The drought across the U.S. Corn Belt is getting worse, not better. Weekend rains were far more scattered than expected and the 10- to 14-day outlook looks very warm and very dry. The national media has picked up on the drought story and we've seen many interviews with farmers talking about how tough the drought will be on farmers' incomes this year. Nothing could be farther from the truth. One of the big benefits of the federal crop insurance program since the first big rally of 2007/08 is that farmers have had high price guarantees because market prices have been very strong. 2012 is no exception.The following is a very quick and simple primer of the crop insurance program.
Farmers' proven crop yields are a 10-year rolling average...
Key Takeaways: President Trump announced $8 billion in additional agricultural assistance through the Harvest Fuel Relief Program, as USDA projects farm fuel and oil expenses will increase 28.8 percent in 2026. The package follows $12 billion in earlier relief, while government farm payments w...
Key Takeaways: A student group from the University of Chicago is protesting to bring back onion futures trading. Trading in onion futures was banned in 1958 following a spectacular bout of market manipulation that resulted in a corner of the physical market. The ban on onion futures led t...
Beef packer margins deteriorated to $141/head last week, down $55 from the prior week as fed cattle prices strengthened while the Choice cutout remained nearly unchanged. The cutout held near $373/cwt while fed cattle prices climbed $4/cwt to $224/cwt, narrowing processor profits. Despite the d...
