Cargill to Advance Regenerative Farming Practices 

Cargill is supporting farmer-led efforts to adopt practices and systems foundational to regenerative agriculture practices across 10 million acres of North American farmland over the next 10 years.

The initiative will focus primarily on row crop rotations that include corn, wheat, canola and soybeans and other staple crops. Cargill expects these regenerative agriculture practices to benefit the long-term profitability and resiliency of farmers while simultaneously advancing the company's progress against its science-based climate commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its global supply chains by 30 percent per ton of product by 2030. The initiative will also...

PODCAST: Go With the Grain – Glenn Smith on Feed Ingredients

Glenn Smith, Director of Feed Ingredient Procurement at Wayne Farms, returns this week to Market Digest! Laura and Glenn discuss the increased demand for protein items as...

Storm Impacts U.S. Corn Market

A derecho wind storm swept across the US Midwest on August 10, affecting millions of cropland acres in Iowa and surrounding states. At the same time, the western part of Iowa experiences a drought. The storm caused and/or will cause significant local/regional price volatility, quality issues, and storage challenges for this year’s Iowa corn crop. Local and national impacts vary greatly due to large stocks and bumper corn crops in states bordering Iowa and beyond. The derecho and the ongoing drought have put a bottom in the market and point to higher corn prices than the USDA’s projections for the 2020/21 crop year.

Derecho Crosses the Entire US Corn Belt

On August 10, a derecho storm ripped across the Midwest, travelling 770 miles in 14 hours from South Dakota to Ohio. The worst damage was reported in Iowa, where the USDA reported that 57 counties, representing 14.0m acres, incurred...

Study Quantifies Value of Red Meat Exports to U.S. Corn, Soybeans

Since 2015, indirect exports of corn and soybeans through beef and pork exports has been the fastest-growing category of corn and soybean use, delivering critical returns for corn and soybean farmers. These producers support the international promotion of U.S. beef, pork and lamb by investing a portion of their checkoff dollars in market development efforts conducted by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

USMEF has released an updated version of the independent study aimed at quantifying the value red meat exports provide to U.S. corn and soybean producers. The original study was conducted in 2016 with updates also released in 2018 and 2019. Key findings from the latest version, which utilizes 2019 export data, include...

Weather Poses Significant Risk to U.S. Corn Crop Entering Critical Pollination Phase

After last year's delayed start to the season, planting of the 2020 U.S. corn crop brought with it quite a bit of optimism for producers across the Heartland. Now, according to Planalytics AgriBusiness Weather group, that optimism may have tempered somewhat as a combination of hot, dry conditions have taken hold from the Dakotas south to Missouri and east to Ohio.

"No sooner did seed get in the ground when an unusually cold pattern set up that continued through the first two weeks of May", says Jeffrey Doran, Planalytics AgriBusiness Meteorologist and Director, Specialized Support and Services. "Sub-freezing temperatures were reported as far south as the Missouri Valley and Mid-South regions that slowed crop development. By the end of May, the pattern reversed itself bringing surges of strong heat that have continued into June. Unfortunately, precipitation has been hit or miss with...

Rabobank: Supply Slide Saves Grounded Demand

Agricultural commodities were heavily impacted by trade wars, African swine fever, and erratic weather in 2019. According to the RaboResearch report "Outlook 2020: Supply Slide Saves Grounded Demand," many of these factors will remain key for agri commodity prices in 2020.

In 2019, agri commodity markets were impacted by several unprecedented incidents and uncommonly severe conditions. China's hog herd declined significantly, as a result of African swine fever (ASF). This drastically weakened demand for feed and, combined with the US-China trade war, resulted in a significant slowdown in the global soybean trade.

Meanwhile, record US corn- and soybean-planting delays drove corn prices from three-year lows to six-year highs within a few weeks. Then, improved...

Corn Futures Tumble, After US Makes Surprise Yield Upgrade

Corn futures tumbled, after the US unexpectedly raised its yield forecast for this year’s crop, but soybean prices gained, with the estimate for output of the oilseed cut by more than investors had expected.

Chicago corn futures for December, which had stood a little lower ahead of the US Department of Agriculture’s Wasde crop briefing, extended those losses sharply afterwards, chalking up a 3.7% loss at one stage.

The contract, one hour after the report, stood at $3.81 ½ a bushel, a drop of 3.2% on the day.

The declines reflected a surprise upgrade in the Wasde to the USDA’s forecast for the domestic corn yield this year, by 0.2 bushels per acre to 168.4 bushels per acre, while lowering expectations for consumption of the grain...