Late Friday afternoon, Chairman John Boozman (R-Arkansas) released an updated draft of the Senate farm bill. The farm bill markup is scheduled for Thursday...
Articles
Mercosur Regional Analysis
Corn Argentina's corn harvest has reached 69.8 percent of the national harvestable area. Harvest progress remains constrained primarily in southeastern Bue...
Summary of Futures
Dec 26 Corn closed at $4.64/bushel, down $0.045 from yesterday's close. Sep 26 Wheat closed at $6.3925/bushel, down $0.2425 from yesterday's close.&n...
Market Commentary: Record Soyoil Demand Contrasts With Grain Market Weakness
What You Need to Know Today: Record biofuel demand continues to support soyoil values, as EIA data show that May soyoil usage as a biofuel feedstock reach...
Specialty Crops Seeking Equity in Funding
A bipartisan group of 26 lawmakers, led by Representative David Valadao (R-CA), sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and House Agricul...
Biomass-Based Diesel Feedstock Update: May Sets Record for Soyoil Usage
Key Takeaways: Soyoil consumption as a biofuel feedstock climbed to a record 1.434 billion pounds in May, setting a new all-time monthly high. Improved 45...
Agriculture’s Productive Capital: An Overlooked Measure
Agriculture generates a lot of numbers in addition to crops and livestock. As ag economists, we are continually reviewing crop production, commodity prices...
Summary of Futures
Dec 26 Corn closed at $4.685/bushel, down $0.0325 from yesterday's close. Sep 26 Wheat closed at $6.635/bushel, up $0.0275 from yesterday's close.&nb...
Market Commentary: Cattle Outperform Hogs on Quiet Day for Corn and Soy
What You Need to Know Today: The U.S. and Iran resumed missile strikes after a brief pause in fighting, raising concerns that the five-month conflict coul...
Livestock Roundup: Senate Farm Bill Threats to Meat Industry
The Senate Agriculture Committee will take up the farm bill next week, and a number of amendments targeting the meat industry are expected to be offered. T...
The Deserted Village
Oliver Goldsmith's The Deserted Village, published in 1770, is of a timeless quality. It is a 425-line lament for a disappearing rural world, where prosper...
The Consumer Reset: How GLP-1, Protein, and Value Are Reshaping Foodservice
The industry has spent two years bracing for GLP-1 medications to hollow out demand, but the data so far tells a more interesting story. Roughly one in eig...
Transportation Perspectives - 30 July
Wow – what a week for freight markets. Things are changing incredibly rapidly as escalations in the U.S.-Iran war and the Ukraine-Russia conflict res...
Summary of Futures
Dec 26 Corn closed at $4.7175/bushel, down $0.0875 from yesterday's close. Sep 26 Wheat closed at $6.6075/bushel, down $0.0175 from yesterday's close...
Market Commentary: War Moves Oil. Weather Moves Grain.
If Wednesday’s trade proved anything, it is that not every market is listening to the same headline. Renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran sent...
Sorghum’s Growing Role in Ethanol Production
Key Takeaways: Sorghum is gaining importance as an alternative ethanol feedstock, particularly in the Southern Plains where ethanol plants can utilize the...
Small Ruminants: A Global Protein System the U.S. Market Has Yet to Price In
Executive Summary Sheep and goats represent one of the largest livestock protein systems in the world, with an estimated 2.3 billion head globally; however...
Black Sea Regional Analysis
Russian Grain Markets: 20–24 July 2026 Bearish sentiment dominated the Russian grain market as the new harvest accelerated and supplies increased. Pr...
Summary of Futures
Dec 26 Corn closed at $4.805/bushel, up $0.065 from yesterday's close. Sep 26 Wheat closed at $6.625/bushel, up $0.025 from yesterday's close. ...
Market Commentary: Grains Rally as Crop Ratings Fall; Global Shipping Becomes More Perilous
What You Need to Know Today: Shipping in the Black Sea is at a standstill, with neither Ukraine nor Russia yet ready to swerve in this game of maritime an...
More Doors, Same Dollars: The QSR Share Fight
Just when it seemed the restaurant industry had finally moved beyond the pandemic disruption, the arithmetic of the American food dollar caught up with it...
Brazil’s Emergence as a Major Pork Exporter
Key Takeaways: Brazil’s pork exports have more than doubled since 2019 as competitive feed costs, ASF-free status, and expanding global demand have...
Banning Glyphosate Could be Expensive
The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement has reached a critical point after the Supreme Court ruled on 25 June that Bayer is shielded from state-leve...
Livestock Industry Margins
Beef packer margins continued to recover for a third consecutive week, improving $67/head to -$63/head as fed cattle prices fell about $30 in the past 5 we...
Middle East, Mediterranean, and Africa Regional Analysis
Mediterranean/Middle East/North Africa/Africa – MEA Region Morocco and Kazakhstan are looking at ways to expand their grain import/export programs, a...
Summary of Futures
Dec 26 Corn closed at $4.74/bushel, down $0.135 from yesterday's close. Sep 26 Wheat closed at $6.6/bushel, down $0.18 from yesterday's close. ...
Market Commentary: Commodity Sell-Off on Middle East De-escalation and Border Reopening
What You Need to Know Today: It was just one of those days where seemingly everything was in the red as part of a broader risk-off economic sentiment amid...
Cow-Calf Profit Outlook Riskier on Drought, Cost Pressures
Key Takeaways: U.S. cow-calf producers are facing another year of record-breaking revenues and net returns for 2026, though rising cost pressures an...
New World Screwworm: Phased Re-Opening of Mexican Border
USDA announced on Friday the coordinated, phased reopening of southern U.S.-Mexico livestock ports starting 24 August 2026, after more than a year of closu...
Mercosur Regional Analysis
Wheat Argentina's wheat planting advanced another 5.7 percentage points over the past week, reaching 97.7 percent of the projected 6.5 million hectares des...
Summary of Futures
Dec 26 Corn closed at $4.875/bushel, up $0 from yesterday's close. Sep 26 Wheat closed at $6.78/bushel, down $0.1825 from yesterday's close. No...
U.S. Cattle on Feed - July 1 2026
U.S. Cattle on Feed on July 1 totaled 11.4 million head, 2 percent above July 1, 2025. Placements in feedlots during June totaled 1.40 million head,...
Market Commentary: Black Sea Headlines Shake Wheat Markets
What You Need to Know Today: The Trump administration announced new tariffs of 10 percent to 12.5 percent on imports from 60 major U.S. trading partners a...
Little Hope for Rumored Black Sea Civilian Vessel Agreement
Key Takeaways: Grain futures pulled back sharply in overnight trade Friday on rumors that Ukraine proposed two possible options for ensuring civilia...
Cattle on Feed and Cattle Inventory Reports
USDA’s monthly cattle on feed report was released today, along with the semi-annual cattle inventory report. The total number of cattle on feed in fe...
Section 301: A New Tariff Architecture
Just when we thought it was safe to step outside and enjoy some certainty in the world of international commerce, the Trump Administration announced on Thu...
Summary of Futures
Dec 26 Corn closed at $4.875/bushel, up $0.0275 from yesterday's close. Sep 26 Wheat closed at $6.9625/bushel, down $0.095 from yesterday's close.&nb...
Market Commentary: Oil Surge, Weather Risks and Export Demand Drive Grain Market Strength
What You Need to Know Today: Oil prices surged today following reports of tanker attacks off the coast of Saudi Arabia by Houthi rebels and renewed U.S. t...
Shifts in Global Hunger
Key Takeaways: The latest UN data shows solid progress reducing global hunger and food insecurity. The geography of hunger-affected people has shift...
Livestock Roundup: Cattle on Feed and Semi-Annual Inventory Report Preview
USDA’s monthly cattle on feed report for 1 July will be released tomorrow. Analysts’ pre-report consensus estimates are for the total inventory...
Transportation Perspectives - 23 July
Key Takeaways: The situation in the Arab Gulf is little changed this week, which is to say it is a day-by-day – and sometimes hour-by-hour – j...
Summary of Futures
Dec 26 Corn closed at $4.8475/bushel, up $0.095 from yesterday's close. Sep 26 Wheat closed at $7.0575/bushel, up $0.2775 from yesterday's close.&nbs...
Market Commentary: Wild Wednesday: Weather, War and Worry
Grains posted strong gains today, putting the bulls firmly in the driver’s seat. There was no shortage of fuel for the move, with three W’s dri...
The Cotton Demand Impacts of Military Conflict
Key Takeaways: Global and U.S. cotton demand has struggled since the post-COVID-19 pandemic surge, which has left cotton prices drifting lower in th...
Agricultural Labor Shortages Accelerate Automation, but Challenges Remain
Key Takeaways: Persistent labor shortages are increasing operational challenges and costs across U.S. agriculture, particularly in labor-intensive sectors...
Black Sea Regional Analysis
Russian Grain Markets: 13–17 July 2026 New-crop trading dominated the Russian grain market during the week as old-crop business largely came to an en...
Summary of Futures
Dec 26 Corn closed at $4.7525/bushel, up $0.0225 from yesterday's close. Sep 26 Wheat closed at $6.78/bushel, up $0.04 from yesterday's close. ...
Market Commentary: Grains Rally on Momentum, Weather; Soybeans Sag on Quiet Exports
What You Need to Know Today: Grain futures fell hard overnight after the USDA’s Crop Conditions report showed better-than-expected ratings for corn...