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Good Morning farm country. Davis Michaelsen here with your morning update for Thursday, June 3. From Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today, these are some of the stories we are watching this morning:
Corn futures are 4 to 5 cents higher and well within Wednesday’s trading range. Soybean futures have rallied 13 to 17 cents, extending the rebound. Winter wheat futures are up 7 to 8 cents in most contracts. Spring wheat futures are 6 to 10 cents higher; the market has gone vertical this week. The U.S. dollar index is slightly higher and crude oil futures are down slightly after hitting a new multi-year high overnight. USDA’s weekly export sales update is pushed back to Friday due to Monday’s Memorial Day holiday.
Yesterday, Brazil’s Infrastructure Minister said efforts to save water and direct it to power generation will inevitably disrupt navigation on a key waterway. The country is dealing with its worst water crisis in nearly a century.
India may lower import duties on edible oils, two government and two industry officials told Reuters. This comes after cooking oil prices hit record-highs during May. India is the world’s largest importer of vegetable oil.
Global food prices climbed 4.8% from April to May, with prices now up a dramatic 39.7% from year-ago, according to the food price index released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
The Caixin China services purchasing managers index slipped to 55.1 from 56.3 in April, Caixin Media and research firm IHS Markit said. Business activity and new orders rose sharply but the subindex of new export orders fell for the third time in four months. One familiar theme: “Inflationary pressure was enormous as price gauges continued to rise.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott (D-Ga.) said he has “serious concerns” about how President Joe Biden’s proposed tax increases could affect farmers, ranchers and other small businesses. “While I appreciate that the proposal provides for some exemptions, the provisions could still result in significant tax burdens on many family farming operations,” Scott said in a letter to Biden.
The Federal Reserve Wednesday announced they will “begin winding down” its portfolio of the Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility (SMCCF) that was deployed by the central bank as part of Covid aid efforts.
President Joe Biden Wednesday announced a goal of having 70% of adults having at least one Covid-19 vaccine by July 4, labeling June a “month of action” to meet that goal.
Chinese demand for milk (and cheese) has been rising steadily and spiked during the Covid-19 pandemic when doctors touted its health benefits. While China is the world’s third largest milk producer, its 34 MMT in output only satisfied around 70% of domestic needs in in 2020, Reuters reports.
Live and feeder cattle futures posted sharp gains at midweek as JBS facilities came back online after an early week ransomware attack. Moderate cash cattle trade picked yesterday up in Iowa from $119 to $121, in Kansas and Texas mostly around $120 and in Nebraska.
Average hog weights in the Iowa/southern Minnesota market fell 0.4 lbs. the week ending May 29 to 283.1 lbs., which is well under year-ago when Covid-related processing closures/pullbacks were backing up supplies. Cash hog bids edged 27 cents lower on Wednesday.
