Each year, your editors take a look back at the past year and determine what story, event and person had the biggest impact on the agriculture sector. Find out what made the cut in 2016.
Ag Story of the Year: Weather Drives Wild Price Swings
A case can be made for the weather being the story of the year nearly every year. After all, weather is the one variable producers have no control over but yet it greatly impacts all aspects of your farming operation from production to prices. But in 2016, the weather had a much bigger impact than in a normal year.
The strong El Niño weather pattern that was in place when the new year started quickly came to an end. That triggered concerns about a potential quick transition to La Niña. That never developed, but the quick fade from El Niño still had a major impact on South America’s 2015-16 crops. Dryness beset central Brazil, while heavy late-season rains fell across portions of Argentina. The unfavorable weather late in the South American growing season dramatically trimmed soybean and corn production. Instead of a record crop, South American soybean production fell nearly 6 MMT shy of the 2014-15 crop. The South American corn crop ended up 19 MMT shy of the previous growing season. The weather-induced South American production shortfall sparked stronger export demand for U.S. soybeans and corn.
Fears of La Niña and a widely predicted drought for the U.S. last summer never developed. Instead, the U.S. growing season was graced with plentiful moisture and a lack of extreme heat. The result was record corn and soybean yields, which came on the heels of a historic U.S. wheat yield.
Weather-fueled markets led to a $3.50-plus rally in soybean futures and nearly a $1 rally in corn from the March low to the June high. After the June peaks, soybean futures plunged roughly $2.75 and corn futures dropped around $1.20 as record U.S. crops were factored into the market.
The dramatic impact weather had on South American and U.S. production and the sharp price responses are the reasons we chose the wild weather roller coaster of 2016 as our story of the year.
Ag Event of the Year: Trump Wins Presidential Election
Presidential elections typically don’t get much mention for an ag event of the year since they come so late in the calendar. But the 2016 presidential election was different. Donald Trump won an election-night shocker over Hillary Clinton. However, that isn’t the reason it’s our event of the year. Rural voters’ voices were heard loud and clear on election night — they wanted change and not the status-quo. While Trump proved he’s highly unpredictable throughout the campaign process and may not be ag-friendly on the trade front, he still garnered an overwhelming majority of the rural vote, which helped fuel his victory.
Trump’s election as the next president may have far-reaching impacts on agriculture and markets. He and his administration will implement a host of policy changes that will feature less government regulation, including from the Environmental Protection Agency and its highly controversial waters of the U.S. rule (WOTUS). Trump will also attempt to tackle immigration reform, overhaul the U.S. tax code and repeal ObamaCare — all issues that greatly impact your farming operation.
The wide range of impacts Trump’s victory likely signals for agriculture is the reason we chose it as our 2016 ag event of the year.
Ag Person of the Year: Kevin Folta
Kevin Folta, our 2016 Pro Farmer ag person of the year, has been a leader in the fight against the anti-GMO movement for years. Folta, chairman of the Horticultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida, publishes a website and podcast titled “Talking Biotech” (www.talkingbiotechpodcast.com). Its purpose is to “help connect the public to current science and technology and let scientists tell the stories of how science can help our farmers, industrialized world consumers, the environment and the Developing World. The hope is this resource can entertain and explain how new tools can improve food security, reduce poverty and improve agricultural and medical practices.” For his efforts, Folta was recognized with the prestigious CAST Borlaug Agricultural Communications Award this year, along with host of other professional awards over the years.
A host of other bloggers/podcasters who are “agvocates” joined Folta this year in the fight for agricultural biotechnology. For his leadership and many years of education on biotechnology, we chose Folta as our 2016 Pro Farmer ag person of the year.
