U.S. Department of Agriculture

U.S. crop area planted, harvested, yield and production in domestic units.

Demand and weather updates are two key factors ahead for most commodity markets. While this space would never try to forecast something harder than even this Congress, the weather, the following are highlights of the USDA Weekly Export Sales report for the week ended July 7, along with our comments:

This year, shortly before Memorial Day, signs identifying the various crops that are grown in Idaho and Lewis counties began sprouting up along U.S. Highway 95, State Highway 162 between Grangeville and Nezperce and in some spots beside U.S. Highway 12.

Price Loss Coverage (PLC) payment rates for 2015 crops of wheat and oats have been set, with wheat at 61 cents per bushel and oats at 28 cents per bushel, according to USDA, with no payment for barley.

The Show-Me State is home to an abundance of resources, one of which has proven an underrated asset for USDA and its school food distribution costs. Can you guess what it is?

Farmers and ranchers filing crop acreage reports with FSA and participating insurance providers approved by RMA now can provide the common information from their acreage reports at one office.

Enrollment of more than 800,000 acres of land into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), including 411,000 acres via general signup 49, another 364,000 acres under continuous signup efforts and 101,000 acres via the new CRP Grasslands effort, has been announced by USDA.

Using technology and data-mining are two of the ways that USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is utilizing to make sure the integrity of the federal crop insurance program is intact.

Krysta Harden, the former U.S. deputy secretary of agriculture, will join DuPont as vice president of public policy and chief sustainability officer.

Producers have taken out marketing assistance loans (MALs) an increasing amount of 2015-crop corn, soybeans, wheat and sorghum, according to USDA data.