At noon on January 20, 2021, the American experiment in self-government passed a crucial, difficult test: Joseph R. Biden, Jr. took the Oath of Office and became President of the United States two weeks to the day after the most…

There are many factors that influence consumers’ food purchasing decisions – taste, price, appearance, environmental impact, etc. Researchers and marketers alike are interested in the weight consumers place on these different factors, also referred to as “food values”. While research…

The operational efficiency of any industry is key to long-term profitability, no less so for the U.S. ethanol industry. Surprisingly little information is available in the public domain on this important aspect of ethanol production in the U.S. Fortunately, the…

The 2021 Crop Insurance Decision Tool has been released to aid in crop insurance decisions. It is a Microsoft Excel workbook that can be downloaded from farmdoc. One sheet in this workbook provides farmer-paid premiums for different federally-regulated policies administered…

On December 27, 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2021 was signed into law. There were many items in this legislation that affected farmers. There were changes to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) advance…

For the 2021 cropping year, farmers can change their Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) choices from the selections made for the 2019 and 2020 crop years. We have revised the 2018 Farm Bill What-If Tool to…

Jesse Newman reported on the front page of Saturday’s Wall Street Journal that, “A crop glut that battered American farmers is subsiding, fueling an unexpected recovery in the U.S. Farm Belt following a yearslong agricultural recession.”

Late last week, Aime Williams and Justin Jacobs reported at The Financial Times Online that, “China has purchased less than three-fifths of the US goods projected under the “phase one” trade deal that paused a tariff dispute between the two…

Earlier this month, in its Livestock and Poultry: World Markets and Trade report, the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) stated that, “Driven by higher estimates for pork, the China total meat import forecasts for both 2020 and 2021 are revised…

Bloomberg writers Kim Chipman and Jennifer A Dlouhy reported on Tuesday that, “The Trump administration granted three oil refineries exemptions from biofuel-blending requirements in a last-minute move, prompting quick rebuke from ethanol and biodiesel producers.”

Reuters writers Hallie Gu and Dominique Patton reported last week that, “China’s soybean imports jumped 13% to an annual record in 2020, customs data showed on Thursday, after crushers ramped up purchases amid improved margins and healthy demand from the…

Bloomberg writers Jennifer A Dlouhy and Kim Chipman reported late last week that, “The Trump administration advanced a flurry of biofuel policy proposals Friday, including plans that could help ethanol producers sell more of the corn-based fuel.”