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Argentina and Brazil get some weekend rains, more predicted... Beneficial rains fell over the weekend in Argentina and portions of central and southern Brazil, according to World Weather, Inc. Nearly all of Argentina got rain over the weekend, including some of the driest areas in the west. However, the rain was minimal in an area of developing dryness in eastern Entre Rios.
Most of Argentina is forecast to see favorable conditions for planting and development of crops during the next ten days to two weeks. But rain during the period is not likely to be great enough to prevent many areas from drying down overall and some of the drier areas may see rising levels of crop stress in the last week of the month.
For Brazil and Paraguay, some of the areas that got minimal rain over the weekend are forecast to get additional precip during the next few days. Most areas of Brazil and Paraguay will see important increases in topsoil soil moisture that will at least temporarily improve conditions for crops.
USDA offers spot market hog pandemic aid... USDA announced it will accept applications for the Spot Market Hog Pandemic Program (SMHPP) from Dec. 15, through Feb. 25, 2022. The program provides assistance to hog producers who sold hogs through negotiated sales from April 16, 2020 through Sept. 1, 2020. To be eligible, the producer must be a person or legal entity who has ownership in the hogs and whose production facilities are located in the United States, including U.S. territories. Contract producers, federal, state and local governments, including public schools and packers are not eligible for the program.
Payments will be calculated by multiplying the number of head of eligible hogs, not to exceed 10,000 head, by the payment rate of $54 per head. FSA will issue payments to eligible hog producers as applications are received and approved.
Eligible hog producers can apply for SMHPP by completing the FSA-940, Spot Market Hog Pandemic Program application. Additional documentation may be required.
France, China agree to regional approach to pig disease and trade bans... To ensure pork trade can continue even if an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) occurs, France and China signed an agreement that would allow for bans from regional areas if the disease is found, instead of a blanket ban on imports for the entire country. The agreement takes effect immediately. ASF is not present in France but has spread across Europe.
This can potentially provide a blueprint for European countries threatened by ASF or other animal diseases. Germany is in ongoing talks with Beijing about a regional approach. It has been excluded from the Chinese market due to ASF cases in eastern Germany since last year.
France is also working on regionalization approach for bird flu, which has been detected in the country. The U.S. already has a regionalization approach in place covering bird flu.
New China import rules bring headaches for food and beverage makers... New Chinese regulations for foreign food and beverage processors looking to export products to China may run into roadblocks as the new year approaches and much ambiguity remains around China’s new import policies. While this is not likely to significantly or directly impact U.S. grain and oilseed producers, it could impact the processors to which U.S. farmers sell their produce.
China now requires that all importers register any food manufacturing, processing and storage facility abroad with its customs administration by Dec. 31, 2021 in order to conduct business in China. But China has not made the registration process easy or even accessible for some importers.
“The Chinese system is working now but the English one is on a trial version,” Li Xiang, business development manager at Chemical Inspection and Regulation Services Ltd (CIRS) Europe, which is helping companies with the registration process, told Reuters. “There is not a lot of time to understand what the requirements are and I think that is the main concern from our membership.”
China is not likely to extend a grace period to importers for these new regulations. It has become the world’s largest importer of foodstuffs and announced earlier this year that food security would be its “number one” priority.
“We have never had anything this draconian out of China,” Andy Anderson, executive director of the Western United States Agricultural Trade Association (WUSATA), a trade group that promotes U.S. food exports, also told Reuters.
CWRS wheat quantity down, but quality up... This year Western Canadian farmers harvested a high-quality CWRS wheat crop...albeit a smaller one due to drought. Ninety percent of the 3,500 or so samples submitted to the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) through its annual Harvest Sample Program fell into the top two grades. Almost 96% are in the top three.
“Even though there were challenges with production...it looks like production is down roughly a third from normal...we have 66% of CWRS samples grading No. 1 and approximately 24% of samples grading No. 2,” said CGC chief grain inspector Derek Bunkowsky. “So we’re sitting with 90% in the top two grades and that’s excellent.”
Top-quality CWRS wheat and strong prices will help farmers make up some of the losses from this summer’s drought. Western farmers reaped several high-quality wheat crops in a row, but most years there’s a bit more downgrading than there was in 2021, Bunkowsky said.
CWRS wheat across the West is also high in protein, averaging 14.7%. “That’s significantly higher than normal,” Bunkowsky said. “Last year it was 13.3%. The 10-year average is 13.6%, so we’re slightly more than a percentage point higher in protein this year. That’s significant. And that allows end-users and millers additional blending capacity when they have that high protein. That’s a positive thing.”
EU soft wheat crop production predicted to fall, rapeseed rise next year... Soft wheat production in the European Union and the United Kingdom is expected to fall next year as yields in the Balkan region return to average levels after record crops this year, grain industry association Coceral predicted.
Coceral’s first forecasts for next year’s harvest projected soft wheat production in the 27-country EU plus the UK at 139.8 MMT in 2022, down from 143.2 MMT in 2021.
Wheat production in France, EU’s biggest wheat producer, is projected to fall to 34.5 MMT from 35.3 MMT this year. In Germany, the second largest EU wheat producer, the crop is forecast to rise to 22.1 MMT from 21.4 MMT this year.
For rapeseed, Europe’s main oilseed crop, Coceral said it expected EU and UK production at 20.0 MMT, up from 18.5 MMT this year. Several countries including Germany, France, Britain, Romania and Bulgaria are expected to have a sharp increase in planted area.
Corn production would also be little changed, at 66.4 MMT against 66.3 MMT in 2021, with a much higher expected crop in Hungary offsetting slightly lower output forecast in Poland, Germany, France, and Romania.
Australia asks countries for urea to ease trucking fears... Australia has asked Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Japan for urea needed to make a diesel additive essential for trucks. The Australian Trucking Association last week raised concern about a looming shortage of diesel exhaust fluid known as AdBlue, which it said could hit trucking operations and threaten goods transport across the country. Currently, the country estimates it has enough of supply until February 2022.
Diesel exhaust fluid is made from urea and is used to curb nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions.
To spur renewable fuel growth, U.S. energy firms push states for carbon markets... U.S. energy companies are pressing states to speed development of low-carbon fuel markets, warning that numerous proposed projects to make renewable natural gas and other biofuels may fizzle.
Nearly every U.S. independent petroleum refiner has announced plans to produce fuel from waste and vegetable oils because the incentives can prove profitable for their industries. The U.S. Energy Department projects renewable diesel will be about 7% of the overall diesel pool by 2030; it is currently just 5%.
According to California’s Air Resources Board (CARB), the price of Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits in California, which are generated and traded by companies that produce fuel at a lower carbon intensity than a benchmark set by various states, has dropped nearly 30% in the last two months to below $145 per metric ton of carbon.
Biofuel producers argued during the comment period that quicker action is needed from regulators to keep investors who anticipated LCFS prices staying in the $200 range.
Last month, an East Coast low-carbon program that would have included Massachusetts and Connecticut died. Stakeholders are now eying New York to significantly increased investment in renewable diesel through 2030.
Supreme Court asks U.S. government for views on Bayer weedkiller case... The U.S. Supreme Court asked the Biden administration for its views on whether the justices should hear Bayer AG’s bid to dismiss claims by customers who contend its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer.
In August, Bayer filed a petition with the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court decision that upheld $25 million in damages awarded to California resident Edwin Hardeman, a Roundup user who blamed his cancer on glyphosate-based weedkillers.
The Supreme Court’s decision on whether to take up the matter is being closely watched as Bayer maneuvers to limit its legal liability in thousands of cases. U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar in the coming months is due to file a brief expressing the administration’s views. The court’s announcement often indicates the justices are interested in hearing a case.
