USDA’s new 2027 cost of production forecast reveals farmers may not see meaningful relief from elevated production costs anytime soon. The projections show total production costs continuing to rise for most major crops, pushing all commodities to record highs — including corn at $952 per acre, soybeans at $701, sorghum at $477 and wheat at $428.
Farm Policy News
US Could Lose 30 Million Corn Acres without More Biofuels Markets, Study Says
A new report from U.S. Farmers and Ranchers in Action and its partners predicts the U.S. could lose roughly 30 million corn acres by 2050 if new sources of feed demand are not found and the ethanol blending rate remains at 10%.
USDA to Move Much of FAS, Rural Development out of DC
The USDA plans to relocate “much of” the Foreign Agricultural Service’s Washington D.C.-based workforce to Kansas City, Missouri, and Beltsville, Maryland, as part of its reorganization plan, the agency announced Wednesday.
Fertilizer Prices Drop on US-Iran Peace Deal News
Price indicators for key farm inputs tumbled on Monday following news of the U.S.-Iran preliminary peace deal. The value of urea at New Orleans, a benchmark for North American nitrogen fertilizer, fell about 5% from Friday, or roughly $20, according to Josh Linville, vice president of fertilizer for StoneX. That marks a 53% drop from a high earlier this spring, he says.
H-2A Guest Farmworker Certifications up 17% So Far in 2026
In the first half of the 2026 fiscal year, the Labor Department certified 17% more (H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker) jobs than in the same period the year before.
Grain & Oilseed Prices Fall on Strait of Hormuz Reopening
Grain and vegetable oil futures declined on expectations a potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz would improve access to vital crop inputs, helping to ease the threat of food inflation brought on by the months-long war in the Middle East.
US Winter Wheat Crop Smallest Since 1965, USDA Says
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday cut its U.S. winter wheat crop outlook by 2% from a month earlier as a harsh drought in the Plains cut its hard red winter wheat production view to the lowest since 1957 and total winter wheat production to the lowest since 1965.
Trump Says US ‘Not Looking to Renew’ USMCA Trade Agreement
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the U.S. might not renew its free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico and criticized trade deficits with those countries, although he said he was talking with their leaders about the matter.
Urea Prices Return to Pre-Iran War Levels in the U.S.
The Iran war risk premium that swept through crop and fertilizer markets is rapidly evaporating as fears of prolonged supply disruptions fade. Prices for granular urea in New Orleans dropped to $453.50 per short ton, the lowest level since Feb. 6, according to Friday data from Bloomberg Green Markets. That’s down 36% from mid-April.
Screwworm Confirmed in New Mexico for First Time
The USDA confirmed an additional three cases of New World screwworm — including the first outside of Texas, in New Mexico — bringing the total number of detections in the US to five and raising concerns over a broader spread of the parasite.
Canada Bans Texas Livestock Imports After Second Screwworm Case
A second case of the flesh-eating New World screwworm has been confirmed in South Texas, intensifying concerns among agricultural officials and prompting Canada to suspend livestock imports from Texas as authorities mount an aggressive response to prevent the parasite from spreading deeper into the United States.
80% of USDA Food Assistance Workers Say They Won’t Relocate
The National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 226, which represents Food and Nutrition Service employees, says more than 80% of staff who took an internal survey claim they will not relocate to keep their jobs. Another union survey of other USDA employees tapped to relocate found similar results.
New World Screwworm Case Confirmed in U.S.
USDA confirmed the first detection of New World screwworm in the United States in decades after identifying the pest in a 3-week-old calf in South Texas, prompting an aggressive federal and state response aimed at containing the outbreak of the parasitic insect.
China Placing New US Soybean Orders, USDA’s Vaden Says
Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden said he expects China to honor its pledge to buy more American soybeans this year. Vaden said at The Wall Street Journal’s Global Food Forum that China has started placing orders for soybeans that are being planted right now across the U.S.
Trump Cuts Tariffs on Ag Equipment to 15%
President Donald Trump on Monday moved to reduce tariffs on heating and cooling equipment and certain heavy industrial and agricultural goods, as well as cutting levies on products from abroad made with American metals. The move is the latest by the Trump administration to limit the collateral damage of its trade wars.
New World Screwworm Found 31 Miles from US Border
A devastating parasitic fly — the New World Screwworm — that eats warm-blooded animals alive and could cause millions of dollars in economic damage to the U.S. economy has been found in a young sheep in Mexico within 31 miles of the U.S. border, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported on Friday.
FTC Confirms Probe of Rising Fertilizer Prices
The Federal Trade Commission recently launched an antitrust investigation into the rising costs of fertilizer in the US, the agency’s head said at an event in Texas on Thursday.
Farm Bankruptcies Hit Six-Year High in April
During the month of April, 62 bankruptcies were launched under Chapter 12, a 130% jump from April 2025 and the highest monthly total since February 2020. That figure is also 82% higher than the 34 Chapter 12 filings in March 2026, the data showed.
Lawmakers Target Meatpacker Consolidation Amid High Prices
Sen. Chuck Schumer on Friday introduced legislation aimed at lowering grocery prices by increasing competition in the meatpacking industry, arguing that consolidation among the nation’s largest meat companies has contributed to higher beef prices.
China’s Retaliatory Tariffs Cost US Ag Exporters $15 Billion, Study Says
China’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural goods wiped out an estimated $14.9 billion in export sales over a 12-month period, according to a new North Dakota State University analysis, with soybeans taking the biggest hit.