Commodity Analytics shows the most recent data for grain export sales and shipments along with historic patterns. Current deviations from historic norms po...

Many analysts have discussed India's divided demographic and how it will pave the way for the country's economic growth. While there is a great deal of pot...

Uncertainty remains the key certainty going into 2014.Two seemingly conflicting forecasts for 2014 involve concurrent value accretion for the U.S. dollar a...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

Ukraine exported 17.6 MMT of grains as of 23 December and from the beginning of MY 2013/14. This is an increase of 27.7 percent compared to the same period...

Today's markets were greeted with an improved weather outlook for both southern Brazil and Argentina. This has the effect of emphasizing that prospects for...

If global soybean demand continues to rise over the next decade at the same pace as it has since 2000/01, the world will need an additional 70-80 MMT of so...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

China is currently short of domestic production in the face of growing demand and prices have more than tripled since the 2003 BSE ban. China Beef Trade Te...

What might make our predictions somewhat unique is that at the end of each year we go back and grade ourselves on how well or how poorly we did. Seldom hav...

Because the political far left and far right are now conspiring against trade liberalization, it is speculated that TPA will not be considered in Congress...

We must remember that the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) climate outlooks are based on an analysis of what appear to be the most likely long-term trends a...

The farm bill may face some competition for floor time from a new move to extend emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) when Congress reconvenes in Janu...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

USDA provided some interest for the soybean market when it announced that a total of 185,000 MT of soybeans were sold to unknown with 120,000 MT of that fo...

It now appears Indian soy industry officials agree that India's 2013 soybean crop will not be anywhere near as large as the 12–13 MMT that some in India we...

A survey of American attitudes toward biotech food by the global research company NPD Group sends a warning and a message of opportunity. Lame Duck Honesty...

In its December review, Strategie Grains revised its wheat export estimate for the current campaign upward to 24 MMT versus 19.6 MMT exported last year. Mi...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

In a recent economic planning meeting, the Chinese government proposed focusing the nation's economic growth in 2014 on safe, balanced and green developmen...

The obvious result of a magnificent production season will be that ending supplies of virtually every crop in Canada will rise, and the logistical problem...

USDA announced the sale of 120,000 MT of old crop soybeans to unknown for the current marketing year. This was a small surprise since the market has been w...

In asking organic shoppers for the scientific basis of their shopping decisions, it turns out their actions are largely based on intuition rather than the...

The lack of definition makes for some potentially problematic and unintended consequences were the term to be codified.Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

A few representatives from Chinese companies have been roaming around the northern Plains and visiting country grain elevator (silo) companies. According t...

What is interesting is the potential domino effect this nomination would have politically if it leads (as it probably will) to Baucus leaving the Senate be...

Wheat still struggles to find any consistent buying as the funds keep adding to their record short positions. General Comments Markets were lower in the ov...

GOI has agreed to provide a bailout package of $1.06 billion to the sugar industry that will be released as interest-free loans to the mills. The sugar mil...

Former USDA officials Dan Glickman and Kathleen Merrigan assert in a Los Angeles Times article that allowing organic foods to be labeled as GMO-free would...

The larger-than-expected weekly export sales for corn and wheat were still not large enough to light a fire under either market. General Comments Overnight...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

There has been something of a symbiotic relationship between commodities and inflation for a long time. The best current example of the use of soybeans as...

President Obama has two near-term priorities. However, a proposed nomination and a tin-eared USTR now threaten those two goals. Trade Agenda Hits Skids Pre...

Reports out of India indicate that the country's soymeal exporters are having difficulty lining up new sales because of high prices. Deliveries of soybeans...

The National Pork Producers Council and American Farm Bureau Federation, together with a number of other groups, said that they are likely to oppose the en...

ANEC authorities are now seeking a new way to determine the priority of vessels in the Paranagua port. They are trying to maintain liquidity in the Paranag...

Opening the meeting of the Russian-Ukrainian Interstate Commission on 17 December, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the intention of Russia, Ukra...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

As one lobbyist euphemized, getting TPA through Congress is going to require a few bridges to be built in various districts and states. Building Bridges Th...

The Fed's announced tapering and its low interest rate commitment did nothing for grain and soy markets that for now are off in their own worlds. General C...

The bottom line is that the refinery capacity in the Gulf is now less dependent on imported oil than ever before.As we reported yesterday, the talking poin...

Brazil's soybean farmers have had to deal with two major problems this year: caterpillars that have inflicted substantial crop damage and a rainy December...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

Many of the relatively new factors that can affect market cycles are the result of economic and market globalization and integration.Every freely traded ma...

Black Sea wheat supplies are diminishing and Middle East & North Africa (MENA) buyers are going to have to look to other sources until the next harvest...

With recent news about the U.S. economy generally positive, it is widely expected that the Fed will soon cut back on its stimulus efforts through the month...

There are plenty of policy wonks conveniently picking what serves their biased positions.Forum shopping is more typically associated with litigating existi...

Weekly export inspections for wheat were in the expected range at 17.6 million bushels. The pace is now 41 percent ahead of last year. General Comments Cor...

The standard solution of most marketing analysts to the prospect of lower prices is to tell their producer clients to sell this year's crop plus the antici...

The EU allocated 780,000 MT of wheat export licenses last week, bringing the total to 12.5 MMT versus 8.5 MMT allocated at the same time last year. Milling...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

China' leaders reportedly expressed strong interest in feed production investment in Bulgaria at a recent summit with their counterparts from Central and E...

With or without e-15, one of the brewing clashes is the one coming between corn and advanced ethanol. There are only so many gallons of transportation fuel...

While Europe is now abandoning its dairy production quotas, congressional farm bill conferees are flirting with adopting the old EU policy of supply-limiti...

The demand for vegetable oils in India has increased over the years. Current additional factors affecting the growth in imports are the delay in the s...

Of interest to agriculture, offsets for the cost of providing conservation assistance to private farm and ranch lands are included in the budget package.Th...

The markets (and most market analysts) are either all in or all out, and there has been no better evidence of this phenomenon than what has happened this y...

Corn has become a follower of the weakness in the soy complex. The situation with the prohibited GM corn variety in China is still unresolved, and there ar...

One must question why the government allows U.S. biodiesel blenders to capture the tax credit for exported biodiesel when the objective of the blender cred...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

The military's interest in biofuel is purportedly fueled by paranoia about dependence on foreign sources of oil, but those sources are mainly Canada and Me...

The FDA has come out with a plan for limiting veterinary pharmaceuticals that have human uses. In the end, the rule is somewhat of a relief to the meat ind...

The Volcker Rule's prohibition on proprietary trading by banks will directly affect today's derivative markets. A number of major banks have already closed...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

Demand for U.S. corn appears threatened by the Chinese rejections of corn shipments containing the not yet approved MIR162 GM event. Traders fear the volum...

One would expect trade to calm down the day following a major USDA report. That was certainly the case to an extreme with today's market. General Comments...

The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange presently estimates that the total corn area is about 3.3 million hectares, a decrease of 10 percent year-on-year. This acr...

Russia's November 2013 barley exports totaled 182,547 MT, 53 percent less than October 2013 and 46 percent less than November 2012. 71 percent of the...

The same policymaker who pleaded with Congress to pass the farm bill has dismissed the one piece of leverage available for compelling congressional action...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

The official policy is that Beijing wants to be 95 percent self-sufficient in food, but the reality is that its effort to equalize rural and urban incomes...

According to a recent report on GMOs in South Africa, 86 percent of corn planted is GM as well as 90 percent of soybeans. These crops are said to have...

It now appears a situation may be developing that will lead to much lower soybean prices in the future as global soybean production in 2014 might be 24 MMT...

It might be argued that today's WASDE was slightly bullish based on the fact that overall demand for grains and soybeans in both the U.S. and the world inc...

Wheat traders seemed put off by the fact that USDA actually raised its estimate of U.S. ending stocks, although 10 million bushels one way or another does...

China has rejected somewhere between 10-20 cargos of U.S. corn found to have an unapproved GMO event. The next logical question is: what will happen if Chi...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

Much of the increase in food costs has been raw commodity price inflation that has generally started to reverse this year.Now is the time of the year when...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

China's tight wheat supply has resulted in a high domestic price that could lead millers and trading companies to start importing supplies as early as next...

Weekly export inspections were all higher than expected. The bears continue to say the markets are finished, but demand doesn't seem to want to go away. Ge...

Canada is having to sue the U.S. in the WTO as American politicians impose a country of origin labeling scheme intended to suppress imports of Canadian liv...

By most accounts, the U.S. numbers should be slightly bullish and supportive to prices. The key ingredient will be how much, if any, USDA chooses to i...

Rethinking AGOA Reauthorization of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) needs to take into account the improved economic condition of some countri...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

Old crop soybean futures and basis have had a hard time weakening even with all the talk of a very bearish long-term soybean supply situation caused by pre...

There is still some uncertainty as to whether an extension will be needed to cover the period between now and January.Reportedly, the big four – the chairm...

It now seems that the WTO deal in Bali will have to wait as the Indian negotiators have not acceded to the rules that govern food subsidies. Eight of the 1...

The question now becomes, what will they do with this crop?Stats Canada's crop production update released on Wednesday of this week simply blew the wheat m...

U.S. agriculture is better than a country cousin when comparing some of its statistics to health care. Ag Loses to TF The WTO deal possibly1 arrived at in...

Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest bank and a major player in commodity markets, announced that it plans to exit almost all of its commodity trading activiti...

The biggest and most emotional food issue we face comes from the advent of biogenetic modification of food crops. The fear is that GMO crops MIGHT pose som...

Reports out of China indicate the Chinese government will impose a consumption tax equivalent to $154/MT on biodiesel in January in an effort to reduce imp...

The goal of the program is to boost sales of Mexican cattle, but imports of live cattle and genetics are not prohibited, although the genetics program may...

The WTO's leadership is reportedly still trying to salvage a deal in Bali and has floated alternative language on a peace clause for India's proposed food...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

As of 29 November and from the beginning of MY 2013/14, Ukraine exported 13.96 MMT of grains, an increase of 19.4 percent compared with the same period las...

If U.S. agriculture fails to achieve great inroads into the Japanese market via the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), it can thank American automakers. Capi...

A month ago, official sources forecasted Argentine wheat production at 8.8 MMT.  Just several weeks ago, an official estimated that wheat exports woul...

It is fair to say that Canadian producers have never before experienced the yield and production results they are seeing in 2013. Crop scouts expected that...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

Today's hedge selling in soybean futures appeared to result from a reported pick up in U.S. country movement and also from Brazil as an indication of some...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

Whether or not the Volcker Rule is needed is a debate that has passed as it will soon be in place. However, there will remain plenty of questions as to how...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

What is needed is a single website for food that operates like Urban Legends or Snopes and serves as the repository of what is peer-reviewed and replicated...

Argentina's government acted yesterday to assist the domestic biodiesel industry in offsetting losses in exports to Europe after the EU imposed punitive an...

Grain and feed values will obviously be down in 2014, while oilseed export values are projected upward based on higher prices and strong early year sales o...

Agricultural experts in Africa are saying that the first priority regarding grains should be the storage and transportation systems where as much as 30 per...

Current crop budget worksheets for 2014 look to be break-even at best. While cash prices for the 2014 crops have been weakening, cash rental rates and land...

The EU allocated 577,000 MT of wheat export licenses last week, bringing the total to 11.2 MMT versus 7.3 MMT a year ago at the same time. Milling Wheat Th...

The bottom line is that farm income has lifted up farm assets and equity. As expected, farm debt to equity and debt to assets are down.USDA's Economic Rese...

China's leaders recently announced the first significant relaxation of the country's one-child policy in nearly 30 years. There are, however, certain impli...

Food regulators are trying to keep pace with market changes in the context of public ignorance and political opposition. Argentina – Dead Ahead In an inter...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

Overnight strength gave way to some aggressive selling in the soybean market almost immediately after the day session opened. That took soybeans and corn l...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

As Iran's relations with the West thaw, India could also accelerate investment in that country for its own interest as it is doing with the Port of Chabaha...

Deciding what to plant the last several years has been easy, but it will be quite different in 2014 based on the current market outlook.I was at a farm man...

Weekly soybean sales totaled 1.4 MMT with 992,000 MT of the total to China. USDA also announced the sale of 110,000 MT of soybeans to China in MY 2014/15...

The government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott was sworn into office just over two months ago on a pledge of economic liberalism (and social conservatism) fo...

USDA took several actions this year to intervene in the market to prop up prices, and this is the first time in a decade that it has had to do so.Ethanol m...

Ukraine exported 12.8 MMT of grains as of 22 November and from the beginning of MY 2013/14. This was an increase of 15.8 percent compared to the same perio...

High input costs this season are causing Argentine farmers to suffer from smaller margins. The depressed ARS peso and logistical espenses are also having a...

Agriculture is a much larger share of the Brazilian economy, but someone at USDA needs to start a campaign to stop the silliness that is helping countries...

The wheat market ignored the overnight sale of French wheat to Egypt and rumors that India was preparing to offer another 500,000 MT to 1 MMT for sale from...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

The rich countries ought to suggest to India that it use a novel feature called the market for solving its sense of food insecurity. Market Solution for Ba...

The EU today published the regulations imposing anti-dumping duties on biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia. Both the Argentine and Indonesian go...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

The Congressional Budget Office (CB0) has prepared scoring on a number of policy options that would help budget conference negotiators produce a budget by...

Turkey is expected to release up to 1.2 MMT from the government's 3 MMT of reserve stock local wheat into the country's market. This will certainly reduce...

The world's 2013 crop production so far seems to reflect a common denominator, which is that crops in most major producing countries turned out better than...

Some forex analysts are becoming quite bullish on the U.S. dollar in 2014. A stronger U.S. dollar would impede the competitiveness of U.S. grain, soybeans...

As of 7 February, either the suspension will have to be extended or a new debt limit established. If not, the Treasury would have to resort to its extraord...

Most have blamed currency exchange and inflation issues for the lack of active selling by Argentine farmers. However, there are some differences of opinion...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

China's retail milk price has been increasing significantly over the past few months due to the considerable raw milk shortage in the domestic market since...

The main reason for the high premium in Ukraine is that its corn has been accepted by all the major destinations as a reliable origin, and buyers are ready...

The day-to-day trading pattern of these markets has been one day of strength in the soy complex with weakness in corn and wheat, followed by the opposite a...

Today's grain and oilseed prices...

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General Comments Soybeans set the trading pace overnight with strong gains, and those gains pushed prices even higher when today's session started trading...

The dominant news in the markets these days continues to be the overwhelmingly bearish attitudes surrounding every market except U.S. equities. Nearly all...

Two of the biggest items on the table for the current farm bill conference are nutrition spending under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP...

Corn and Soy Corn arrivals in Andhra have been increasing over the past two weeks, but the quality is mediocre. Current prices range from $181-190/MT at th...

Transatlantic Frustrations It is difficult to imagine a successful Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) given that the two sides find so m...

General Comments Grain and soy futures were firmer overnight, and volume was noticeably improved as traders anticipated that USDA's weekly export sales rep...

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U.S. Soybean Industry Takes Sustainability Message to European Buyers I have been in Istanbul, Turkey this week attending a European Buyers Conference orga...

Nuclear Implications The decision by Senate Democrats to use the so-called "Nuclear Option" in order to increase their capacity for approving judicial cand...

Cattle Herd Rebuilding Has Begun Corn prices hit their lowest level in three years recently, providing relief to feeders. On top of that, pasture condition...

We think it is fair to say that markets have poor memories, collectively speaking This is not surprising as traders are always looking ahead. They measure...

...

Russian Grain Markets: 13-19 November 2013 Harvesting Updates As of 19 November, grain and leguminous crops were harvested on 41.5 million hectares, 94.3 p...

General Comments Cliché though it may be, the word that best describes today's grain and soy futures market is quiet.  Trading ranges are small with o...

Argentina: Change of Key Ministers Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner refocused on her agenda after resting for more than a month due to he...

Ukraine and EU Ukraine has reportedly been torn over a closer association with the EU and its moral dictates versus alignment with Russia, but it may have...

  News Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS Australia reports that the largest ever single shipment of barley (77,000 MT) has been sent to Saudi...

Infrastructure Costs to Soybeans The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has published the third in a series of books on Latin American integration with...

General Comments It was an outside down day for the soy complex, but the technically oversold corn and wheat markets finally found some support and managed...

U.S. stock market indices are setting new record highs about every other day, but commodity markets have been generally headed in the opposite direction. I...

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Brazil Declares Emergency over Caterpillar Infestation in Soybeans Soybean farmers in the Brazilian states of Bahia and Mato Grosso are suffering big losse...

In the November edition of WPI's monthly publication, Ag Review, we covered the topic of Africa and agriculture. Specifically, we examined meat, milk and p...

Acrylamide and TTIP As transatlantic negotiators look for ways to make their regulatory differences more coherent, the regulation of acrylamides presents a...

China Seeks Options to Increase Agricultural Output China finds it increasingly challenging for its agricultural sector to meet the food demand that is dri...

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General Comments Corn and wheat spent the entire session trading lower, while soybeans and soymeal were higher. Corn continued to suffer a hangover from EP...

Milling Wheat The Russian wheat offer at the market remains unchanged from last week, but there were no reported trades or close buying interests.Egypt's G...

It's been a pretty amazing month for the market bears. It's also been a pretty amazing month for the world's farmers, most of whom are nearly always some d...

This past Friday afternoon, USDA announced the third invitation round of the Feedstock Flexibility Program (FFP) to convert federally-held sugar into ethan...

General Comments Soybeans were the story of the day as people tried to figure out why they went from trading down 5-6 cents when markets reopened at 8:30 a...

Low GHG Ambitions Negotiators from over 140 nations have begun the 19th session of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Warsaw, Poland where th...

Here are a few things to think about during this period of almost non-existent news surrounding the markets: This is from a press release from the state...

...

Indian Poultry Industry in Need of a New Vision The Indian poultry industry needs support from within (policy framework) as well as outside by way of new t...

EPA today released the proposed 2014 required volume obligations (RVOs) for 2014. The final version of the 2013 RVOs was released in early August of this y...

General Comments Recall how prices sold off going into the November WASDE, only to realize that bearish anticipation was perhaps exaggerated. A repeat may...

Big changes are underway at the CFTC. Its chairman, Gary Gensler, has made it known for quite some time that he intends to leave his post on 3 January 2014...

The U.S., EU and others have had trouble with the G-33's proposal for flexibility in operating domestic food stockholding programs due to the likelihood th...

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U.S. Top Market for Argentine Biodiesel Now that the EU has imposed anti-dumping duties on imports of Argentine biodiesel, exporters have shifted their foc...

New Jersey Election Over – Animal Welfare Politics Ongoing Republican Governor Chris Christie was re-elected in New Jersey to a second term this month. The...

Russian Grain Markets: 6-12 November 2013 Harvesting Updates As of 12 November, grain and leguminous crops were harvested on 41.2 million hectares, 93.6 pe...

Rainforests versus People The Rainforest Action Network (RAN) and other environmental NGOs are concerned that the U.S. FDA's announced prohibition against...

Local Prices above Payment Capacity Argentine farmers are presently observing a condition in their local grain prices that has not existed during the past...

General Comments Here are some snippets of information regarding exchange-traded futures and options volume during the first eight months of 2013 (January-...

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General Comments USDA reported that as of last Sunday, 84 percent of the U.S. corn harvest was finished and 91 percent of the soybean harvest was complete...

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Food Stamp Behavior Change Republicans seeking to cut food stamp spending via the farm bill largely worry about disincentives to work and personal responsi...

  News Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS Following comments made in Saudi Arabia over the past few weeks, the organization responsible for Sa...

Yesterday we laid out the trends in U.S. fuel consumption as well as the growth in domestic crude oil production. At the same time that report was being dr...

The government shutdown in October turned the November WASDE into something quite unique. The forced cancelation of the October WASDE meant there was a two...

Big Export Inspections Last Week Today's USDA export inspection report indicated that it inspected 2.238 MMT of soybeans destined for export last week. Of...

General Comments Today was a government holiday (Veterans Day) in the United States. Banks were also closed, but the markets all traded full sessions. The...

Canada has just completed a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Europe, which beckons how it can inform negotiators meeting this week in...

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The leaks of the most recently proposed ethanol volumes for 2014 underscore an issue that has been going on since 2007 – miles driven by American motorists...

Chinese Government Discusses Grain Planting Income Insurance for Next Year's Crops The Chinese government is continuing discussions regarding the replaceme...

Now that the USDA November series of reports are behind us, it's interesting to see the secondary market comments and ideas that were talked and written ab...

Milling Wheat The Black Sea market feels a little heavy as there are not many buyers willing to pay current prices. The market went up too high and too qui...

General Comments Today's markets were dominated by the November series of USDA reports that included yield and production updates and supply and demand rev...

Row Crops Should Help Apples USDA-APHIS has given the green light to Okanagan's "Arctic Apple," a fruit that has been genetically modified not to turn brow...

Indian Oil Meal Exports Surge in October Oil meal exports for April-October 2013 are reported at 2.019 MMT, which is up from the 1.749 MMT exported during...

The major crisis of the year so far was the October government shutdown. After three weeks, a deal was cut to reopen the government and set new dates for b...

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It seems like it has been an eternity since the USDA last issued a production and supply and demand estimate. The fact is that it has been an eternity. The...

FDA Moves to Ban Use of Trans Fats in Foods The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today proposed removing partially hydrogenated vegetable oils from...

General Comments Today's grain and soy futures markets turned more active than might have been expected on the day prior to USDA's very important November...

Eliminating pure speculation on oil futures is a question of fairness.  The choice is between a world of hedge fund traders who make enormous amounts...

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Eggs Are What the Hen Eats While Distiller's Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS) are most suited to ruminants, rather than mongastric livestock, because of t...

Wheat Market The chart below displays the Argentine milling rate per month for the prior three years. Argentine millers crushed 6.4 MMT during 2011, 6 MMT...

Agrifood and Minimum Wage The agrifood industry is paying attention to the fact that Senate Democrats will seek to pass a 39 percent increase in the mandat...

Russian Grain Markets: 30 October-5 November 2013 Planting Updates As of 31 October, Russian farmers planted winter grain crops for the 2014 harvest on 14...

General Comments Grain and soy futures continued the same slow, grinding pattern of trade that has been around all week as traders brace for Friday's WASDE...

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Biofuel Impact The European Commission's Joint Research Centre has reportedly concluded that vegetable oil prices would trend downward by 50 percent withou...

General Comments The CFTC has argued that the Dodd-Frank legislation mandated that it establish speculative position limits for all exchange-traded commodi...

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  News Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS Wadi Holdings and Medsofts have opened a joint venture Nile River grain port facility in Egypt, whic...

The situation surrounding USDA's November WASDE, to be released at noon EST Friday, 8 November, is unique. The recent government shutdown forced USDA to ca...

Record Oilseed Production in Ukraine It appears that Ukraine's oilseed production will rise by 21 percent to a new record of about 14.45 MMT. At least that...

Rethinking AGOA Reauthorization of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) needs to take into account the improved economic condition of some countri...

Today is Election Day in a number of states. Virginia and New Jersey will select a governor and legislators, while of more interest to agriculture, the sta...

Commentary Speculative selling of corn contracts has recently been emboldened by a composite of analysts and commentators repetitively noting that USDA is...

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The House of Representatives is in recess this week, meaning that the farm bill conference proper will likely not convene. However, staff work that proceed...

Milling Wheat The Black Sea market was quiet last week. The strength of the U.S. dollar has brought more sellers into the market, but the buyers are still...

Milling Wheat The Black Sea market was quiet last week. The strength of the U.S. dollar has brought more sellers into the market, but the buyers are still...

China's Soymeal Price Sees Upward Pressure Moving Forward China's cash soymeal price fluctuated lower the week of 28 October because of the ample bean supp...

The first major attack on Big Ag by New York Times reporter Michael Moss was in his book, "Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us" (see Ag Perspecti...

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Farm Bill While there has been a great deal of speculation about how a farm bill might fit into a grand budget compromise that is coming before mid-Decembe...

I am in Western Australia (WA) this week, almost exactly half-way around the world from home. That also means an inordinate amount of time on airplanes. Th...

India Wheat Export Value Reduced – Local Prices Higher As the sowing season for wheat neared, GOI increased the Minimum Support Price of wheat to 14000 rup...

General Comments Markets started the month of November with lower trade in corn, soybeans and wheat futures markets. It was another day of a battle between...

How Sweet it Isn't One the same day the news media is highlighting NPD Group data showing that Americans are eating more healthy foods, Gallup is reporting...

General Comments "Buy the rumor, sell the fact." That old market cliché was clearly in play today. The combined three-week export sales report showed that...

Farm Bill Changes The House-Senate Farm Bill conference kicked off this week and among all the various thorny issues are two non-problems. The first is whe...

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Large U.S. Soy Export Sales Once Again As expected, today's USDA export sales report showed large U.S. export sales of soybeans and soymeal. Net soybean ex...

USDA released its long awaited export sales data dump that consisted of three weeks' worth of export sales compressed into a single report. Today's report...

Farm Bill Conference – GIPSA, Battery Cages and COOL The 2013 Farm Bill conference committee convened yesterday for opening statements, and two key livesto...

Wheat Brazilian millers are in a tight situation because they normally buy about 7 MMT per year of wheat, which primarily comes from Argentina, Uruguay and...

General Comments Overnight trade in grains and soy took a cue from yesterday's late price recovery and started out higher. The mini-rally faded some during...

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Russian Grain Markets: 23-29 October 2013 Harvesting Updates As of 24 October, grain and leguminous crops were harvested on 40.2 million hectares, 91.3 per...

Wetlands Deserve Input U.S. EPA announced that it would seek new formal rulemaking on the delineation of regulated wetlands under the Clean Water Act. Envi...

Updating Japan Rice The Nikkei reported today that Japanese Prime Minster Shinzō Abe's government plans to change the country's rice price support mechanis...

Milling Wheat The Black Sea market was very firm last week. However, we see more liquidity since last Friday as more sellers have started offering the Nove...

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Near Record Week for U.S. Soybean Export Inspections Yesterday's USDA export inspections report indicated that 2.308 MMT of soybeans were inspected last we...

  News Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS Egypt has decided to further reduce the nighttime curfew period to 0100-0500, except on Fridays when...

We are on the downhill slope of an unprecedented corn harvest. When the final tally is done, the U.S. corn crop of 2013/14 will be record large, exceeding...

Who says the art of letter writing has been lost? As of WPI's count, the House and Senate farm bill conferees have received nearly 20 letters in the month...

General Comments It seems a bit excessive to describe today's market action as Turnaround Tuesday, but at least markets did not follow yesterday's fund and...

Senators Ed Whitfield (R-Kentucky) and Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) are planning to unveil legislation today that would put a roadblock in front of the Ob...

Today's weekly export grain inspection numbers were the biggest they've been in a very long time at over 127 million bushels (more than 3.5 MMT). It was th...

General Comments This was not a pretty day in the agricultural commodity markets. Corn, wheat and soybean prices were slightly lower overnight, but those l...

Cotton versus Textiles The so-called "Cotton Four" (C-4) African countries pushing for an end to subsidies on cotton in rich countries have apparently modi...

China Takes Measures to Minimize Environmental Impact of Livestock Farming China's State Council, the government's cabinet, recently passed regulations on...

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U.S. corn exports deviation from historic patterns has implications for what exports will be in the rest of the marketing year. Analysis of unshipped corn...

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Meat Opportunity At least one major company has announced that as a result of Washington's harsh approach to country of origin labeling (COOL), it no longe...

Huge U.S. Soymeal Export Sales Last Week The USDA weekly export sales report that was released yesterday was notable for the huge weekly amount of soymeal...

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government has been battling deflation and appears to be making some headway, based on its latest release of statistic...

General Comments It was (again) a very quiet overnight trading session with small gains in wheat and small losses in corn and soybean futures. The day sess...

Changing Eating Habits – New Entrants in Business Although the share of GDP from basic agriculture is falling, that of animal production within agriculture...

Catching Up With the extended federal government shutdown, livestock marketing statistics are catching back up and the markets that rely on them for transp...

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Some economists have theorized that there is a common thread in terms of national agricultural policies among countries as their economies transition throu...

General Comments Today's USDA's weekly shutdown-delayed export sales report covered the week that ended 3 October. Traders and analysts were looking forwar...

General Comments Starting with overnight trade, it was a rally day for grain and soybean futures with prices reaching impressive gains at their peak. CME w...

Russian Grain Markets: 16-22 October 2013 Harvesting Updates As of 21 October, grain and leguminous crops were harvested on 39.7 million hectares, 90.2 per...

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Throwing Mud Animal agriculture groups are defending their constituency against a report by John Hopkins Center for a Liveable Future that claims public po...

Wheat Egyptian tenders have historically been a good way to measure the competitiveness of wheat from different global origins. Assuming that condition con...

Brinksmanship occurs when an event is pushed to the verge of potentially devastating losses in hopes of achieving an advantageous outcome. Washington recen...

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Coming into the 2012 Farm Bill, there was one sure consensus among producers and the lawmakers who crafted the bill – crop insurance was to be its cornerst...

General Comments The U.S. Labor Department announced that the U.S. added fewer jobs during September than analysts expected – 148,000 versus 193,000 in Aug...

Huge Soybean Export Inspections Last Week The U.S. soybean harvest may have been a bit later than normal this year, but U.S. exports are clearly catching u...

Data Users' Angst This year's USDA Data Users meeting was dominated by the impacts of the government shutdown. Private industry analysts were anxious to le...

From late June-August of 1972, officials of Exportkhleb, the Soviet Union's government grain trading agency, traveled to New York and Washington, DC where...

  News Updates With the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region closed for the Eid holidays last week, new developments in the grain business have...

We tend to always focus on the major crops of wheat, corn and soybeans. Most analysts do that because those are the crops that have futures markets. They d...

Now that the government has reopened, Congressional Budget Committee Chairmen Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington) and Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin...

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General Comments Markets were steady to higher overnight, led by soybean futures. That trend continued in this morning's session, but wheat lost its gains...

2013 Grains and Oilseeds Production Estimates China National Grain & Oil Information Center (CNGOIC) released its estimate of the country's 2013 grains...

Milling Wheat The Black Sea market has made a spectacular rally during the last week, because of the lack of farmer selling and overbooked port capacity fo...

General Comments It was a catch-up day for USDA today. It did announce some soybean export sales this morning of 220,000 MT to China and 140,000 MT to unkn...

Increased Minimum Support Price for Grains Next Season While the Ministry of Agriculture has recommended an increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of...

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In the movie "Groundhog Day," actor Bill Murray's character gets caught in a time warp and wakes up in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania on that day, facing the s...

The domestic and export soybean basis remain strong and, in fact, have been strengthening throughout this harvest. There are several reasons: The old cro...

CETA Implications Canada and the EU completed a trade agreement, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), with both impacts on their bilatera...

Paraguay President Vetoes Export Taxes on Soybeans, Corn and Wheat The President of Argentina today vetoed the legislation passed by the congress that woul...

Slaughter Estimates While the federal government is shut down and the Ag Marketing Service reports are unavailable, below is our estimate of cattle and hog...

The CFTC announced yesterday that J.P. Morgan Chase has agreed to pay a fine of $100 million related to the activities of one of its derivative trading des...

General Comments The U.S. government, including USDA, reopened today following the passage of the interim legislation to temporarily fund the government an...

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Russian Grain Markets: 9-15 October 2013 Harvesting Updates As of 14 October, grain and leguminous crops were harvested on 38 million hectares, 86.3 percen...

South American Soybean Market Developments The few old-crop soybeans in South America are being retained by Argentine farmers as a protective hedge against...

General Comments Facing the risk that the government's cash flow will turn negative tomorrow (17 October) and threats that the U.S. credit rating could be...

Don't Get Fooled Again The corn market took a brief dive on a report that Mexico would ban imports of biotech corn, but it shouldn't have even blinked once...

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Before the government shutdown, the rollout of Obamacare and the Treasury Department being on the brink of exceeding its borrowing authority under the debt...

As we all know too well, the government shutdown continues to block nearly all of USDA's daily, weekly and monthly reports. We suppose it requires a shutdo...

General Comments In the absence of much in the way of fresh news, overnight trading was mixed and light in volume with wheat still struggling against last...

Bittman Helps Big Ag Mark Bittman at the New York Times is hypercritical of industrial agriculture, but his latest rant promises it a bright future. Bittma...

News Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS Syria is said to be having some success with its plans to pay for grain imports using blocked funds in fore...

We wrote yesterday that the House passed two resolutions instructing conferees to: Seek the repeal of the sugar program. Support a Senate amendment to li...

Big USDA Soybean Inspections Last Week The Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) reported today that 47.381 million bushels (1.29 MMT) of soybeans were i...

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General Comments Markets were mixed overnight, with soybeans holding gains and the initial strength in wheat losing ground by early morning. Corn was basic...

Fama Analysis on USDA The Nobel prize just won by Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen and Robert Shiller has an important relationship to the current lack of US...

The federal government is still closed, but the farm bill conference has finally started. As we reported on 11 October, the House cleared the way to appoin...

Golden Week Invigorates the Economy China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced on 8 October that the national retail and catering sector sales revenue re...

If you live in farm country, every other radio and television ad is about selling planting seeds for 2014. This must seem terribly early for those who don'...

Effects of Excess Rainfall Per the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the entire country received 106 percent of its Long Period Average (LPA) rainfal...

President Obama met with a group of House Republicans on Thursday and Senate Republicans this morning. The agenda for both meetings was how to reopen the g...

Rich and Sugar Targeted The House voted to go to conference with the Senate over the 2013 Farm Bill, and on Saturday will consider explicit instructions to...

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It is a rare occasion when farmers should actually hope that prices collapse, but that's exactly what they should be hoping for in the month of October. Th...

General Comments Corn and soybean markets were quite weak today and there weren't many good reasons why. Here is some of today's market chatter: Concerns...

General Comments The lack of market information from USDA and the trading position of large speculators are creating an unrepeatable buying opportunity for...

In terms of the 2013 U.S. grain and soy harvests and what they may mean for supply and demand balances, most of the analytical attention seems to be focuse...

Paraguay Approves 10 Percent Export Tax on Soybeans, Corn and Wheat Paraguay's Chamber of Deputies yesterday approved a 10 percent export tax on soybeans,...

TTIP Dance EU Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht tried to reassure Europeans that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will not worsen...

Slaughter Estimates While the federal government is shut down and the Ag Marketing Service reports are unavailable, below is our estimate of cattle and bee...

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Russian Grain Markets: 2-8 October 2013 Harvesting Updates: As of 8 October, grain and leguminous crops were harvested on 36.9 million hectares, 83.8 perce...

Middle East Food and Demographics Countries in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region vary greatly in size of population, agricultural resources and fo...

Ethanol Reduction The ethanol industry has been under attack on Capitol Hill and now it is reported that U.S. EPA will propose cutting the corn ethanol ble...

General Comments Grain and soy futures played on both sides of Tuesday's closes without much in the way of direction during overnight trading and again dur...

Corn The Argentine corn crop is not starting off well due to inadequate soil moisture in most of the core areas due to lack of rain that is delaying planti...

The tactical standoff between the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House continued into today. The Senate held a vote on requirin...

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General Comments Stronger Chinese futures markets and still-circulating rumors that China bought as much as 800,000 MT of U.S. corn gave some impetus to a...

There was a great deal of pressure put on the 2013/14 U.S. corn crop. The severe Midwestern drought and heat wave during the summer of 2012 was devastating...

Ministers meeting in Bali on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations made a very strong and hopeful statement that negotiators would "now pr...

  News Updates While the exact dates will vary by country, it appears that Eid Al Adha will begin on either 14 or 15 October. Most private companies w...

Record Canadian Canola Crop Statistics Canada sharply increased its forecast on Friday for that country's 2013 canola crop. It raised its forecast from 14...

Negotiation Similarity If one wanted to see the divide between Washington politicians over the budget in another context, one can just read about trade neg...

Milling Wheat The rains in Eastern Europe have finally stopped and the winter grain plantings in Ukraine and Russia have resumed. Last week, the planted ar...

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General Comments We started week number two of the U.S. government shutdown today with no indication that any solution is near. That means at least several...

One of the interesting sideshows of the U.S. government shutdown is its impact on the agricultural futures markets. It's interesting because there's no way...

The U.S. government shutdown is now entering its second week. It is a symptom of the inability of Congress and the administration to come to terms on a fed...

General Comments Markets were mixed in the overnight trade and for the first few hours of trade today. Corn and soybeans turned higher after Informa's late...

Shutdown As both parties attempt to shift blame on the federal government shutdown, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) is considering going bac...

New Support Price and Strengthening Rupee Affect Corn Exports With the rupee strengthening by approximately 8.84 percent within a 30-day period (67.71 rupe...

Updating NAFTA Major companies in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) countries have written the three political leaders (Obama, Harper and Pen...

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It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who knows how to use a calculator that net farm income in 2013 and 2014 will likely be well below the record levels of...

Korea Buys Soymeal Korean feed millers have been on a soymeal buying spree this week. On Monday, Korea's Feed Leaders Committee (FLC) bought 80,000 MT of s...

General Comments Looking at the unbroken array of green numbered closes on our screen, one might think that something was going on. Unusually, every contra...

In a wide variety of ways, USDA affects and influences producers of grains, oilseeds, livestock, poultry and eggs, cotton, wool, sugar, fruits, vegetables,...

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Grand Bargain Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) gave the first public signal of where the current crisis in Washington is headed – toward the gr...

Federal Government Shutdown to Impact Livestock Trading This is day three of the federal government shutdown. There is no information released from USDA fo...

General Comments Note: As a result of the government shutdown, most, if not all, of USDA's regular reports will be suspended until the shutdown ends. This...

Russian Grain Markets: 24 September–1 October 2013 Harvesting Updates As of 26 September, grain and leguminous crops were harvested on 34.2 million hectare...

Korea TPP Ho-hum South Korea will soon announce its intentions to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. Seoul reportedly believes the step...

Weather There was some rainfall during the past few days. Unfortunately, it was below what farmers were expecting and what was really needed. However, the...

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Today's date is 1 October 2013. The nine-month extension of the Food Energy and Conservation Act ended yesterday, 30 September 2013, with the end of the fi...

  News Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS The World Food Program (WFP) has delivered 22,000 MT of U.S. milling wheat to Lebanon and Turkey for...

Grain market analysts eagerly await each USDA quarterly report on grain and soybean stocks. Analysts can study industry trends and such consumption data as...

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General Comments Markets continue to react to yesterday's USDA quarterly stocks and final small grains reports. Long liquidation by non-commercial soybean...

Low on Totem Pole Congressional Republicans will try all kinds of approaches to the government shutdown in an attempt to shift pressure back on to their op...

China's Growing Soybean Imports Have Curtailed Rest of World's Imports The most important factor impacting the global soybean market in recent years has be...

China's Overseas Agricultural Investment Continues to Expand The large state-owned agricultural enterprise Xinjiang Production & Construction Corps (XP...

USDA's quarterly stocks report was bearish for corn and soybeans and slightly friendly for wheat. The table below shows the report numbers compared to a ye...

Milling Wheat The Black Sea market is firmer following the rally of U.S. and EU wheat. Despite the price increase, Russian and Ukrainian wheat remains the...

Policy Drip Torture Congressional Republicans are now offering a one-week clean extension of federal funding, purportedly to allow time for negotiations wi...

The House and Senate were engaged in their last legislative volleys today over the continuing resolution (CR) intended to keep the government in operation...

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General Comments It was actually a more active market through the first half of the trading session than expected, considering we were waiting for the USDA...

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Nice Talk President Barack Obama hosted a meeting today with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the post script is that each talked nicely. U.S. trad...

General Comments Grain and oilseed markets were generally quiet in light to moderate trade ahead of Monday's USDA quarterly stocks and final small grains p...

Earlier this week, EPA expanded the definition of heating oil under the renewable fuel standards (RFS). This rule comes under EISA's "additional renewable...

USDA will release its quarterly stocks and final small grains production estimates at 11 AM (CDT) Monday, 30 September. We have commented on the quarterly...

First Food Grain Production Estimates The key production areas are likely to produce more grain this year as a result of the continuing good monsoon. The f...

Bali Disagreement No, there is not one yet. In fact, apparently there are still 400+ bracketed sections of the draft ministerial statement for the 9th WTO...

General Comments In the absence of any fresh market moving inputs, grain and soy markets seemed to be in a consolidative mood today. Corn futures traded on...

Global poultry consumption is expected to hit 106 MMT this year, up from 91 MMT in 2009 and 66.4 MMT in 2000. In Asia, poultry consumption was 24.4 MMT in...

An anniversary of a dubious sort occurred last week. It was five years ago, on 15 September 2008, that Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. The collapse o...

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Ukraine Firms Denies China Land Purchase Article A news report out of China this week indicated that a Chinese firm, Xinjiang Production and Construction C...

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EU Sends Hope for Farm Bill The EU's latest iteration of the Common Agricultural Policy started with a public debate over three years ago. U.S. Congression...

Corn Local offers in the free aside shipment (FAS) market are approximately ARS 900 ($156/MT) and farmer selling below that is nil. Some consumers are payi...

General Comments It was the wheat market's day. Wheat futures were up as much as 17-18 cents at their highs, in a move that began during the overnight sess...

Russian Grain Markets: 18-24 September 2013 Harvesting Updates As of 23 September, grain and leguminous crops were harvested on 33.4 million hectares, 72.3...

General Comments The overnight e-session saw prices for the grains and soybeans trade modestly higher as prices crawled back up off yesterday's lows. Howev...

This week, I have been in Rotterdam, Netherlands attending and making a presentation at a protein conference. The attendees were mostly from European food...

TPA Fight President Obama has finally told Congress that he wants the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) that will enable an expedited and amendment-limiting...

The Senate Agriculture Committee today called on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to look at the trading of Renewable Identification Numbers...

On 30 September, USDA/NASS will release its survey-based estimates of U.S. grain and soybean stocks as of 1 September. Since 31 August was the end of the s...

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  News Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS Iraq, a major importer of both wheat and wheat flour, is now expecting its best crop ever. However,...

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Milling Wheat The Black Sea market was mostly unchanged without significant activity. The Russian government has not yet announced the timing and the volum...

We handicapped the political outlook for the new farm bill last Friday. Provided below is a brief procedural overview of what has to occur to get the farm...

Activists have pressed for stronger action by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to slow the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture. A key arg...

General Comments Markets opened weaker Sunday evening on expectations that the pace of the corn and soybean harvests will start to increase this week. Corn...

The markets appear to be temporarily trapped in a no man's zone of market-making or breaking news. Consider: Temperatures across the U.S. crop production...

China GMO Fight Continues 12 lawyers from four provinces in China recently signed a joint letter to the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) and the M...

Organic Brouhaha At least four activist groups have charged that USDA guts national organic law. The agency purportedly changed the process by which otherw...

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There are really only two short-term issues left for the market to deal with over the next month or two. This is assuming that while there will certainly b...

There is a widely-shared consensus that agricultural markets will continue to face the challenge of matching ever-growing demand with increased production...

General Comments It was a black and blue Friday for equity and commodity markets with both trading lower to sharply lower. CNBC reported today that more mo...

India's Food Inflation According to Consumer Price Index (CPI) calculations, retail inflation eased slightly to 9.52 percent for August 2013 from 9.64 perc...

We predicted on 17 September that the Republican nutrition-only title of the farm bill would squeak by the House this week. Yesterday, the House did indeed...

General Comments Yesterday's Fed announcement that it would not cut back its monthly bond buying program at this time surprised many Fed watchers. Fed offi...

In varying degrees, world grain and oilseed markets have been forced to deal with concerns raised by tight supplies, or at least perceptions of tight suppl...

Political Success A testy vote today on food stamp spending started with a partisan vote on the rule itself and will likely go down from there. By contrast...

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A Big Week for U.S. Soybean Export Sales This has been a very big week for U.S. soybean export sales. Yesterday, USDA announced that U.S. exporters had rep...

Shrinking Beef Supplies USDA releases the Cattle on Feed report tomorrow, and the consensus expectation is for numbers to be down – again. The total number...

General Comments In a mild surprise, the Fed's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided not to ease back its quantitative easing (QE) program of buying...

Fresh Licenses Didn't Activate Argentine Corn Market The Argentine government decided to release 3 MMT of licenses for the old crop corn, and market partic...

TPP Disappointment U.S. business representatives are concerned that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations are headed toward a less than ambitiou...

Russian Grain Markets: 11-17 September 2013 Harvesting Updates As of 16 September, grain and leguminous crops were harvested on 31.8 million hectares, 69.1...

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  News Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS Hodeidah, a major port city in Yemen, will undergo an expansion and modernization program that is es...

Saps in Negotiations The U.S. is being overly conciliatory toward the G-33 and their demand for a food security exemption to WTO agriculture disciplines. T...

Much of the fate of the 2013 farm bill comes down to the disposition of the House Republican leadership's proposal for food stamps, officially named the Su...

A lot of Uncertainty about U.S. Soybean Yields I have been in the Quad Cities area of Illinois and Iowa this week, attending a conference organized by the...

Early this morning, USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) released preliminary data on U.S. acreage planted, abandoned and prevented from being planted. The bas...

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General Comments USDA's Farm Service Agency (FAS) released its acreage data collected from farm program compliance and crop insurance at 5 AM EDT, in time...

According to the majority leader's calendar, the House will start votes Tuesday evening in order to dispose of a number of items before moving to the nutri...

China's Livestock Industry May Take over Crop Farming by 2015 The China Academy of Engineering (CAE) recently released the results of its study on sustaina...

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General Comments Weekend rain across a good portion of the dry western Corn Belt forced the soy complex lower Sunday evening, and those losses became signi...

Commodity Analytics shows the most recent data for grain export sales and shipments along with historic patterns. Current deviations from historic norms po...

Milling Wheat The Black Sea market remained unchanged last week. Prices have been stable since July. Exporters are not pressing the market too aggressively...

Economy Stalled Due to Slow Domestic Demand CRISIL, the global analytical company, has reduced the 2013/14 GDP growth estimate to 4.8 percent from the 5.5...

The market is already talking about the potential for another record soybean crop in Brazil, months before it will be planted. That assumption is based on...

Simple Sugars Multinational financial services companies have a lot of expertise, but complex public policy issues deserve more robust analysis than the Cr...

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The European Parliament voted earlier this week to reduce the target for biofuels from 10 percent to 6 percent by primarily cutting back on food crops as b...

General Comments After digesting USDA's data for a night, there seemed to be a conclusion that yesterday's 40 cent run-up in November soybeans was a little...

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Ag as Microcosm Changes in U.S. farm size over recent years has witnessed an increase in the number of large, very profitable operations and an increase in...

USDA Cuts U.S. Soy Yield, Production, Crush, Exports and Carryout Stocks USDA reduced its forecast as expected for the U.S. soybean crop in today's supply...

WASDE Projections The September World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates Report (WASDE) was released this morning. It projected production growth for...

General Comments Today's price action was all about the contents of USDA's WASDE report, and it was made evident that large speculative traders w...

Recall that soybean futures were trading below $6.00 per bushel in the fall of 2006. Within about two years, soybean contracts had rallied about $10 per bu...

General Comments Wheat contracts started off this morning with a bounce higher, while the soybean complex and corn contracts were rather sedate for a major...

Argentine Crops The needed rains did not arrive in the northern area of Argentina, where the present lack of moisture remains critical. The expected storm...

No Secrets A side show in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) debate is news that America's National Security Agency (NSA) has pursue...

Russian Grain Markets: 4-10 September 2013 Harvesting Updates As of 6 September, grain and leguminous crops were harvested on 27.6 million hectares, 60 per...

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Dry Weather Also a Problem in Brazil and Argentina The U.S. soybean crop would appear to be shrinking every day that the hot, dry weather continues across...

The state of the economy has a significant impact on food consumption, especially expenditures for food consumed at home versus away from home (restaurants...

  News Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS Saudi Arabia has announced that the upcoming Eid Al-Adha holiday will start on 10 October with the g...

General Comments Capital preservation can sometimes be observed in trade activity, and that seemed somewhat apparent today as positions are adjusted prior...

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  The Enemy is Us Misperceptions about the agrifood sector are frustrating to everyone and understanding the cause is a huge social science endeavor...

Speculative traders are much more at liberty to focus on the short-term than are hedgers of commodities, producers or end-users. That is because survival o...

Milling Wheat The Black Sea market is steady without much pressure from farmers and exporters. Russia is expected to export 16 MMT of wheat in 2013/14 (5 M...

Extreme Weather Affects China's Major Ag Commodities It has been a tough summer for China with floods in the north and northeast as well as high temperatur...

General Comments Markets had a firmer tone to open the session Sunday evening with soybeans again leading prices somewhat higher. The expected weekend rain...

Russia Saves Washington President Obama's Syria policy may have been rescued by Russia, which has proposed international oversight of the chemical weapons...

Congress returns to session this week and there are only nine legislative days on the calendar. The rise of the debate over the proper foreign policy respo...

USDA will release its September crop production estimates and WASDE this Thursday at 12:00pm EDT/11:00am CDT. The August drought across most of the western...

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EPA has sent the 2014 Required Volume Obligations (RVO) rule to the Office of Management and Budget for review. This rule establishes how much ethanol and...

General Comments Markets were mixed overnight and also started the day that way. Corn and wheat traded higher most of the session with November soybeans tr...

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Band-Aids Promoted Countries continue to meet in Geneva in an effort to find agreement on the food security proposal from the G33 developing countries. The...

Crop Revenue Insurance The initial price calculation period for the 2014 U.S. winter wheat crop insurance program started on 15 August and runs through 14...

General Comments Markets were mixed overnight and also started the day that way. Corn and wheat traded higher most of the session with November soybeans tr...

Food Security Bill – Two Sides of the Coin The Indian Parliament passed the National Food Security Bill (FSB) this week. It will become law once it is sign...

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Regulatory Harmonization U.S. and European leaders made a public commitment this week to a high-standard, comprehensive TransAtlantic Trade and Investment...

During the nearly five years since he was elected, it has been interesting, to say the least, to compare President Obama's approach toward the domestic pol...

China Sells 83 Percent of Soybean Reserve Stock Offering China's Sinograins sold 417,448 MT of soybeans today from its reserve stocks, which amounted to 82...

Ruling on Smithfield/Counter Offer The U.S. Committee for Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) could rule as soon as tomorrow on the Shuanghui Internatio...

General Comments Weather model runs are consistent in picturing rain for the Northern Plains and parts of the Midwest from 8-11 September. North Dakota and...

Wheat Market Brazilian millers were in the market this week to buy Argentine wheat as the Free Aside Shipment (FAS) market is heating up. Exporters paid $2...

Farm Bill Extension Steve Kopperud of the government relations firm Policy Directions Inc. correctly opines that President Obama teeing up the Syria war re...

General Comments What would a market week be without a turnaround Tuesday, even if it falls on Wednesday due to the holiday on Monday? The fact that today...

Russian Grain Markets: 29 August – 3 September 3 2013 Harvesting Updates As of 2 September, grain and leguminous crops were harvested on 25.8 million hecta...

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A number of developments are brewing in the biofuels sector. Below is a look at each: Sugar to Ethanol The Feedstock Flexibility Program (FFP) was complete...

  News Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST COMMENTS The U.S. export business to Morocco for both soymeal and soyoil faces a great deal of competition th...

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Weekend Rainfall Insufficient to Stem Soybean Losses Rainfall was received in the Midwest over the weekend, but the amounts and coverage were insufficient...