Latest News From Oil seeds

Bioplastic—grown by farmers—could be massive for the agriculture industry, if related technology proves economical from field production to processing plant.

Each Friday this fall, AgriTalk's Chip Flory will be “Outdoors on the Farm,” sharing tips and ideas about managing wildlife and natural resources. He's making the trek to Iowa for this segment.

When you think about crop production in the U.S., the big three are corn, soybeans and wheat—in that order. One crop that garners only a modest number of acres but might be worth taking a look at for your farm is canola. “In the U.S., the ratio of supply versus demand of canola oil is about 1:4, which presents a huge opportunity for U.S. producers to grow more canola,” according the U.S. Canola Association. There are a number of reasons for that. Among them, according to the USDA, is that canola oil for cooking ranks behind only soybean oil and palm oil. In addition, canola meal is the second-most used feed meal with livestock, behind only soybean meal. In the past 40 years, canola has gone from being the sixth-largest oil crop to the second largest globally. Even so, U.S. farmers—at 17 million acres in 2017—produce only a small portion of the global crop. North Dakota farmers produce 83% of the total crop, according to Margaret Smith with the agricultural marketing resource center at Iowa State University.

Soybean production is projected at 3,880 million bushels, up 80 million due to increased harvested area.  Harvested area, forecast at a record 83.0 million acres in the June 30 Acreage report, is 1.6 million above the June forecast.  The soybean yield is projected at 46.7 bushels per acre, unchanged from last month.

Soybean ending stocks for 2015/16 are projected at 370 million bushels, down 30 million from last month.  Ending stocks for 2016/17 are reduced 45 million bushels to 260 million on lower beginning stocks and increased exports. 

France’s winter rapeseed production may slide to a three-year low this year as crops were hit by insect infestations and as cool, cloudy conditions threaten to reduce yields.

Soybean production is projected at 3,800 million bushels, down 129 million from the 2015 crop on lower harvested area and trend yields. Supplies are projected at 4,230 million bushels, up 1.9 percent from 2015/16 with higher beginning stocks more than offsetting lower production. 

 U.S. soybean supply and use changes for 2015/16 include higher exports, lower seed use, and lower ending stocks. 

Cotton farmers in the U.S. are facing a crisis.

U.S. soybean production is projected at 3,929 million bushels, down slightly from last month due to a revision to South Carolina production.

Bunge Ltd., the world’s largest oilseed processor, posted lower-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings after U.S. soybean processing margins fell and Brazilian demand weakened for food products such as margarine and wheat.

U.S. soybean ending stocks for 2015/16 are projected at 450 million bushels, up 10 million from last month due to a lower crush.  

Soybean production is estimated at 3.930 million bushels, down 51 million on lower harvested area and yields. Yield is estimated at 48.0 bushels per acre. 

Soybean ending stocks are unchanged at 465 million bushels which, if realized, would be the highest since 2006/07.  

The mustard crop can be used as a jet fuel source, protein meal and rotational crop option                         

The soybean yield is forecast at 48.3 bushels per acre, up 1.1 bushels mainly on gains for Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota.

Soybean production is down 47 million bushels with higher yields only partly offsetting reduced harvested area.

 U.S. oilseed production for 2015/16 is projected at 116.1 million tons, up 0.7 million from last month on increased soybean, cottonseed, and peanut production.

Harvested area is revised down 0.9 million acres from the July estimate to 83.5 million mainly on lower acreage in Missouri. The first survey-based soybean yield forecast of 46.9 bushels per acre is 0.9 bushels above last month’s projected trend and 0.9 bushels below last year’s record yield.

Frank Forcella, a research agronomist with the agency, says echium could bring more money per acre than corn.

Soybean production is projected at 3,885 million bushels, up 35 million due to increased harvested area.

This month’s U.S. soybean supply and use projections for 2015/16 include lower beginning stocks, slightly higher crush, and lower ending stocks.

Harvested area is projected at 83.7 million acres based on a 5-year average harvested-to-planted ratio and planted area of 84.6 million acres.

The drop in soybean oil prices shrank its premium over processed palm olein to $50/ton. That spread needs to bounce back to $70 for palm to regain market share.

U.S. soybean supplies for 2014/15 are projected at 4.091 million bushels, up 5 million on increased imports.

Soybean ending stocks remain projected at an 8-year high of 385 million bushels.

The NDSU scientists are focusing on using oilseed from agricultural crops, cellulose, lignin and sucrose to generate building blocks of molecules that are made into polymers to create plastics.

The owner of two Mississippi cottonseed processing facilities may close one plant because of reduced cotton acreage.

After harvesting a wheat field six weeks ago, Indiana farmer Paul Russell planted sunflowers, sunnhemp, pearl millet, oilseed radishes, Austrian winter peas, oats, cowpeas, sorghum-sudangrass and Ethiopian cabbage in the field.

The $2.7 billion acquisition of U.S. grain collection and storage firm Gavilon Holdings LLC accounted for 1.5 billion yen ($15 million) of Marubeni’s 69.1 billion yen net income in the most recent quarter.

Global production of 10 major oilseeds is forecast to climb 3% in 2014-15 on a bigger soybean harvest, lifting stocks to a record by the end of the next season, Oil World said.

Wheat carry also trimmed vs. March