Late last week, the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) released a report titled, “Early Months Suggest a Bright 2021 for United States Agricultural Exports.”
Farm Policy News
China Pork Imports Expected to Drop, as U.S. Pork Prices Fall- Feed Grain Demand Potentially Impacted
Late last week, Wall Street Journal writer Jacky Wong reported that, “Prices of everything seem to be going up this year. Pork prices in China are doing the opposite as a different sort of health crisis eases. That’s tough news for the global pork industry, but a welcome respite for pork buyers everywhere.”
Farm Debt Declines, Loan Performance Improves- Kansas City Fed
Last week, Nathan Kauffman and Ty Kreitman, of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, penned an update titled, “Farm Debt Declines Further and Credit Stress Eases,” which noted that, “Agricultural debt at commercial banks continued to decline in the first quarter of 2021 and farm loan performance improved.”
Supreme Court Setback for Biofuel Producers
Late last week, Reuters writers Andrew Chung and Stephanie Kelly reported that, “The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday made it easier for small oil refineries to win exemptions from a federal law requiring increasing levels of ethanol and other renewable fuels to be blended into their products, a major setback for biofuel producers.”
House Ag Subcommittee Reviews Farm Safety Net Issues
On Wednesday, the House Ag Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management discussed the Farm Bill, crop insurance, and ad hoc disaster programs in a meeting titled, “A Hearing to Review the Efficacy of the Farm Safety Net.”
Farm Lending Remains Strong in 2020- American Bankers Association Report
A news release this week from the American Bankers Association (ABA) stated that, “Despite the global economic slowdown in 2020 due to COVID-19, total agricultural lending by U.S. farm banks remained strong at $98.6 billion, decreasing by only 1.8% from the year before according to the American Bankers Association’s annual Farm Bank Performance Report.”
China’s Pig Population at Near Normal Levels After ASF, Chinese Hog Producers Urged to Not Panic Amid Low Prices
Bloomberg News reported this week that, “China’s hog population rose 24% in the year through May and has now almost fully recovered from the recent resurgence in African swine fever, according to the country’s agriculture ministry.”
U.S. Refiners Accumulate $1.6 Billion Shortfall in Biofuel Credits, as Biden Administration Weighs RFS Volume Cuts
Late last week, Reuters writers Jarrett Renshaw and Stephanie Kelly reported that, “U.S. merchant refiners have amassed up to a $1.6 billion shortfall in the credits they will need to comply with U.S. biofuel laws, according to a Reuters review of corporate disclosures, an apparent bet that the Biden administration could let them off the hook or that credit prices will fall.”
China Makes Large U.S. Soy Purchase, While Granting Domestic Subsidies to Its Grain Farmers
Late last week, Reuters writer Karl Plume reported that, “Chinese state-owned importers bought at least eight cargo shipments of U.S. soybeans on Friday, or at least 480,000 tonnes, the country’s largest U.S. soybean purchases in 4-1/2 months, two U.S. traders familiar with the deals said.”
Drought Expands in Iowa, Stressing Crops- as Soybean and Corn Prices Tumble
Donnelle Eller reported on the front page of Friday’s Des Moines Register that, “Last week, Mark Mueller watched from the porch of his northeast Iowa farm as lightning flashed and a storm dropped badly needed rain a few miles away.”
Cargill’s Sanfeliu Sees “Mini-Supercycle” for Crop Markets, as China’s Pig Herd Expands
Bloomberg writers Andy Hoffman and Vanessa Dezem reported this week that, “Two of the world’s top agricultural traders said crop markets are in a ‘mini-supercycle’ that could last half a decade, driven by increased demand for biofuels and continued grains buying from China.”
China Hog Futures Fall as Pig Farmers Urged to Maintain Production- 2020/21 U.S. Corn Exports Increased
Financial Times writers Hudson Lockett and Thomas Hale reported this week that, “Hog futures in China have fallen to record lows as mass slaughtering of pigs prompts fears that the world’s second-biggest economy faces a deluge of pork.”
Biden Administration Reportedly Considering RFS Relief for Oil Refiners
Reuters writers Jarrett Renshaw and Stephanie Kelly reported late last week that, “President Joe Biden’s administration, under pressure from labor unions and U.S. senators including from his home state of Delaware, is considering ways to provide relief to U.S. oil refiners from biofuel blending mandates, three sources familiar with the matter said.”
Amid China’s Record Grain Buying, Port Delays Arise- While U.S. Corn Exports Reach New High for 2020/21
Bloomberg News reported on Friday that, “China’s embarked on a record corn-buying spree this year and some vessels have been delayed for as long as a month outside southern ports because of congestion, incurring hefty demurrage fees.”
Biden Administration Seeks to Rewrite Trump Clean Water Rule
Washington Post writer Dino Grandoni reported this week that, “The Biden administration is set to toss out President Donald Trump’s efforts to scale back the number of streams, marshes and other wetlands that fall under federal protection, kicking off a legal and regulatory scuffle over the fate of wetlands and waterways around the country, from the arid West to the swampy South.”
China Meat Imports Decline in May, as Domestic Pork Production Increases and Corn Imports from the U.S. Rise
Reuters News reported this week that, “China imported 789,000 tonnes of meat in May, down 3.3% from the same month a year earlier, customs data showed on Monday, after a plunge in domestic pork prices dented appetite for imports.”
As Commodity Prices Surge, Biden Administration Invests in the Supply Chain and Food System
Wall Street Journal writers Tom Fairless, Alistair MacDonald and Jesse Newman reported on the front page of Tuesday’s paper that, “The run-up in commodity prices is casting a cloud over the global economic recovery, slamming vulnerable businesses and households and adding to fears that inflation could become more persistent.”
China Demand Fuels U.S. Farm Economy, as Federal Support Subsides
Financial Times writer Aime Williams reported on Monday that, “Donald Trump’s trade war with China left American farmers dependent on government handouts to survive. But China is now at the heart of a reversal in farmers’ fortunes, as booming exports and soaring food prices fuel a recovery in the US agricultural economy.”
A Spike in Chinese Milk Demand
Late last week, Reuters writer Dominique Patton reported that, “China has come to crave milk. Demand that had been steadily growing has spiked further after doctors touted its health benefits amid the coronavirus pandemic and dairy firms across the country have embarked on a farm-building frenzy.”
Global Food Prices Soar in May- Highest Value Since September 2011
Financial Times writer Emiko Terazono reported this week that, “Global food prices surged by the biggest margin in a decade in May as one closely watched index jumped 40 per cent, raising fears of further food inflation later in the year.”