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Good Morning farm country. Davis Michaelsen here with your morning update for Friday, February 19. From Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today, these are some of the stories we are watching this morning:
Corn futures are trading high-range and up a penny in most contracts. Soybeans saw two-sided action overnight, but futures are now up 5 to 7 cents. Wheat futures are fractionally to 2 cents higher. Crude oil futures have tumbled from recent highs. The greenback is also under pressure.
At its annual Ag Outlook Forum this week, USDA issued initial projections for 2021-22:
Corn: Planted acreage of 92.0 million, with harvested acres of 84.4 million. A national average corn yield of 179.5 bu. per acre would produce a crop of 15.150 billion bushels.
Soybeans: Planted acreage of 90.0 million, with harvested acres at 89.1 million. A national average bean yield of 50.8 bu. per acre would result in a crop of 4.525 billion bushels.
Wheat: Planted acreage of 45.0 million, with harvested acres at 37.2 million. A national average yield of 49.1 bu. per acre would produce a crop of 1.827 billion bushels.
Cotton: Planted acreage of 12.0 million, with harvested acres at 10.0 million and a national average yield of 840 lbs. per acre. That would produce a crop of 17.50 million bales.
Cattle: Beef production for 2021 is projected at 27.5 billion lbs., up 1.4% from last year. Total commercial cattle slaughter is projected 1% higher for the year.
Hogs: Pork production for 2021 is projected at a record-high 28.7 billion lbs., up 1.4% from 2020.
The Adjusted World Price (AWP) for cotton rose to 73.17 cents per pound, effective today, the second week above 70 cents per pound and the highest since it was at 73.79 cents per pound the week of Sept. 14, 2018.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday said a large stimulus package is still necessary to get the economy back to full strength, despite momentum suggesting that growth is off to a faster start than anticipated in 2021. In a CNBC interview, she said the $1.9-trillion proposal could help the U.S. get back to full employment in a year.
For the fourth time in the past five months, the Creighton University Rural Mainstreet Index (RMI) climbed above growth neutral. According to the monthly survey of bank CEOs in rural areas of a 10-state region dependent on agriculture and/or energy, the index rose to 53.8 from January’s 52.0, marking the index’s highest level since January 2020.
Weather continues to upend the livestock sector, with the cold temperatures and natural gas shortages in southern areas of the country stressing animals, disrupting marketing and slowing processing. Through Thursday, this week’s cattle kill is estimated 95,000 head shy of year-ago.
Thursday’s hog kill slowed to 15,000 head below year-ago levels, underscoring the impact of cold weather across the nation’s midsection. Average cash hog prices climbed $1.03 on Thursday, despite slowed slaughter. Today the market will shift attention to USDA’s weekly export sales update.
