This weekend, Republican congressional leaders sat at the White House to discuss how to avoid the fiscal cliff. The media covered the meeting with great enthusiasm, noting that a consensus was emerging. However, there seem to be three caveats.
The mood and tone of the politicians that appeared on the Sunday talk shows was anything but conciliatory. The emerging consensus is for a two-part deal: make a down payment now and defer negotiations on bigger goals for later. Nothing approaching a consensus has emerged regarding the automatic tax increases that snap into effect on 31 December.
If the second point -- making the process a two-part negotiation -- sounds familiar, it's because that was the same framework that got us into this fi...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
