Macroeconomics Food Prices See Their Smallest Increase n Nine Months The Year of the Rabbit kicked off with a sharp reduction in food inflation, as the ave...

Biden to Get Waterboarding Regulating water quality under the U.S. Clean Water Act has become a political football, changing policies with each change of p...

U.S. dog and cat food exports have risen 3500 percent over the past five years, one of the fastest growing categories of trade. It is on a path to rise ove...

May 23 Corn closed at $6.265/bushel, up $0.0575 from yesterday's close.  May 23 Wheat closed at $7.0275/bushel, up $0.065 from yesterday's close. ...

Russian Grain Markets: 6 – 10 March 2023    Grain markets lost all hope for any bullishness due to a global bearish mood, export duties, an...

Except for the livestock markets, ag futures were broadly higher on Tuesday with investor and trader confidence returning after the weekend shock to the ba...

Easter is about three weeks away. It is a peak demand for eggs, but production is still lagging. January table-egg production was estimated at 646.9 millio...

Second thoughts in policymaking are usually better than no thought at all. If it is meant to be, it will. Almost two years ago European politicians agreed...

There are many food insecure countries, According to the Economist’s Global Food Security Index most reside in Africa, but there are others around th...

May 23 Corn closed at $6.2075/bushel, up $0.0725 from yesterday's close.  May 23 Wheat closed at $6.9625/bushel, up $0.1175 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, will begin on 23 March in the region. Bus...

The CBOT’s trade on Monday was initially focused on the weekend failure of two major banks, a fact that sent shockwaves through the macroeconomic mar...

China has announced that its state policies to support food production will be increased. Nearly every country has an industrial farm policy. The OECD esti...

Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) has the lowest average corn yield of any region in the world. Its corn yield is 77 percent lower than that achieved in North Ameri...

The NCAA “March Madness” basketball tournament starts this week; that is typically a major driver of demand for chicken wings – with the...

May 23 Corn closed at $6.135/bushel, down $0.0375 from yesterday's close.  May 23 Wheat closed at $6.845/bushel, up $0.0525 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Wheat Argentina Argentina’s soil moisture maps are, frankly, scary. The moisture profiles are totally dry, and in many cases soils need more than 200...

May 23 Corn closed at $6.1725/bushel, up $0.0575 from yesterday's close.  May 23 Wheat closed at $6.7925/bushel, up $0.135 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

After a bloodbath of a week, the CBOT finally showed some signs of support and higher trade on Friday. Wheat was actually the upside leader (yes, you read...

The Market Soymeal drove ever higher this week but soybeans and soyoil took it in the shorts, so to speak. Soybeans continue to be pressured by Brazil&rsqu...

Our Complaints Too EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was at the White House today to initiate a bilateral agreement with President Biden on join...

Yesterday was a big step toward the farm bill process via the Administration’s submission of the President’s FY 2024 budget proposal, at least...

Today’s market opened generally tracking the higher close in the overnight session. It was bolstered by more cuts in expected Argentina production. B...

Yesterday’s WASDE had a very bullish outlook for fed cattle prices, raising them again to an annual average of $162/cwt – the previous record a...

Please Don’t Make Me Graduate Growing up is hard to do and least developed countries (LDC’s) are resisting losing their special trade benefits...

May 23 Corn closed at $6.115/bushel, down $0.14 from yesterday's close.  May 23 Wheat closed at $6.6575/bushel, down $0.2175 from yesterday's close.&n...

Export Sales and Shipments for Feb 24 - Mar 2, 2023.  Wheat:  Net sales of 266,700 metric tons (MT) for 2022/2023 were down 6 percent from the pr...

Market Trends U.S. Ag Exports to China Set New Record for January Even with China’s economy sputtering and the reversal of the zero COVID-19 policy i...

SOYBEANS: U.S. soybean supply and use changes for 2022/23 include higher exports, lower crush, and reduced ending stocks compared with last month’s r...

CORN: The 2022/23 U.S. corn outlook is for lower exports and larger ending stocks.  Exports are reduced 75 million bushels reflecting the poor pace of...

WHEAT: The 2022/23 U.S. wheat outlook is unchanged from last month.  The season-average farm price forecast also remains unchanged at $9.00 per bushel...

The CBOT was, as it usually is, solely focused on the USDA’s WASDE report that came out at Noon today. Heading into the report, ag futures were mixed...

High Stakes in Mexico Corn Case AMLO has said he is ready to go to a dispute settlement case to defend his ban on GMO corn from the U.S. He is arguing that...

May 23 Corn closed at $6.255/bushel, down $0.0875 from yesterday's close.  May 23 Wheat closed at $6.875/bushel, down $0.105 from yesterday's close.&n...

Russian Grain Markets: 27 February – 3 March 2023   Russian grain markets maintained previous price levels and in certain segments were eve...

Tuesday’s CBOT trade was largely devoted to pre-WASDE report positioning and position evening. Wheat futures staged a mild turn-around and settled a...

EPA issued a proposed rule on 1 March to provide a waiver of the Clean Air Act that would permit E15 use, through the summer months, in eight Midwestern st...

Meat Needs Work The U.S. meat industry is feeling good because demand for its product remains strong. Inflation and economic doubts have shoppers economizi...

May 23 Corn closed at $6.3425/bushel, down $0.0275 from yesterday's close.  May 23 Wheat closed at $6.98/bushel, up $0.0275 from yesterday's close.&nb...

U.S. domestic farm policy critics like U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) have a point when they note that the Farm Bill encourages the production of...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Pakistan’s soybean import estimates have been dropped from 2.5 MMT...

The CBOT was mixed to start the week with just two full trading days before the March WASDE report. There was a good bit of pre-report positioning that occ...

The 2023 farm bill process is under way with both the House and Senate Agriculture Committees having several hearings completed or scheduled. On 16 March,...

May 23 Corn closed at $6.37/bushel, down $0.0275 from yesterday's close.  May 23 Wheat closed at $6.9525/bushel, down $0.135 from yesterday's close.&n...

Procedural Action on Mexico: The Biden Administration has formally requested technical consultations with Mexico under the USMCA to discuss the proposed GM...

Corn The weather continues to give no respite for Argentina’s corn crop. The country is experiencing a heat wave with few precedents at a time of rel...

This should be the window for U.S. export sales, but it has been strangely quiet. There were rumors of a Chinese purchase this week, but nothing has been c...

The Biden Administration has done the impossible – it has united Congressional Democrats and Republicans on an issue, and not in a good way.  It...

May 23 Corn closed at $6.3975/bushel, up $0.06 from yesterday's close.  May 23 Wheat closed at $7.0875/bushel, down $0.04 from yesterday's close. ...

The Market Tuesday was a rough day in the market and while the May soyoil contract lost a fraction on the week, both May soybeans and soymeal logged anothe...

The House Agriculture Committee’s first hearing this year on the 2023 farm bill strayed a bit from the technical jurisdiction of farm bill programs o...

It was a mixed day but mostly lower volume (except for soyoil) as the market appears generally comfortable with current values. Even Russia’s charge...

Tooling Up Yesterday, USTR issued its annual report for 2022 and the President’s 2023 Trade Policy Agenda. The 354-page document will no doubt be rea...

Since COVID and the bottlenecks it created in livestock slaughter, populism has been the hallmark of agriculture policy debates on Capitol Hill, especially...

Export Sales and Shipments for February 17-23, 2023   Wheat:  Net sales of 284,100 metric tons (MT) for 2022/2023 were down 16 percent from...

Tuesday’s market collapse found profit taking and some fresh commercial and long buying interest that pushed futures higher. The corn market saw the...

Livestock Domestic Live Hog Cash Price Rebounds by More than 7 Percent The recent procurement of frozen pork for state reserves combined with some warmer w...

AMLO Channels Inner Trump Thousands of Mexicans protested in the streets against Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s decision to water down t...

May 23 Corn closed at $6.3575/bushel, up $0.055 from yesterday's close.  May 23 Wheat closed at $7.1/bushel, up $0.045 from yesterday's close.  M...

The Biden Administration halted new trade agreements until it said it could make Americans more competitive with policies like Build Back Better. However,...

Russian Grain Markets: 29 - 24 February 2023   Russia had one day off last week which was an Army Day. Although the business week was one day sho...

The CBOT was sharply lower on Tuesday with corn breaking below key technical support points and wheat posting another set of selloff lows. Paris wheat futu...

The M2 money supply for January decreased for the second consecutive month.  M2 is the amount of cash, held by banks, travelers’ checks, savings...

Limits on Trade Blocks De-friending, reshoring, carbon border measures and other narrow views of global trade may have their limits. The EU’s Sabine...

May 23 Corn closed at $6.3025/bushel, down $0.1325 from yesterday's close.  May 23 Wheat closed at $7.055/bushel, down $0.045 from yesterday's close.&...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Egypt is expected to have to devalue its currency again according to Soci...

Funds were still aggressive net sellers to start the week and drove wheat and corn futures to new selloff lows. Both markets also received fundamental pres...

Brazil last week reported a case of atypical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE); it was discovered in a seven-year-old cow in the northern state of Par...

May 23 Corn closed at $6.435/bushel, down $0.0575 from yesterday's close.  May 23 Wheat closed at $7.1/bushel, down $0.1175 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Corn Although there has been a change in the weather pattern since the beginning of the year and Argentina has seen more rains, the precipitation was heter...

Regional News  Egypt’s GASC secured 79 KMT of soybean and sunseed oil in total, of which 27 KMT of sunseed oil was purchased at $1.170/MT CNF an...

Streisand Salvation Stealing an idea from energy writer Robert Bryce, what if the Green Deal/F2F is inadvertently boosting the prospects for ag chemical co...

USDA reported U.S. Cattle on Feed down 4 percent from year-ago on February 1, 2023.  Placements in feedlots during January totaled 1.93 million head,...

The CBOT continued its selloff on Friday and wheat and corn futures plunged lower in heavy volume trade. The catalyst for corn’s selloff was, of cour...

Export Sales and Shipments for February 10-16, 2023   Wheat:  Net sales of 338,800 metric tons (MT) for 2022/2023 were up 62 percent from th...

Diversity of Scale Tom Vilsack is one of the longest serving secretaries in USDA history. The one-time presidential candidate is a likeable and formidable...

USDA released its monthly Cattle on Feed report today; the inventory of cattle and calves on feed on feedlots with 1,000 head capacity or more on 1 Februar...

May 23 Corn closed at $6.4925/bushel, down $0.1 from yesterday's close.  May 23 Wheat closed at $7.2175/bushel, down $0.2875 from yesterday's close.&n...

The Market The trading week was just four session long due to Monday’s holiday but it seemed more bearish than it turned out. March soybeans closed l...

USDA issued its outlook for 2023 major crops before the market opened this morning but the reaction to it was slow to develop. Perhaps initially because it...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.6025/bushel, down $0.1375 from yesterday's close.  May 23 Wheat closed at $7.505/bushel, up $0.005 from yesterday's close.&nb...

USDA will release its Cattle on Feed report tomorrow; analysts’ pre-report estimates peg the total number of cattle on feed as of 1 February at 96 pe...

WTO and Inclusion There is much frustration in Geneva over the policy gridlock at the WTO. The EU has proposed a set of three objectives for the institutio...

Except for cattle and soyoil futures the major CBOT/CME ag markets turned red on Wednesday with a combination of surprise weather, technical selling, and a...

Livestock Domestic Live Hog Prices See Some Modest Gains A week after bottoming out following the back-to-back holidays, the average price for domestic liv...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.74/bushel, down $0.065 from yesterday's close.  May 23 Wheat closed at $7.5/bushel, down $0.1275 from yesterday's close. ...

Future of World Trade While U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai characterized the WTO as being on ‘thin ice” for a dispute settlement case...

International trade is supposed to equilibrate prices as the supply of goods or services flow to where they deemed more precious. Hog prices in Europe are...

Russian Grain Markets: 13 - 17 February 2023    The Russian domestic grain market was unmistakably bearish. A large crop, increasing export dutie...

The CBOT saw strong, active trade to start the holiday-shortened trading week with the soy complex leading the way higher after frosts developed in Argenti...

War Escalation and Food Security President Joe Biden visited Kyiv yesterday where he accused Russia of trying to starve the world. The U.S. also expressed...

Populist U.S. politicians are criticizing the meat sector and blaming higher prices on agribusiness concentration. The usual target is beef where 85 percen...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.805/bushel, up $0.0275 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.505/bushel, down $0.15 from yesterday's close. ...

U.S. agriculture exports hit a record in 2022 - a total value of $196 billion. However, the situation was more of a mixed bag upon closer inspection. Sever...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Oman Flour Mills (OFM) is reportedly about to receive the first direct fa...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.7775/bushel, up $0.0175 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.655/bushel, up $0.005 from yesterday's close. ...

The CBOT/CME will be closed on Monday, 20 February 2023 for the U.S. President’s Day holiday. WPI will not issue an Ag Perspectives report on Monday...

The CBOT posted a day of two-sided trade on Friday to end a week of choppy, two-sided trade. With the three-day weekend coming up, few traders were interes...

Spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is likely to cause a major showdown in the farm bill debate, just as it did 10 years ago.&...

The Market The market is at the seasonal turning point. Brazilian soybean basis has turned negative relative to Chicago. March soymeal hit a contract high...

Warren is Wrong U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) excoriated her own Party’s USDA secretary, Tom Vilsack, for failing to stop concentra...

Markets trade on fundamentals and right now is the equivalent of being an ebb tide. It is a shift from angst over supply-reducing weather in South America...

Policy Snippets U.S. Agricultural Trade Ambassador Doug McKalip says the goal is sustainability initiatives in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework that d...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.76/bushel, down $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.65/bushel, down $0.0425 from yesterday's close.&nb...

USDA released its long-term outlook for 2024 - 2032 this week. No surprise that USDA’s projections show the continued tight situation for cattle thro...

Export Sales and Shipments for February 3-9, 2023   Wheat:  Net sales of 209,800 metric tons (MT) for 2022/2023 were up 60 percent from the...

Food Inflation Food Prices See Biggest Jump in Four Months The average cost of food in China rose by 6.2 percent from a year ago in January, marking the th...

The CBOT turned lower again at mid-week with an unexpectedly strong retail sales report sparking a rally in the U.S. dollar. That, in turn, pressured CBOT...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.7625/bushel, down $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.6925/bushel, down $0.1675 from yesterday's close.&...

Split Opinions Farm Bill There are two sides to any fight in Washington, and it is an inelegant blood sport. Neither side respects the observation of renai...

David McKee at Key International LCC points out the surge in demand for oat milk, which now dominates the creamer used at many coffee shops. Global oat pro...

Russian Grain Markets: 6 - 10 February 2023    Russian domestic grain markets remained relatively stable. Feed wheat remains more expensive than...

Red is the traditional color for Valentine’s Day and the CBOT seemed happy to do its part celebrating the holiday. The grain and oilseeds markets wer...

Mexico Ignores Science Question In response to U.S. Agricultural Trade Ambassador Doug McKalip’s throwing down the gauntlet and demanding by today th...

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.5 percent in January on a seasonally adjusted basis, after increasing 0.1 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Lab...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.8225/bushel, down $0.0275 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.86/bushel, down $0.06 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Global cattle production has basically been running steady. Fluctuating based on climate, health, supply and demand, and the gestation cycle. The U.S. is t...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Pakistan’s Punjab province is reportedly stopping permanently the w...

The CBOT largely continued Friday’s Russia-induced rally with help from another weekend of terrible weather for crops in Argentina. Soybeans and soym...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.85/bushel, up $0.045 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.92/bushel, up $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Mar...

Tee Up Warnings Learning that some Progressives in Congress want to amend crop insurance and increase conservation requirements, Ranking Member on the Sena...

On Wednesday of this week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) will release its “score” of the farm bill baseline. That is the cost projectio...

Regional News  The renewal of the Ukraine export corridor deal is seen as increasingly in jeopardy as rhetoric and military resource offers from Weste...

Corn Many early-crop corn fields have been heavily impacted by drought and yields will be very low. Other fields have been burned or chopped early for anim...

Global surplus sugar stocks are at their lowest since 2010/11 and futures prices are at their highest level in six years. Yet global import demand continue...

On Friday, Russia did what the February WASDE could not, excite the grain markets. Early Friday, a Russian missile(s) headed towards Romania (a NATO countr...

Valentines Kiss USTR Chief Agriculture Negotiator Doug McKalip gave his counterparts until 14 February to respond to the U.S. demand for answers to its que...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.805/bushel, up $0.0975 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.86/bushel, up $0.2875 from yesterday's close. ...

The Market The trading week started a little down in the dumps, but the finish ensured gains across the soybean complex. There was a lot of support: ...

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has had a major impact on the price of eggs. The first detection in a commercial laying flock was in February 2022...

There was higher volume trading corn, soybeans, and soymeal, but resulting in just a half penny change in soybeans. There was low volume trading in Februar...

Public Health COVID-19 Cases and Deaths Decline, Fears of New Variants Wane One particular positive as China’s lengthy New Year’s and Lantern F...

Biden’s Error in Commodity Strategy The U.S. is the world’s largest oil and gas producing nation. Russia is a close number two. But note the fo...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.7075/bushel, down $0.0775 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.5725/bushel, down $0.075 from yesterday's close...

Yesterday’s WASDE increased its beef production forecast slightly over January’s estimate based on Q1 slaughter, but for Q2 the slaughter rate...

Export Sales and Shipments for January 27 – February 2, 2023   Wheat:  Net sales of 131,400 metric tons (MT) for 2022/2023 were down 4...

USDA projects lower soybean crush and higher ending stocks.  With soybean exports unchanged, ending stocks are forecast at 225 million bushels, up 15...

USDA projected lower U.S. corn use for ethanol and larger ending stocks. U.S. corn ending stocks are up 25 million bushels from last month. The season-aver...

USDA made minor revisions to domestic wheat use and ending stocks.  Wheat exports are unchanged at 775 million tons with offsetting by-class changes.&...

The CBOT was mostly waiting for the WASDE report early on Wednesday with the major ag markets seeing little directional influence. The exception was the wh...

War on Big Ag At a conference hosted by anti-Big Ag activist group Farm Action, vegan and anti-Big Ag U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) called for a...

A new report by USDA’s Economic Research Service entitled Market Opportunities Expanding for Agricultural Trade and Investment in Africa cites severa...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.785/bushel, up $0.045 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.6475/bushel, up $0.15 from yesterday's close. ...

Russian Grain Markets: 30 January - 3 February 2023    Russian domestic grain markets remained stable. The only commodity which slightly recovere...

The CBOT was mixed in mostly consolidative trade on Tuesday heading into the February WASDE. The market saw some quiet weakness in corn and CBOT wheat whil...

Tonight, President Biden will deliver the State of the Union (SOTU) address. There are always prognostications on what the President will, or won’t s...

Biden SOTU versus EU Hopes President Joe Biden in his State of the Union address tonight will call for increased application of Buy America provisions in g...

According to USDA, South Korea’s government is taking steps to stop the price of rice from falling and to slow over-production. There will be payment...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.74/bushel, down $0.05 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.4975/bushel, down $0.005 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Saudi Arabia received a 60,000 MT barley shipment from Australia financed...

  Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.79/bushel, up $0.015 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.5025/bushel, down $0.065 from yesterday's clos...

The CBOT saw mostly consolidative trade to start the week just two days ahead of the February WASDE report. KCBT wheat futures attempted to rally but were...

India’s Rise The world’s largest democracy has refused to criticize or disengage from Russia’s autocratic regime. Prime Minister Narendra...

Last Friday the Labor Department released a shocker of a jobs report: 517,000 new jobs created in January. The pre-report consensus was 188,000 jobs. Unemp...

Americans are urged to eat whole wheat flour. Whole-grain flours are considered more nutritious because they contain more fiber, minerals, vitamins, and ot...

Regional News  Russia’s government announced the expected grain export quota for the period 15 February through 30 June 2023 of 25 MMT. The quot...

Corn During January, most of Argentina’s agricultural region received an average of 100 mm of rain, which helped to partly reverse several months of...

The CBOT ended the week on a mixed note with wheat and soybeans grinding lower while corn saw mild strength. The big movers for the day were soymeal, which...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.775/bushel, up $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.5675/bushel, down $0.0425 from yesterday's close.&n...

The new members of the Democrat minority of the House Agriculture Committee have been named. The Democrat side will decrease from 27 to 24 members moving t...

The Market This week started strong, took a midweek dip, and then recovered, except for soyoil. Soybeans are in an uptrend and the March contract is tradin...

Jurisdictional Competence This week agriculture ministers from 16 EU countries sent a letter complaining that too many legislative issues impacting agricul...

Punxsutawney Phil reportedly saw his shadow today at Gobbler’s Knob and there will supposedly be six more weeks of winter, though he is like a grain...

There’s still more information to digest among the details of Tuesday’s January Cattle Report (see WPI’s coverage here).   Catt...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.7525/bushel, down $0.0575 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.61/bushel, up $0.0125 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Obesity Scapegoats It has been popular to blame the rise in obesity on the proliferation of cheap, calorically dense “junk” foods. Most analyst...

Export Sales and Shipments for January 20-26, 2023   Wheat:  Net sales of 136,400 metric tons (MT) for 2022/2023 were down 73 percent from t...

The CBOT was mostly lower at mid-week with pronounced weakness in energy markets and technical/fund selling driving the soy complex sharply lower. Corn fut...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.81/bushel, up $0.0125 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.5975/bushel, down $0.015 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Farm Bill Hearing Highlights The Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing today on the horticulture and trade sections of the Farm Bill with a focus on...

India’s rice subsidies were again a complaint today at a hearing before the Senate Agriculture Committee. India’s rice exports have increased b...

Russian Grain Markets: 23 -27 January 2023    Russian domestic grain markets remained stable and slightly bearish. The feature of the week was fe...

Ag futures saw another day of mixed trade with CBOT wheat taking a surprising lead and posting a technically bullish day while corn futures sank lower afte...

USDA released its Cattle Inventory report today. The total inventory of all cattle and calves as of 1 January is 89.3 million head; that compares to 92.1 m...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.7975/bushel, down $0.04 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.6125/bushel, up $0.0875 from yesterday's close.&nb...

New Trade Agenda Tomorrow will present the Senate Agriculture Committee’s first hearing in preparation for writing a new Farm Bill and the first two...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Egyptian government officials said the “dollar crisis” has no...

Brazil’s meat processors are expressing angst that their country’s boosted corn exports to China this year will drive up domestic feed costs to...

Philippines Agriculture After remittances from overseas, agriculture and fisheries are the most important industries in the Philippines. A country of 114 m...

The CBOT was stronger to start the day with corn and wheat finding mild, continued strength from last week’s rallies. The winterkill threats to the H...

Topics for consideration in the farm bill are starting to take shape. According to reports from Capitol Hill, one likely change in the 2023 farm bill will...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.8375/bushel, up $0.0075 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.525/bushel, up $0.025 from yesterday's close. ...

Regional News  Egypt has reportedly secured a long-term contract with Germany to buy wheat from the European nation, though details on the agreement a...

Corn Rains that have fallen so far in 2023 indicate a possible change in the South American weather pattern. They have been good in terms of quantity and r...

The three major global suppliers of sorghum are the U.S., Argentina, and Australia. China has been a critical market for U.S. sorghum in recent years but i...

The CBOT capped a volatile week with a relatively quiet day of trading. That didn’t mean there weren’t ample technical developments, however, w...

The attached PDF offers graphical depiction and seasonal analysis of managed money and commercial traders' net position in key agricultural commodity marke...

On 17 January, we reported the list of new Republican majority members of the House Agriculture Committee. At the time, the Republican side increased from...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.83/bushel, up $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.5/bushel, down $0.025 from yesterday's close.  M...

USTR Downgraded The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative sits inside the Executive Office of the President. No different than other offices situated und...

The Market The trading week got started with the weather premium getting chopped down due to rains in Argentina. Those rains turned out to be good but not...

After a brutal Monday, futures have been clawing back gains the past few days. Trading on Thursday was helped along by a U.S. Q4 2022 GDP number that pleas...

Dirty Deal During the early days of negotiating the Uruguay Round, industry leaders fretted that trade liberalization aspirations would be thwarted by prot...

Export Sales and Shipments for January 13-19, 2023 Wheat:  Net sales of 500,400 metric tons (MT) for 2022/2023 were up 6 percent from the previous wee...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.825/bushel, up $0.0775 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.525/bushel, up $0.1125 from yesterday's close. ...

Preliminary December broiler production was 3.8 billion pounds, which would bring 2022 annual production to 46.2 billion pounds. That is 103 percent of 202...

The CBOT saw another day of strength in wheat as funds continue to pare back their short positions in that market while commercial buying interest picked u...

Foreign Desk at State Under Secretary Jose Fernandez has proved that an American desk is needed at the State Department. Speaking at the Center for Strateg...

S&P Global is the first private firm to issue an acreage planted forecast following USDA’s prediction for the upcoming campaign, but it will not...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.7475/bushel, down $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.4125/bushel, up $0.0675 from yesterday's close.&...

Cultural The Year of the Rabbit Arrives The Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations began on Saturday with festive New Year’s Eve gatherings. Sunday mark...

Russian Grain Markets: 16 - 20 January 2023    Grain prices remained relatively stable and are most likely to remain stable in the near term. The...

Corn and wheat futures posted a “Turnaround Tuesday” with Monday’s selloff yielding higher prices on a combination of profit taking and s...

Global dairy trade, which had been growing at a compound annual rate of 4.7 percent has slowed over the past couple of years. A primary reason has been Chi...

Mexico Shrug U.S. trade officials meeting with their Mexican counterparts raised "grave concerns" over AMLO’s agricultural biotechnology policies and...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.77/bushel, up $0.1075 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.345/bushel, up $0.145 from yesterday's close. ...

GDP for Q4 2022 will come out on Thursday of this week; the consensus expectations is for 2.5 percent growth. But the question is what lies ahead for 2023?...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Turkish authorities have decided, in their infinite wisdom, to ban the im...

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain, but this week it’s falling on Argentina and causing a flood of CBOT sell orders. Corn, wheat, and the so...

“Friend” Shoring WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala warned countries against the fallacy of friend shoring. She posed the questions: who...

Mar 23 Corn closed at $6.6625/bushel, down $0.1 from yesterday's close.  Mar 23 Wheat closed at $7.2/bushel, down $0.215 from yesterday's close. ...

Good moisture has enabled Australia to produce a record sized wheat crop. Due to proximity, Australia largely serves Asian markets and its wheat sales to C...

Regional News  Recent swings in temperatures across the EU could leave winter crops weakened and more vulnerable to damage. EU winter crops have escap...

As Congress returns this week, negotiating over the debt limit will be at the top of the to-do list. Coupling spending cuts with a debt limit increase was...

Wheat Wheat continues to be scarce in general across Latin America, but especially in Argentina. It is strange to see Argentina’s export volumes prac...

Jan 1 U.S. Cattle on Feed down 3 percent from 2022  Dec Placements in feedlots totaled 1.80 million head, 8 percent below 2021 Dec Marketings of fed c...