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The grain markets are all higher this morning on light volume. The stock market was hit hard yesterday, with the Dow closing down over 400 points. In the early trade today, the U.S. stock market is higher, and the U.S. dollar is higher and is testing contract highs. Energy prices continue to move higher. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commitments of Traders report on Monday showed funds now long 161,000 contracts of corn. In soybeans, funds are short 68,000 contracts. In the wheat market, funds are short 156,000 contracts. This was close to my estimates. The next report will be…

Listen to the Podcast Meet Patrick Brown Patrick Brown is a fourth-generation farmer from Warren County, North Carolina, and is a winner of the 2024 Small Farmer of the Year Award from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.  In addition to growing row crops, Brown grows vegetables for a CSA and farms industrial hemp. The hemp hurd (cellulose-rich fiber from the stalk of the plant) is used to create industrial building materials and clothing. Through his work for multiple nonprofit organizations and a consulting company he owns, Brown helps other farmers transition to regenerative agriculture and works to help…

Someone recently challenged me to come up with some New Year’s resolutions. I have a couple of problems with that particular idea. First of all, how can you resolve to become a better person when you’re already so good that there’s nearly no room for improvement? If you are, as Mary Poppins reckoned in her own self-assessment, “practically perfect in every way?” You can bet that my wife has a radically different opinion regarding this. I would normally dismiss that as mere second-guessing except for, dang it, she’s almost always right. Another issue is that the future is inherently chaotic…

Missouri farmers accuse Tyson of colluding to keep competitors from buying a shuttered plant, leaving them stranded with millions in debt. DEXTER, Missouri — On an early August morning in 2023, Shawn Hinkle received a call from one of his technicians at Tyson Foods who, through tears, told him the company’s plant in Dexter was shutting down. Hundreds of jobs at the poultry slaughterhouse would be lost and farmers like Hinkle, who contracted with Tyson to raise egg-laying hens, would be out of business. A decade earlier, Hinkle borrowed $2.3 million to build two chicken houses on his land. After…

Top Third Ag Marketing helps farmers become better agricultural marketers with the goal of marketing crops and livestock in the top third of prices. Mark Gold and his team provide AGDAILY.com with the latest information and a look ahead in their audio commentary. Listen here! https://www.agdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/top-third-Agdaily-2024-12-30_OPEN.mp3 The post Markets in Minutes: Top Third looks ahead for week of Dec. 30, 2024 appeared first on AGDAILY.

Beef products and livestock producers take a lopsided amount of criticism from the public and from misguided lawmakers — usually in the form of climate concerns or nutritional health. However, new research from the Indiana University School of Public Health could help to mitigate some of the heart-health concerns that opponents have lobbied about beef. The peer-reviewed comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis has affirmed that beef can be enjoyed in a heart-healthy diet. Specifically, research consistently demonstrated that eating two (3-ounce) servings of unprocessed beef, on average, in a daily dietary pattern had no significant impact on most cardiovascular disease…

By Aayush Raj Dhakal and Joe Janzen Futures and options markets are often presented as vital tools for farmers to hedge price risks associated with crop production. The textbook example is a corn farmer who offsets the risk of price declines for their growing crop by selling a corn futures contract at planting and buying it back at harvest. Gains or losses in the value of the crop over this period are offset by corresponding losses or gains in the value of the futures position, allowing the farmer to lock in prices ahead of the harvest. But how commonly do…

Published: 9:13 a.m. CT Good morning. The grain markets are higher with soybeans leading the charge higher. Nearby corn futures are trading at the highest price since last June and wheat futures are pulled higher by corn and soybeans. The U.S. dollar has turned higher after a lower start. The grain markets are focused on weather in Argentina where the forecast is not dry with some possible extreme heat by later this week. I look for crop ratings and yield forecasts to begin to move lower. Earlier this morning, March corn futures were up 4¢, March soybean futures were up…

James Earl “Jimmy” Carter, Jr., the Georgia peanut farmer who became the 39th president of the United States, has died at age 100, according to the Carter Center. The nonprofit reported Carter died peacefully at his home in Plains, Georgia, surrounded by family. Farm Roots At age 4, Carter and his parents, Earl and Lillian Carter, moved to a 360-acre farm in Archery, Georgia, a small hamlet outside the city of Plains, southeast of Columbus. His father grew peanuts, cotton, sugarcane, and corn commercially with the help of tenant farmers, plus vegetables for the family. He also raised livestock and…

Travis and Kendra Paulton have always held back for their own freezer a few steers from their commercial Angus cow-calf operation. When friends in town asked if the Paultons would consider selling their beef, the couple began feeding out one or two more steers.  First, they sold halves and quarters to friends, then friends of friends. About five years ago, they started selling individual cuts at the local farmers market. Soon came the next step: shipping beef nationwide.  Dakota Canyon Ranch, just outside the southwest corner of the Black Hills National Forest, in Dewey, South Dakota, is about an hour…