It was a huge day for agriculture policy in Washington today with three major developments:
The House Agriculture Committee released the Chairman’s Mark draft of the 2018 Farm Bill. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) might be back on the negotiating table. President Trump is saying publicly that E15 approval is forthcoming.
Farm Bill Upon quick perusal, this draft includes some provisions of interest regarding livestock production. First, growers may continue to receive their loan deficiency payments (LDP) for wheat and barley or if they elect to instead cede that acreage for the grazing of livestock. Second, there is considerable funding for animal disease eradication efforts, including instructions to the secretary...
The corn and soy complex closed higher, with the wheat market mixed, as winter wheat closed up but spring wheat and livestock ended lower. Part of the strength for corn and soybeans may have been a weather premium, as crop planting has started out fast but warm weather has been slow to develop...
Real GDP grew at a 2 percent annual rate in the first quarter of 2026, slightly below the consensus expectation of 2.3 percent but above the 0.5 percent growth in Q4 2025. The GDP number matches the average annualized pace of growth since the peak back in late 2007, right before the Financial P...
Reflect for a moment on what you eat. There is a lot of advice out there in the ether about what you should eat, but really, what do you currently eat and how much? The good people at the USDA have some data for you, to help you answer that question. USDA says that we eat quite a bit of meat. L...
