Will the next Farm Bill have a safety net, such as the ARC plan passed in the Senate, or will it only be a comprehensive program of crop insurance? With the desire by the House to “save” $33 billion compared to the Senate’s $23 billion in “savings,” the House Agriculture committee will be completing...
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Farm Programs Should Be Supplemented by Crop Insurance
Farm Programs Should Be Supplemented by Crop Insurance
Will the next Farm Bill have a safety net, such as the ARC plan passed in the Senate, or will it only be a comprehensive program of crop insurance? With the desire by the House to “save” $33 billion compared to the Senate’s $23 billion in “savings,” the House Agriculture committee will be completing...
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Who Is Winning The Food Fight?
Most farmers are working quite hard to produce as much food as possible for a hungry world and marketplace, but daily get criticized by non-farmers because of doing things that the non-farmers do not think should be done. Few folks, other than pork producers, have seen pregnant sows fight, but think they know how...
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Crystal Ball Gazing: Ethanol
At the end of 2011 Congress allowed the tax credit for ethanol blending to expire, along with the tariff on imported ethanol, as well as the blenders’ credit for biodiesel fuel. The tax credit for production of ethanol from biomass remains, but is scheduled to expire at the end of the current year. Since...
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Does Ethanol Really Lower The Price Of Gasoline?
The latest USDA Supply Demand Report indicated that corn processing for ethanol purposes would not increase much from the 2011 crop to the 2012 crop. About 5 billion bushels would be converted to ethanol. One reason is the blend wall that serves as a maximum for the 10% fuel blend to be incorporated into...
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Crystal Ball Gazing: Soybeans
Did you increase your bean acres after the March 30 USDA planting intentions report? A significant swing in market prices has benefitted soybean production. Fundamentals include the South American shift to corn and fewer bean acres, China’s aggressive buying of soybeans, and fewer US bean acres for 2012. Ag economists report there was a...
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USDA: One Surpise After Another
There are always surprises, and the May USDA Supply-Demand report did not disappoint anyone. Even when you knew USDA was going to forecast a very large corn crop, the projection for 14.8 billion bushels and a 166 bushel national yield average were well over the top of expectations. Let’s take a survey and see...
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Fasten Your Seatbelt For Today’s USDA Corn Production Forecast
USDA blew the cobwebs off its calculators and forecast a 14.8 billion bushel corn crop for 2012, helped by a 5.1 million acre increase in corn and a record 166 bushel yield average. With increased demand for corn all around, there will still be a 1.9 billion bushel carryout at the end of the...
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Market Anticipating Bearish Numbers In USDA May Supply-Demand Report
USDA releases its May Supply and Demand report on Thursday, which is the Department’s initial assessment of U.S. and world crop supply and demand prospects and U.S. prices for the 2012/13 marketing year. It will also present the first calendar-year 2013 projections of U.S. livestock, poultry, and dairy products. The market has been anticipating...
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How Can Corn Prices Move In Three Directions At Once?
Wily three-headed monsters lived in caves of Greek and Roman mythology, but the three personalities of the corn market live in the trading pits at the CME, and have been about as challenging to conquer. New crop futures, old crop futures, and the basis for cash corn each have a mind of their own,...
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