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Good Morning farm country. Davis Michaelsen here with your morning update for Wednesday, April 21. From Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today, these are some of the stories we are watching this morning:
Corn and soybean futures saw a mix of followthrough buying and profit-taking overnight, with a few contracts registering new contract highs. Corn is now mixed, and soybeans are trading low-range and steady to 2 cents higher. SRW wheat futures are 4 to 5 cents higher after another night of sub-freezing temperatures for winter wheat country, with HRW wheat up 1 to 7 cents. Neither market has challenged yesterday’s spike highs. Spring wheat futures are 5 to 10 cents higher but well within yesterday’s trading range. The U.S. dollar index is up slightly, with crude oil futures under pressure.
China issued guidelines today recommending cuts to corn and soymeal use in pig and poultry feed. China is thought to have a much larger corn deficit than it has let on, fueling aggressive corn purchases and a global price rally.
A U.S. attaché in Argentina estimates the country’s 2020-21 bean crop at 45 MMT, which is 2.5 MMT under USDA’s official production peg. It expects the country to export 5.5 MMT of that grain, which is also 1.35 MMT lighter than USDA projects.
Japan is preparing to reintroduce a state of emergency in Tokyo and Osaka. This comes with just three months to go before the Summer Olympics are set to commence in Tokyo. With Covid-19 infections rising sharply again, the governor of Tokyo said Tuesday that she planned to ask the central government to bring back a state of emergency for a third time in the capital.
Self-employed businesses, as well as farm and ranch partnerships, would be eligible for larger pandemic relief loans under a bill introduced yesterday by a bipartisan group of senators. The bill would allow farm and ranch partnerships to apply for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans using “gross income” on their tax returns to get larger loans.
A bipartisan group of senators reintroduced the Growing Climate Solutions Act yesterday, a bill that would establish a federal program to help agriculture producers access carbon credit markets. The American Farm Bureau Federation is one of more than 60 agricultural and environment organizations to back the measure.
Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Biden’s infrastructure proposal fails to sufficiently embody a “fix-it first” philosophy and instead funnels funding to electric vehicles. “What the administration is doing is spending billions more on subsidies related to electric vehicles, than on the roads and bridges on which they will travel,” Collins said.
Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) reintroduced their Green New Deal resolution, keeping up pressure on the White House to take sweeping action to address climate change. “We’re going to transition to a 100% carbon free economy that is more unionized, more just, more dignified and guarantees more health care and housing than we ever have before,” the far left New York Democrat said at a news conference yesterday.
Nearby live cattle contracts below last week’s cash trade, signaling the market would not be surprised by a setback after several weeks of gains. So far, all is quiet on the cash market front.
June lean hog futures hold just a $3 premium to the cash market versus the usual $12 for this point in the season. This may hint at an early seasonal high is near. Cash hog bids continue to climb, rising another $1.14 on Tuesday.
