Flights of Fancy: USDA put a five-year extension on its "Farm to Fly" program intended to support the production of 1 billion gallons of aviation fuel by 2018. That would represent about 10 percent of total aviation fuel use. There are several baffling aspects to this initiative:
First, the rationale given by the agency is that it will help airlines meet Europe's inclusion of international aircraft in its emissions trading scheme, but President Obama signed a law protecting U.S. airlines against Europe's emissions tax on foreign aircrafts and there is no certainty that the UN will accomplish a compromise deal. Moreover, airline fuel use already has dropped by 10 percent while carrying more passengers. Second, USDA is blowing half its...
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...
