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Good Morning farm country. Davis Michaelsen here with your morning update for Monday, April 19. From Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today, these are some of the stories we are watching this morning:
Corn futures have rallied 6 to 8 cents, with old-crop leading the charge. December corn registered a new contract high this morning. Soybean futures are 5 to 9 cents higher, with old-crop leading gains. November beans have come within a penny of the contract high. Winter wheat futures are also rallying amid cold weather threats, with futures 2 to 4 cents higher. Spring wheat futures are also 2 to 4 cents higher. Crude oil futures are posting slight losses. The U.S. dollar index has dived to its lowest point since early March.
Frost and freezes are possible for many winter wheat producing areas from west Texas through the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma into central Oklahoma and Central Kansas, as well as farther to the north on Wednesday, reports World Weather Inc. “Most of the crop will come through the cold weather with mostly burned vegetative growth, but no long-term production impact,” the weather watcher reports.
The U.S. will host its two-day virtual Leaders’ Summit on Climate on April 22-23. The summit is a key part of President Joe Biden’s attempt to increase Washington’s international role on climate matters after former President Donald Trump exited the Paris Agreement in 2019.
Biden plans to meet with a bipartisan group of lawmakers at the White House today as outreach continues on his $2.25 trillion infrastructure-and-tax plan. The group will discuss “historic investments in the American jobs plan including in highways, drinking water systems, broadband and the care economy,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal project U.S. gross domestic product will grow 6.4% this year, measured from the fourth quarter of last year to the same period of this year. Meanwhile, they expect employment this year to grow 5%.
USDA recently made changes to the Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) program handbook. Insured crops with production to count reduced because of the ratio between established insurance price and sales price which received a WHIP+ payment are now ineligible if they received a quality based crop insurance indemnity and WHIP plus indemnity.
Beef production slipped 0.1% the week ending April 17, a retreat that comes at a time when the product market is clamoring for more production. Boxed beef values extended their already impressive rallies and cash cattle trade ranged from $120 to $125 last week, with northern locations leading.
Daily trading limits for lean hog futures are expanded today after heavy selling Friday. Heavy losses to close last week does not bode well for price action early this week. Cash hog bids did climb a national average of $1.71 on Friday.
