Reading Time: 2 minutes U.S. corn and wheat stocks were much larger than expected at the end of the summer, providing a larger buffer against this year s reduced harvest and driving some grain prices to their lowest levels this year. In a sign that near-record grain prices curbed demand far more than analysts had anticipated, inventories of corn […] Read more
Large U.S. Corn Stocks Report Shocks Traders
‘Great Grain Robbery’ Law Reveals Big U.S. Sales
Reading Time: 2 minutes A 1973 U.S. law requiring grain traders to promptly report export sales recently shed light on a mammoth corn sale believed to be destined for China. The U.S. Agriculture Department announced on Mar. 25 the sale of 1.25 million tonnes of corn worth $350 million to an unknown destination, which traders believe is China. The […] Read more
Warnings Sound Over U.S. Farmland Boom
Reading Time: 2 minutes The steep rise in U.S. farmland prices creates the potential for agricultural credit problems if there is a sharp downturn in the sector, a leading U.S. financial regulator said March 10. Farmland prices doubled in the past decade, reaching an average value of $2,140 an acre in 2010. Record-high crop prices and low interest rates […] Read more
U.S. Crop Boom Not Enough To Rebuild Supply
Reading Time: 2 minutes Huge U.S. corn and soybean plantings this spring will likely fail to refill razor-thin stocks enough to quell the surge in grain prices, the U.S. Agriculture Department said Feb. 24. In updated forecasts for the world’s biggest crop exporter, the USDA warned that it could take several years to restore inventories to comfortable levels. It […] Read more
U.S. budget hawks eye $5B ag subsidy
(Reuters) — A direct payment subsidy that guarantees U.S. farmers $5 billion a year is the most prominent target in agriculture’s complex web of subsidies as budget-cutting Republicans flex their new legislative muscle in the House of Representatives. Created in 1996, the subsidy is a point of dispute in farm country. Some farm groups want […] Read more
Obama Expected To Sign School Lunch Bill
Reading Time: < 1 minute The U.S. House of Representatives has passed and sent to President Barack Obama a bill that boosts funding for the school lunch program by $4.5 billion through 2020 and bans “junk” food from school buildings. Backers said it would be the first real increase in reimbursement rates for schools in 30 years and a step […] Read more
U.S. Farmers Can’t Meet Booming Corn Demands
Reading Time: < 1 minute Exporters, livestock feeders and ethanol makers are going through the U.S. corn stockpile faster than farmers can grow the crops, the government said July 9. Despite record crops in two of the past three years and another record within reach this year, the USDA estimated the corn carry-over will shrink to the lowest level since […] Read more
Rural growth key to new farm bill
Reading Time: < 1 minute Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called for rural economic development as the key to a vibrant farm sector April 21, an unorthodox beginning for an overhaul of U.S. farm policy. Marking the start of a two-year process to forge a new farm bill, Vilsack told a House Agriculture Committee hearing that he wanted to “expand the […] Read more
Key U. S. Lawmaker Blasts New Livestock Tracking Plan
Reading Time: < 1 minute Arevamped U. S. livestock tracking system will fail as a safeguard against disease and may imperil $20 billion a year in meat exports, says a key House subcommittee chairman. The new system would rely on states, instead of the Agriculture Department, to keep track of cattle, hogs and poultry sold across state lines for meat […] Read more
USDA Projects Record Corn Crop, Rising Exports
Reading Time: 3 minutes “I guess I would say we will take (the export forecast) with a grain of salt. But I think it certainly says that is the direction we need to go.” U. S. farmers can expect a record corn crop, another huge soybean harvest and strong demand for their exports, which should combine to boost incomes […] Read more
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