U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA is Discontinuing A Major Cattle Report, And it Could Now Spur More Volatility For Cattle Prices
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) announced it’s canceling the July Cattle Inventory Report. In the announcement, NASS blamed budget cuts from the most recent appropriations bills.
Lance Honig, acting director of the NASS methodology division, says budget constraints led to the agency’s decision. The County Estimates data was used over the years, in part, to determine federal farm program payments.
The second USDA Crop Progress Report of the year shows farmers are already ahead in planting the 2024 crop with six states pacing ahead of the five-year average.
The first look at a new farm bill could happen as early as next week. It’s long overdue after nothing was released out of Committee in 2023. Now, there’s growing doubt a farm bill will even be passed in 2024.
As most of the U.S. is still prepping for spring planting, USDA’s weekly crop progress report shares Texas growers have already planted more than half their corn acres.
USDA says farmers intend to plant 90 million acres of corn this year, which is lower than the trade expected prior to USDA’s big Prospective Plantings report.
USDA says genetic sequencing revealed the mystery illness impacting Texas dairies is the same strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) that’s been in the U.S. The virus is carried by wild waterfowl.
With the exception of Chicago wheat, grain markets scored higher weekly closes and ended above the 20-day moving average for the first time in weeks, according to Darren Frye, Water Street Solutions.
“It’s hard to put yourself in growth mode when things are getting so expensive,” says Tanner Ehmke with CoBank.
USDA NASS has released the 2022 Census of Agriculture data, which revealed important information about the current state of agriculture.