As U.S., China trade negotiations continue this week in China, recent news articles have discussed Chinese imports of U.S. soybeans, as well as the prospect of additional Chinese purchases of U.S. farm goods. Today’s update highlights some key points from a few of these business news articles. China’s Purchases of U.S. Soybeans Bloomberg writer Alfred […]
Nathan Kauffman and Ty Kreitman indicated in a recent update from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (“Large Loans Drive Further Increases in Farm Lending“) that, “Growth in the average size of farm operating loans boosted agricultural lending in the second quarter of 2019. The size of farm loans has continued to rise and loans exceeding $1 million recently have […]
Despite Chinese tariffs on U.S. pork, dynamics associated with the African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak have created market opportunities for pork exports to China. In addition, Chinese beef imports surged in June, also due to changing protein demand spurred by the impacts of ASF. Separately, news this week documented that U.S. cotton exports to China […]
Looking back a decade or so, the high feed price era from 2007 to 2013 caused downsizing of the beef industry. Beef cow numbers reached a low in 2014 which resulted in record high finished cattle prices near $148 per live hundredweight in 2015. Record high calf prices then stimulated expansion of the breeding herd. […]
Since U.S., China trade negotiations resumed late last month, conflicting perspectives have emerged with respect to China’s promise to purchase large amounts of U.S. farm products. Today’s update highlights recent news reports that discuss developments in U.S., China trade talks, as well as the issue of Chinese agricultural purchases. Background- Trade Negotiations Continue, Chinese Sorghum Purchases Early last week, Bloomberg […]
The Ag Economy Barometer rebounded in June to a reading of 126, 25 points higher than a month earlier. The barometer is based upon a nationwide monthly survey of 400 U.S. agricultural producers. Both of the barometer’s sub-indices, the Index of Current Conditions and the Index of Future Expectations, improved compared to a month earlier. The largest increase was in […]
Today’s update highlights recent news items that discuss the value of farmland in Iowa, Nebraska, and more broadly in the Corn Belt. Iowa An update last month from Iowa State University (ISU) Extension’s Wendong Zhang and Steven Johnson (“Agricultural professionals expect lower land values and stable crop prices“) stated that, “Over 270 agricultural professionals attended the 2019 ISU Soil Management Land Valuation (SMLV) […]
Late last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS) released a report (“Interdependence of China, United States, and Brazil in Soybean Trade,” by Fred Gale, Constanza Valdes, and Mark Ash) that discussed “factors driving China’s imports of soybeans and production in Brazil and the United States, price dynamics, and market adjustments to China’s retaliatory tariff on U.S. soybeans.” Today’s […]
Over 270 agricultural professionals attended the 2019 ISU Soil Management Land Valuation (SMLV) Conference this past May. This is the longest running conference at Iowa State University for both research and extension, and 2019 marked the 92nd annual meeting in this series. Over 150 participants provided their estimates of future land values as well as […]
The most recent crop forecast from the U.S. Department of Agriculture revealed that unprecedented spring weather has already negatively impacted production prospects for corn. Meanwhile, recent news items highlight the ongoing production uncertainty that stems from later than normal planting. The sluggish pace of corn and soybean crop development, along with planted acreage uncertainty, is […]