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Crop Insurance Decision Tool
This program calculates premiums, evaluates insurance payments, and provides historical data useful when making crop insurance decisions for multiple crops. Estimates are for crops in midwest and southeast states. Learn…
Crop Insurance Premium Calculator
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Latest farmdoc Daily Articles
How California’s New Locomotive Regulation Could Impact Midwest Agriculture
California’s In-Use Locomotive Regulation establishes new requirements and standards for locomotives that operate in the state, which, if authorized, could have economic implications beyond the state’s borders and negatively impact agricultural producers that rely on rail transport, particularly those in the Midwest. This article examines those potential impacts, which include increased transportation costs and shifts in logistic strategies.
The Range of New-Crop Price Expectations Is Narrowing Early
Current options-implied price distributions for 2024 new-crop corn and soybeans reveal that the range of expected price outcomes has narrowed more quickly in 2024 than in recent years. This market trend suggests a more bearish outlook compared to previous years, with implications for farmers’ marketing decisions as the likelihood of a significant growing-season rally in new-crop futures is shrinking.
US Inflation and Labor
The rate of increase in the nominal (i.e. not adjusted for inflation) cost of US labor has been increasing since 2015. It is higher now than at any time since the late 1980s. Moreover, no long-term upward trend exists in US labor productivity. Caution is thus in order when speculating that the increasing cost of US labor is a temporary event and that artificial intelligence will increase US labor productivity and dampen its cost.
Revised 2024 Illinois Crop Budgets
In this farmdoc daily article, we present revisions to the 2024 Crop Budgets for Illinois, highlighting changes from our January release for high-productivity farmland in central Illinois while discussing the more general trends across regions. We have revised corn and soybean prices down, while cost adjustments were mixed. Farmer return projections for corn are improved across regions, while soybean return expectations are improved for southern Illinois but similar or lower for other regions.
The Price is Right? Consumer Preferences for Food Manufacturer Responses to Increased Input Costs
Recently, media reports have shown that consumers are frustrated by food manufacturer responses to increased food prices, including ‘shrinkflation’, and ‘skimpflation’. Finding effective ways to manage higher input costs without affecting demand or profit margins is top of mind for many food manufacturers. We utilize results from the Gardner Food and Agricultural Policy Survey to investigate consumer preferences for how a food manufacturer might respond to increased input costs.
Costs and Returns for Illinois Beef Producers in 2023
Total economic returns in 2023 for Illinois beef feeding enterprises exceeded total costs by $2.04 per 100 pounds of beef produced in preliminary findings for farms enrolled in Illinois Farm Business Farm Management. The 2023 returns were lower than the 2022 total returns above all costs (2022 was the highest since this study began) by $19.73 per 100 pounds produced. Total returns have exceeded total economic costs in five out of the last ten years.
Latest Farm Policy News Articles
USDA to Pay Dairies For Milk Loss Due to Bird Flu
Progressive Farmer’s Chris Clayton reported Thursday that “USDA will now pay dairy farmers for lost milk production if their herds have been infected with H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza.” “Starting…
Iowa Regulators Approve Summit Carbon Pipeline Permit
The Des Moines Register’s Kevin Baskins reported that “after a 2½-year process filled with controversy, the Iowa Utilities Board on Tuesday approved Summit Carbon Solutions’ request to build a carbon…
House Farm Bill Provision Could Block Roundup Lawsuits
The Washington Post’s Tony Romm reported late last week that “the approximately 1,000-page House version of the (Farm Bill) contains a single section — drafted with the aid of Bayer…
Denmark Implementing Novel Tax on Farm Emissions
Bloomberg’s Sanne Wass reported Monday that “Denmark will introduce a levy on farm emissions in what is set to be one of the world’s first carbon taxes on agriculture, helping…
Rain Causing Growing Concern for U.S. Crops
Reuters’ Naveen Thukral reported Monday that “in the United States, a top food exporter, intense heat has gripped parts of the east coast, while excessive rains in the key Midwest…
New CBO Estimate Remains Below GOP Farm Bill Needs
Agri-Pulse’s Philip Brasher reported Wednesday that “the Congressional Budget Office is sticking with a cost estimate for USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation spending authority that is far lower than congressional Republicans…