Planted acres usually shift amongst crops but they do not typically go completely fallow, at least not to the scale in today’s USDA acreage report. Some shorts got caught with their pants down and took a beating today. The question is why farmers decided to let 6 million acres go idle compared to what they reported in March? There are several possible reasons but two are notable:
On-farm stocks of wheat, corn and soybeans are higher (see graph below); and
Planting crops is not profitable for many farmers.
Chances are, it is more marginal land that is being idled and so the impact on overall production will be somewhat muted. Speculators can be mad at USDA but the agency had to weigh what farmers reported back i...
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...
