The biggest crop-related issue today is not what might happen in the upcoming farm bill; rather, it is what occurred yesterday at the Department of Justice. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the so-called Cole memo, issued by then Deputy Attorney General James Cole in 2013, and four other Obama-era directives dating back to 2009 that set guidelines of noninterference/nonenforcement regarding federal law within states where marijuana was legal. The chart below, detailing the 2016 per-pound crop prices in Colorado, shows why this is a big deal. The value of marijuana in this state was more than 24,000 times that of alfalfa hay.
Sessions’ memo puts recreational marijuana operations in jeopardy (e.g., the 40-acre operation that...
What You Need to Know Today: After a period of limited activity, USDA reported a sizeable 613 KMT in soybean export sales, including 330 KMT to China and 283 KMT to unknown destinations, potentially also China. The purchases represent a meaningful pickup in demand and bring China closer to ful...
Key Takeaways: Consumer spending is a key driver of the U.S. economy, and the latest retail sales data indicate that spending remains robust despite inflation. In September, total retail and food service sales rose more than 6 percent year-over-year, with food service spending up 7 percent and...
The Trump import plan for 300,000 MT of beef supplies used for ground beef, i.e., lean trim, from September through November has, according to Secretary Brooke Rollins, brought some relief to beef prices. The Executive Order states that the Secretary of Agriculture will analyze and review the m...
