raising the supply of live pigs to the market and pressuring prices.”
Wheat Climbs Following Russian Strike on Odesa
Gloria Li reported today at The Financial Times Online that, “Wheat prices climbed on Wednesday, after Russian attacks on food infrastructure in Ukraine raised concerns over the potential impact on supply from the world’s fifth-largest wheat exporter.”
Minneapolis Fed: Farm Incomes Down in Third Quarter, But Land Values Climb
In an article last week from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, “Farm incomes fell going into harvest, but finances remained solid,” Joe Mahon pointed out that, “Farmers always have a lot riding on harvests. But heading into this year’s fall harvest, they were also contending with lower incomes, due to falling output prices and high production costs.”
China Soybean Imports From Brazil Surge
Reuters writer Mei Mei Chu reported on Monday that, “China’s soybean imports from Brazil rose 71% in October from a year ago, data showed on Monday, boosted by cheaper prices following a bumper crop in the South American nation.”
Dry Weather in Brazil Threatens Crops, Compels Tough Decisions for Farmers
Bloomberg writers Clarice Couto, Tarso Veloso, and Michael Hirtzer reported late last week that, “Parched fields and scorching heat have delayed soybean planting in the world’s biggest grower, imperiling the upcoming corn crop that can’t even begin until soy has been reaped.”