At the direction of President Donald J. Trump, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced the third and final tranche of 2019 Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payments aimed at assisting farmers suffering from damage due to unjustified trade retaliation by foreign nations. The payments will begin to show up in farmers’ bank accounts by […]
The U.S. beef cattle herd is known to cycle through periods of expansion and contraction roughly every 10 years or so. The high feed price era from 2007 to 2013 contributed to one of those contraction phases with beef cow numbers reaching a low in 2014. Of course, low supplies translate into higher prices, motivating […]
The Creighton University Rural Mainstreet Index (RMI) for January climbed to its highest level since June 2018. January’s reading marked the fifth straight month the reading has moved above growth neutral according to the monthly survey of bank CEOs in rural areas of a 10-state region dependent on agriculture and/or energy. Overall: While the overall index […]
U.S., China Ag Trade- Recent Background Reuters writers Hallie Gu, Muyu Xu and Tony Munroe reported last week that, “China’s imports of U.S. soybeans surged in December from a year earlier, data showed on Friday, as China ramped up purchases during a thaw in the two country’s trade war. “China brought in 3.09 million tonnes of […]
New York Times writers Ana Swanson and Emily Cochrane reported on Wednesday that, “President Trump signed the revised North American Free Trade Agreement into law on Wednesday, fulfilling a key campaign promise and bringing more than two years of tumultuous negotiations over the continent’s trade rules to a close. “The trade deal, now called the United […]
Before the ink dried on the newly signed Phase 1 trade agreement, dozens of articles and Twitter threads emerged with clever insights into the nuances and subtleties of the agreement. Most debates focused on the base level China agree to buy up from, and the relevant commodities and products. Stepping back from the details, this […]
Soybean futures prices fell again last week on reports of a coronavirus outbreak rattling the Chinese economy and the prospects of a huge Brazilian crop. A double hit associated with increased production from our main competitor and a potential drop in Chinese demand appears set to drive prices lower in the near term. If present […]
In a recent update from Iowa State University (ISU) Extension (“Estimating costs of crop production vital for 2020 farm businesses“), Alejandro Plastina explained that, “Thin profit margins in corn and soybean production have become the norm over the past five years, increasing the need for proper budgeting and marketing strategies among crop producers.” The ISU update noted that, “On average, the total […]
Background A recent Congressional Research Service report explained that, “U.S. agricultural exports have been a major contributor to farm income, especially since 2005. As a result, the financial success of the U.S. agricultural sector is strongly linked to international demand for U.S. products.” A recently signed trade-enhancement agreement that will lower agricultural tariffs in Japan, Senate passage of the USMCA agreement, along with […]
After the release of the January WASDE report, the Gardner ARC/PLC Payment Calculator was updated to reflect revised price information for the 2019 and 2020 years. Herein updated estimates of Agricultural Risk Coverage at the County Level (ARC-CO) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) are presented for corn, soybeans, and wheat. Overall, PLC payments in 2019 are not […]