Crops
The Kansas Wheat Quality Council’s 2021 winter wheat tour wrapped up after making it’s way across the state. And the 2021 yield potential is high. Scouts uncovered the highest tour average on record going back to 2000.
The undertaking is so big that the agency employs two different surveys.
Gated tile systems can help deal with troublesome issues.
From a weakening basis to concerns about falling demand, soybean prices slipped on Friday, hitting a one-month low. AgriTalk’s Chip Flory digests the slipping soybean prices and what it means for the week ahead.
China’s appetite for new crop corn is now sitting in uncharted waters. China has committed to purchasing 321.2 million bushels, or 8.15 million metric tons, since May 10, and analysts say there are two main drivers.
If you still have 80,000 to 90,000 viable plants after a frost, you’ll likely be money ahead to leave that crop in the field.
NOAA’s annual hurricane outlook released this month shows the agency predicts another above-normal Atlantic hurricane season. NOAA’s outlook points to a 60% chance of an above-normal season.
USDA’s latest Crop Progress report shows corn planting jumped 10 points in a week, now sitting at 90% complete. Only two states are seeing planting progress behind the five-year average.
Corn and soybean prices saw pressure on Monday as recent rains in the Midwest weighed on the market. Wheat futures also traded lower, falling to the lowest level in more than a month.
A Mexican federal judge ruled against a request by the National Farm Council to freeze a government plan to ban genetically modified (GMO) corn and the widely used herbicide glyphosate by 2024.
The commodity markets finished the month of May with more volatility. As the market is greeted by June next week, analysts say weather will start having an even bigger impact on prices.
As rains drop needed moisture for areas of the country dealing with drought and in need of relief, the situation is growing more dire in the West.
Total U.S. sorghum acres are projected to reach 6.91 million acres this season, according to the most recent USDA Prospective Plantings Report. Acres could go even higher, as Kansas growers are just starting to plant.
USDA’s report this week showed 76% of the U.S. corn crop is rated good to excellent, 2 points better than last year. The ratings are causing confusion for farmers seeing struggling crop stands due to weather extremes.
U.S. soybean oil futures rallied to a record high on Monday, with tight supplies in focus due to strong demand from the biofuel sector as drivers return to roads following COVID-19 related shutdowns.
Nationwide, USDA shows 72% of the corn crop is rated good to excellent, which is a 4 percentage point drop from last week. This week’s rating is also 3 points behind last year.
One problem is soil temperature related while the other occurs at a specific growth stage. Both can take a bite out of bushels available at harvest.
The act that helped open the country to settlement by farmers and veterans, the Homestead Act, is now approaching its 160-year anniversary. In use until 1986, some 270 million acres were claimed and settled.
Drought conditions have lessened a bit in portions of North Dakota thanks to some rain, but frigid temperatures late last week and into the weekend also took its toll on crops across the upper Midwest.
The dire drought situation is one USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey thinks could last through at least the remainder of 2021. Forecasts also point to a drier weather pattern returning for Texas and the Plains.
A Brazilian agribusiness consultancy announced a new forecast reduction for the country’s second corn crop because of a severe drought, adding that yields are expected to touch a five-year low this season.
The final days of May were soggy and cold for areas of the Plains, which was a sudden switch from the dryness headlining the weather year so far. The wet weather could dampen outlooks for winter wheat harvest in areas.
USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says northern Iowa saw the third latest freeze in history, only behind the years 1897 and 1947. The damage is now exposed in fields, with acres of no-till soybeans wiped out.
Even with rains hitting areas of the Plains and Corn Belt last week, U.S. corn planting progressed to 95% complete, a five-point bump in a week and three percentage points ahead of last year’s pace.
Adjusting inputs can yield $100 more per acre.
USDA is set to release its latest WASDE report Thursday. Analysts say the June WASDE report typically isn’t the biggest market moving report for the month, but think there are key changes that need to be made.
Corn Prices Boosted by USDA Report Reflecting Robust Exports, Ethanol’s Rapid Recovery from COVID-19
USDA’s June World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) caused corn prices to hang on to the day’s gains, but spurred soybean prices to tumble Thursday.
As drought conditions in the West are continuing to expand, hotter temperatures aren’t helping things. Heat that started building over the weekend is not good news for areas already dealing with that drought.
The change in the weather forecast sent commodity prices plummeting Monday. Corn and soybean prices saw pressure after the weather models produced an outlook for wetter and cooler weather by the end of the week.
It’s a steady theme since USDA introduced corn crop condition ratings this year. The quality of the crop continues to decline, with corn dropping 4 points each week. Soybean conditions also fell.