Stocks are an important market variable.  They reflect the balance between supply and demand.  High stocks generally mean low prices, and vice versa.  US policy toward stocks has changed over time, culminating in the 1996 farm bill eliminating most public…

The March 31st Prospective Plantings report from the USDA continues to reverberate through the grain markets.  The report indicated that both corn and soybean planted acreage was much smaller than expected (farmdoc daily, April 7, 2021).  This has prompted considerable…

Over time, per acre input costs on grain farms tend to rise with commodity price increases (see also farmdoc daily, September 17, 2015). In this article, we illustrate this relationship for corn in 1) central Illinois using data from Illinois…

Examining the competitiveness of corn production in different regions of the world is often difficult due to lack of comparable data and agreement regarding what needs to be measured.  To be useful, international data needs to be expressed in common…

As spring planting nears completion in much of the corn belt, attention turns to the weather and its impact on crop yields and prices. Market analysts often speak of a “weather premium” in the futures price for harvest-time delivery (i.e.…

The Biden administration has expressed interest in raising federal estate taxes by lowering the tax-triggering estate value and increasing estate tax rates. Such proposals were included in recent draft legislation entitled “For the 99.5% Act.” This draft legislation focuses on…

Reuters writers Jarrett Renshaw and Stephanie Kelly reported late last week that, “President Joe Biden’s administration, under pressure from labor unions and U.S. senators including from his home state of Delaware, is considering ways to provide relief to U.S. oil…

Bloomberg News reported on Friday that, “China’s embarked on a record corn-buying spree this year and some vessels have been delayed for as long as a month outside southern ports because of congestion, incurring hefty demurrage fees.”

Washington Post writer Dino Grandoni reported this week that, “The Biden administration is set to toss out President Donald Trump’s efforts to scale back the number of streams, marshes and other wetlands that fall under federal protection, kicking off a…

Reuters News reported this week that, “China imported 789,000 tonnes of meat in May, down 3.3% from the same month a year earlier, customs data showed on Monday, after a plunge in domestic pork prices dented appetite for imports.”

Wall Street Journal writers Tom Fairless, Alistair MacDonald and Jesse Newman reported on the front page of Tuesday’s paper that, “The run-up in commodity prices is casting a cloud over the global economic recovery, slamming vulnerable businesses and households and…

Financial Times writer Aime Williams reported on Monday that, “Donald Trump’s trade war with China left American farmers dependent on government handouts to survive. But China is now at the heart of a reversal in farmers’ fortunes, as booming exports…