December 4, 2020
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Board released its November 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 were mixed. While drought-free conditions prevailed in most of the District, some producers reported crop damage caused by recent […]
December 1, 2020
Bloomberg News reported late last week that, “China is set to import more U.S. corn, with volumes for next year seen hitting the top end of market expectations and squeezing global grains prices. “State-owned food titan Cofco Corp. has sold 10 million tons to domestic private mills and will probably boost purchases from the U.S. even further, according […]
December 1, 2020
U.S. farmers sentiment weakened following the November 2020 elections, as the Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer fell 16 points from a month earlier to a reading of 167. Although this month’s reading was nearly equal to the pre-pandemic high set back in February, it was 9 percent lower than the sentiment reading taken just two weeks […]
November 26, 2020
On Monday, the USDA released its Outlook for U.S. Agricultural Trade, a quarterly report from the Department’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and Economic Research Service (ERS). Today’s update includes highlights from the report, which was coordinated by Bart Kenner and Hui Jiang. The Outlook stated that, “U.S. agricultural exports in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 are projected at $152.0 billion, up […]
November 26, 2020
Grain storage infrastructure comes in many forms: bins, elevators, bunkers, and sheds. Storage infrastructure has at least two main uses. First, it enables farmers, commercial grain merchants, and end-users to hold commodity inventories over time. Storing grain to profit from differences in prices across time addresses variation in grain production and consumption within and across […]
November 23, 2020
Wall Street Journal writers Ryan Dezember and Kirk Maltais reported last week that, “Dry weather, China’s push to fatten its pigs and the lockdown-induced baking bonanza are lifting prices for U.S. row crops. “Futures prices for soybeans, corn and hard red winter wheat—the kind used for baking bread—have risen by about a third since a rally began Aug. 10. Soft red winter wheat, found in animal […]
November 19, 2020
Late last week, Reuters writers Hallie Gu, Maximilian Heath, and Naveen Thukral reported that, “Chinese feed producers, pig farmers and traders are reshaping the global grain market as they scour the world for supplies amid a domestic shortfall that sent local corn prices to record highs and is expected to fuel global food inflation in 2021. “The country’s buying has put it on a trajectory to emerge as the top […]
November 18, 2020
China’s corn imports have been a topic of intense speculation since the mid-1990s. China is forecast to import a historical high of 512 million bushels during the 2020 crop year, prompting the question: “Will China become a consistent, growing importer of corn?” Perspective on this question is provided by examining trends in China’s corn sector […]
November 12, 2020
Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its baseline projections providing ten-year estimates of supply and demand factors impacting U.S. agriculture. These projections suggest long-run prices of $3.55 per bushel for corn, $9.80 per bushel for soybeans, and $5.10 per bushel for wheat. While these prices are reasonable for long-run budgeting exercises, we […]
November 10, 2020
On Friday, the USDA’s Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) released selected tables prepared for the Department’s upcoming Agricultural Baseline Projections report. The Department pointed out that, “The projections use as a starting point the short-term forecasts from the October 9, 2020 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report. With respect to commodity prices, the USDA’s Economic Research Service explained that, “USDA projections for changes in nominal (not adjusted […]
