USDA released its updated food expenditure series this morning. Going into the farm bill and SNAP debate – and in light of the debt ceiling deal which makes some reforms to SNAP – the trend line of government spending on consumer food purchases is noteworthy for its steep increase since pre-COVID 2019. Two things stand out. First the trend line for government nutrition purchases since COVID – which includes traditional programs like SNAP and COVID relief spending. Second, the trend line of government nutrition program purchases since the 2014 farm bill – when other SNAP reforms and spending were made.
The 2018 farm bill called for an update of the benefits under SNAP by 2022. As we not...
What You Need to Know Today: The hot, dry weather forecast continues to drive strength in grain futures with corn and soybeans hitting another day of strong gains. Monday’s Crop Progress and Conditions data were in line with market expectations and showed relatively few concerns for the...
Yesterday we wrote about the Q1 GDP numbers and the June employment reports in an article entitled Real GDP for Q1 Relying on AI Buildout, Held Back by Consumer Spending. That article mentioned that consumer spending had become a drag on GDP. Nonetheless, real GDP in Q1 was revised upward to 2...
Key Takeaways: The Middle East and North Africa's arid climate and limited water resources have created a structural dependence on imported wheat. Government wheat tenders in major importing countries serve as important benchmarks for global trade, providing insight into exporter competitivene...
