Author: staff

The grain markets have turned lower with wheat futures getting hit hard. Last week the corn and soybean markets posted impressive gains after the bullish USDA reports. Wheat futures closed mixed to lower. The main factor today is the major rainfall event that moved through the dry areas of the southern Plains this weekend. This pressured wheat prices first during the overnight trade, and then weighed on corn and soybean prices. This morning, December corn futures are down 3¢, January soybean futures are 42¢ lower, and wheat futures are 12¢ to 17¢ lower. Even though corn and soybean prices are…

The U.S. agriculture economy in 2024 is facing an unusual combination of events, leading to an unpredictable machinery market. Despite this, farmers can still improve their equipment fleets if they know where to look. Options are available, and in some cases prices are approaching historic lows.   “I think we’re going to be in the middle of 2026 before we level out into a new normal,” says Moving Iron podcast host Casey Seymour. “I’m anticipating a very active auction time frame through December where if you have the money, you’re going to be able to get some bargains. And I…

1. Wheat futures drop, soybeans higher overnight Wheat futures plunged in overnight trading after the U.S. Department of Agriculture narrowly raised its outlook for global production and inventories.  Domestic stockpiles at the end of the 2024-2025 marketing year that started on June 1 are now forecast at 815 million metric tons, up from a prior outlook for 812 million tons and the previous year’s 696 million tons, USDA said in a report on Friday.  The agency also raised its outlook for global production slightly but also bumped its projection for use, resulting in ending stocks that were little changed month…

Texas agriculture commissioner Sid Miller, former ambassador Kip Tom, and Ted McKinney, a onetime USDA undersecretary, were among a handful of men viewed as potential nominees to run the Department of Agriculture when Donald Trump returns to the White House in January. Incoming presidents typically try to announce their cabinet nominees before the year-end holidays, although Trump did not tab Sonny Perdue to lead the USDA until two days before his inauguration. Miller, a brash conservative, was mentioned for the USDA after Trump won his first term in 2016. Tom, a wealthy Indiana farmer, was U.S. ambassador to the UN…

President Trump rolled up 63% of the vote in rural America, a larger margin than in 2016, on the way to winning a second term in the White House on Tuesday. Farm groups offered to work with him on Wednesday to pass the new farm bill, now 14 months overdue, and to bring high costs under control. “The new administration must also address the impending tax hikes, which would crush many of America’s farmers and ranchers when stacked on top of inflation, high supply costs, and market instability,” said Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. “Another big…

For the next few years, season-average prices for U.S. corn, soybeans, and wheat, the three most widely grown crops in the country, will largely mirror the market prices for this year’s crops, projected the Agriculture Department on Thursday. The steep declines in farm-gate prices since 2022 would be replaced by a period of relative stability, according to the USDA’s long-term baseline. Over the next five years, corn would sell for an average of $4.10 a bushel, the same as the USDA’s estimated farm-gate price for this year’s crop. Wheat prices, slowly rising from the $5.70 forecast for this year’s crop,…

Farmworkers who are exposed to infected poultry or dairy cattle as part of their jobs should be tested for bird flu even if they show no symptoms, particularly if they did not wear protective equipment, said the Centers for Disease Control on Thursday. The CDC revised its safety guidelines after researchers reported that 7% of unprotected dairy workers carried antibodies in their blood indicating infection by the H5N1 avian flu virus. “The less room we give this virus to run, the fewer chances it has to cause harm or to change,” Nirav Shah, CDC principal deputy director, told reporters. Antiviral…

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Argentine farmland set aside for the country’s 2024/25 soybean crop is seen at 18.6 million hectares, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange (BdeC) said on Thursday, a cut of about 2% compared to a previous estimate of 19 million hectares. The downward revision is due to an adjustment of the planted area from the South American country’s previous soybean crop based on an analysis of satellite images, the exchange said in its weekly crop report. Argentina is one of the world’s top exporters of processed soybeans, as well as a major global supplier of corn…

Intermountain Packing, a meat processing plant based in Idaho Falls, is at the center of a legal dispute involving over $2 million worth of cattle. According to news reports, including East Idaho News, livestock suppliers Dry Creek Dairies LLC and Idaho Magic Milk LLC of Twin Falls, Idaho, and Washington Agri-Investments LLC of Yakima County, Washington, have accused the company of failing to pay for livestock delivered between September 29 and November 9, 2023. The lawsuit alleges violations of the Packers and Stockyards Act, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment. David Adams, identified as the CEO of Intermountain Packing, is…

Harvest is wrapping up as widespread rains move through the Midwest. The rain is welcomed by many farmers who are concerned about replenishing soil moisture following a dry harvest, including Steve Turner.  “Our subsoil moistures coming into this fall were very short, and we didn’t really replenish them,” said Turner, a third-generation farmer in Cass and Morgan counties in Illinois. “So this rain helped, but we’re still in moisture deficit.”  Turner farms corn, soybeans, wheat, specialty crops, and runs a cow-calf operation with his wife and two oldest sons. He said his area recently received about 3 to 4 inches…