The final draft of the 2018 Farm Bill conference agreement is likely to be released tomorrow, and a final vote could take place as soon as Wednesday (12 December). Focus will be centered on the following key items and whether the final text delivers the anticipated changes:
Margin Protection Program (MPP) - The terms of coverage for milk income-over-feed cost margins are expected to be more generous. Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) - The acreage enrollment cap is expected to be raised to 27 million acres from the current 24 million acres (22.64 million acres were enrolled this year with 1.5 million acres expired in October), a compromise between the House bill’s expansion to 29 million acres and the Senate bill’s increase...
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...
