It is becoming clearer every year that U.S. farmers might be headed towards planting just two major crops: corn and soybeans. Consider the following:
Winter wheat acres in 2017 were the smallest since USDA started keeping records in 1919. Based on current prices and returns per acre, they will be smaller again in 2018. Hard red spring wheat and durum wheat acres also continue to decline. We expect northern Plains farmers to again plant fewer acres of both crops in 2018 as there is simply no economic incentive to plant wheat of any class.
Barley acreage and production are also rapidly declining. Production is down nearly 40 percent in the past two years, and malting contracts have grown cheap with limited availability. It has beco...
What You Need to Know Today: Russia rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, including a proposal to halt attacks on civilian shipping that could help restore grain flows from Ukrainian ports. Tyson Foods announced plans to permanently close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing facili...
The big news in the cattle markets yesterday was Tyson Foods’ move to close two more beef plants. One of them, the Joslin, Illinois, plant was shuttered immediately after the announcement. The other, in Eagle Mountain, Utah, is a case-ready plant that does not slaughter cattle. Tyson also...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday. In July, the CPI rose 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 3.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy, or the “core” infla...
