THIS WEEK ON U.S. FARM REPORT
EPISODE # 2042
SEPTEMBER 29-30, 2012
JOHN’S OPEN:
Hello and welcome to U.S. Farm Report, I’m John Phipps. All year our market analysts have been focused on one number, the end-of-year carryover stocks. Tyne has this long-awaited news in a minute. But like everything this year, the final stocks number is far from a clear cut statistic. Market watchers all over the industry will be picking apart the details for days to come, and if we haven't learned anything about these reports it is this: in years with low production every assumption or estimate gets extra scrutiny. 2012 has forced a spotlight on standard grain accounting practices, and we now know they are about as precise as most tax accounting.
HEADLINES:
While few surprises were expected from the quarterly grain stocks report, the USDA did manage to perplex analysts with lower corn and wheat numbers and higher than expected soybean stocks. Harvest is progressing at a record pace across the U.S. According to the latest USDA crop progress report, as of Monday 39% of the country's corn crop had been harvested. Normally, it's only 13%. The crop progress report shows 80% of Missouri’s corn crop is already harvested, which is way ahead. That’s 47 points ahead of normal. A farmer in Carroll County, Missouri says he's already wrapped up corn harvest and yields averaged between 80 and 110 bushels per acre. Soybeans are ranging from 35 to 40 bushels per acre, he says that's below normal, but still better than he expected. Higher feed prices and lower pork prices are forcing producers to push more hogs to slaughter. According to the USDA, slaughter jumped 4% in August to more than 9.9 million head. Iowa State University livestock specialist expects those numbers to continue to climb.
CROP WATCH:
Crop watch this week...
ROUNDTABLE:
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