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Good Morning farm country. Davis Michaelsen here with your morning update for Thursday, April 29. From Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today, these are some of the stories we are watching this morning:
Corn futures are split, with new-crop fractionally to 7 cents higher, and old-crop fractionally lower. The front-month has been testing resistance at $7.00. Old-crop soybeans are up 2 to 8 cents, while new-crop are fractionally to a penny lower. Winter wheat futures also faced some pressure early in the overnight session, but futures are currently up 1 to 3 cents. Spring wheat futures are 3 to 6 cents higher. The U.S. dollar index is marginally lower. Crude oil futures are posting solid gains.
CME Group announced another hike to margins on corn and wheat futures. The new rates will take effect after the close of business today.
Dredging of Argentina’s key Parana River will continue for another 90 days, the government announced today. That news came as a relief to farmers and exporters.
In a 67-minute address to a joint session of Congress, President Joe Biden pushed massive spending on infrastructure, education, technological initiatives and social services that he said will ensure the country emerges from the coronavirus crisis in a stronger position than before. Biden has proposed or spent $6 trillion in new spending in an effort to convince such voters that activist government can materially improve their lives.
Biden’s new economic plan would eliminate a tax break for many real-estate owners that has enabled them to defer paying capital gains on property sales. The Biden proposal would abolish 1031 exchanges on real-estate profits of more than $500,000.
Biden’s capital gains reform act includes exclusions for family farms… USDA released an analysis of Biden’s plan that said it would defer any tax liability on family farms “as long as the farm remains family-owned and operated.”
China reported an outbreak of African swine fever at a farm in its northern Mongolia region that had 432 pigs, 343 of which had died. This marks China’s 10th official outbreak report of the year, though private estimates say as much as 30% of northern China’s hog herd may have been wiped out by a resurgence of the virus.
Cattle futures dropped in the face of still-soaring boxed beef prices amid strong consumer demand. Cash cattle trade got underway yesterday from $118 to $120, steady to lower compared with last week’s action.
Lean hog futures rallied at midweek, with nearbys leading the market in posting moderate to sharp gains. Cash hog bids fell $1.58 nationally. Today, traders will focus on USDA’s weekly export sales update.
