Executive summary
For data that trend to increase through time, it can be difficult to consider the base level or what is “normal.” The challenge comes frequent…
The American Farm Bureau Federation’s Market Intel is publishing a two-part series to highlight the agricultural losses that occurred in 2020 …
During the past decade U.S. milk production has increased by an average annual growth rate of 1.5 percent while domestic demand has increased …
For the second month in a row the Ag Economy Barometer declined sharply, to a reading of 137. That was 21 points less than a month earlier, an…
The latest Cold Storage report from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, released this past week, shows depressed levels of red me…
The Conservation Reserve Program is a land-retirement program that provides financial compensation to landowners who voluntarily enroll extrem…
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Strong foreign demand and reduced competition have sharply boosted exports to record levels for U.S. corn in 2020-2021. For 2021-2022 exports …
The dairy markets were awash in red ink this past week. June Class III milk gained a little ground but all other Class III and Class IV contra…
Ask most folks how agricultural commodities are transported to market; they’ll probably say truck or train. Some might say ships.
Carbon has suddenly become a popular discussion topic in agricultural circles. Spurred on by the changing political winds in Washington, specu…
The lingering effects of COVID-19’s shock to global trade have resulted in a backlog of container ships waiting to unload outside the West Coa…
This week’s post reviews historic soybean-yield data and considerations for 2021. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s May World Agricultural …
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s weekly Crop Progress report indicates that as of June 6 farmers have planted all their intended acres or …
This past September we considered the most interesting chart of 2020 – U.S. gasoline consumption. The trend lines said a lot about a year full…
The Ag Economy Barometer declined 20 points in May to 158, which is the worst barometer reading since September 2020 when the index stood at 1…
Agricultural-credit conditions in the Tenth District continued to strengthen in the first quarter of 2021. After a sharp rebound at the end of…
The May World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates gives the first look at the newest marketing-year demand expectations since the U.S. De…
Perhaps the biggest agricultural demand story of the 21st century has been China.
The bulls continued their leisurely stroll through the dairy pits this past week; milk markets improved. Class III futures posted sizeable gai…
The April reading of the Ag Economy Barometer was 178, virtually unchanged from a month earlier when the index stood at 177. It’s just 5 point…
The Class III markets ended the past week not far from where they began, but the calm on the surface belied the roiling waters below. Chicago …
In 2020 we wrote about key factors and macroeconomic issues to monitor as the pandemic spread and the economic slowdown began. A year later we…
The government let a little air out of the milk markets this past week. Most Class III and Class IV futures contracts lost between 10 and 30 c…
In Washington, policy focus is shifting to building for the future. On the rural front agriculture has its swagger back.
Capital-gains taxes are based on the change in the value of an asset such as farmland, livestock or timber when that asset is sold. Currently …
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual Prospective Plantings report, released March 31, is the first look at the 2021 planting intentions…