November 4, 2020
Bloomberg News reported last week that, “China’s corn imports could more than double to 17 million tons in 2020-2021 from a year earlier on prospects for a smaller domestic harvest and a recovery in demand for hog feed, according to the head of the logistics information department at COFCO Trading Co. “The increase in imports would also be to meet commitments under the U.S. trade deal, […]
October 29, 2020
The 2021 Crop Budgets have been revised from the original August release. Corn and soybean prices have been increased in revised budgets, leading to higher corn and soybean return projections for 2021. In most years, soybeans have been more profitable than corn since 2012. In 2021, soybeans again are projected to be more profitable than […]
October 28, 2020
In March, the USDA’s Prospective Planting report initially sized up 2020 acreage at 97.0 million for corn and 83.5 million for soybeans. The June acreage report walked corn acreage back considerably, and most recently, the October WASDE has pegged 2020 planted acreage at 91.0 million for corn and 83.1 million for soybeans. How did this happen? In the shuffle […]
October 27, 2020
A news release from USDA on Friday stated that, “The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and [USDA] today issued a report highlighting the progress made to date in implementing the agricultural provisions in the U.S.-China Phase One Economic and Trade Agreement, which is delivering historic results for American agriculture. “Since the Agreement entered into force, the United States and China […]
October 22, 2020
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Board released its October 2020 Beige Book update, a summary of commentary on current economic conditions by Federal Reserve District. The report included several observations pertaining to the U.S. agricultural economy. * Sixth District- Atlanta– “Agricultural conditions remained weak. While drought- free conditions prevailed in most parts of the District, some producers reported crop and […]
October 21, 2020
Since falling to a record low in April of this year, the Creighton University Rural Mainstreet Index (RMI) has increased for six straight months. According to the monthly survey of bank CEOs in rural areas of a 10-state region dependent on agriculture and/or energy, the index rose to its highest level since January, prior to […]
October 20, 2020
A report earlier this month from USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), Corn Ethanol Production Booms in Brazil, stated that, “Plentiful, and generally cheap, corn supplies in Brazil’s Center-West region have enticed investment in the corn ethanol sector over the last few years. There are currently 16 corn ethanol plants in the Center- West states of Mato Grosso, Goias, and Mato […]
October 19, 2020
Mark Ash and Dana Golden explained in this month’s Oil Crops Outlook, from USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS), that, “Despite an unchanged yield, USDA pegs the 2020/21 U.S. soybean crop down by 45 million bushels this month to 4.268 billion as the sown acreage is revised down by 731,000 acres to 83.1 million. With strong sales to China, USDA raises its forecast of […]
October 14, 2020
Reports this month from the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) have provided updated information on market variables impacting soybeans, meat, and corn. Today’s update highlights some of the key findings from these FAS publications. Soybeans In a report Friday, Oilseeds: World Markets and Trade, FAS stated that, “Soybean prices on the Chicago Exchange topped $10.00/bu in […]
October 13, 2020
This year has exhibited wide swings in commodity prices, drastically changing net return prospects. Earlier papers examined net return prospects in early January (farmdoc daily January 10, 2020) and early May (farmdoc daily May 8, 2020). This article provides updated feeding cost of gain, breakeven prices, and net return estimates for the first nine months of 2020, […]
