March 18, 2019
In testimony last week before the Senate Finance Committee, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer displayed a more cautious tone in describing U.S., China trade negotiations. Meanwhile, recent news items provided perspective on variables impacting the trade flows of soybeans and pork to China. Recent Trade Developments Financial Times writer James Politi reported last week that, “US President Donald Trump’s trade chief has warned […]
March 14, 2019
Last week the USDA released its first estimate of net farm income for 2019. While this is an early look, there few things that caught our attention. This week’s post reveals a few key insights, especially about 2018. Net Farm Income Figure 1 shows real – or inflation-adjusted- net farm income from 1929 to 2019 (2019 […]
March 11, 2019
Last week, China purchased U.S. soybean and sorghum exports. Nonetheless, farmers remained concerned about a trade resolution between the U.S. and China as more melancholy reports emerge about progress in the on-going negotiations. China Purchases Soybeans, and Sorghum Reuters writer Karl Plume reported late last week that, “Chinese state-owned firms bought at least 500,000 tonnes of […]
March 6, 2019
The Ag Economy Barometer weakened slightly in February, declining 7 points to a reading of 136 compared to 143 a month earlier. The modest decline puts the barometer back near the levels observed in October and November 2018 and just 4 points below the level of February 2018. The downward shift in the barometer was primarily the […]
March 4, 2019
The price discovery period used to determined projected prices and volatility factors for federally sponsored corn and soybean crop insurance products for 2019 is completed. For the majority of the Cornbelt, the approved Projected Price (PP) for corn is $4.00 and the Volatility Factor (Vol) is .15, and for soybeans, the Projected Price is $9.54 […]
February 28, 2019
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue testified on Wednesday before the House Agriculture Committee at a hearing titled, “The State of the Rural Economy.” Lawmakers explored a variety of issues in their discussion with Secretary Perdue, including the condition of the agricultural economy, trade, and African swine fever. Today’s update provides some highlights from the Ag Committee meeting with Secretary Perdue. […]
February 27, 2019
With the end of February nearing, projected prices for determining crop insurance guarantees are close to final. For corn, the projected price in 2019 will be near that of 2018, and current price levels suggest that same expected revenue in 2019 as in 2018. Crop insurance and commodity title guarantees for corn will be roughly […]
February 25, 2019
The Creighton University Rural Mainstreet Index for February fell, but remained 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: The overall index sank to 50.2 from January’s 51.5. This was the 11th time in the past 12 months the […]
February 20, 2019
We previously took a look at global trends in ag trade and considered how much trade contributed to total global corn, soybean, and wheat consumption. Two observations were that 1) reliance on ag trade was different for each crop, and 2) a crop’s reliance on trade varied over time. While the earlier post considered the three […]
February 18, 2019
After continuing last week in Beijing, U.S., China trade talks will resume again this week in Washington, D.C. In addition, recent news items continue to highlight impacts of the ongoing trade dispute on the farm economy. Today’s update focuses on these two issues in more detail. U.S., China Trade Talks Continue Lingling Wei and Bob Davis reported in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal […]
