commodity prices

What will be the effects of higher interest rates on farmers and agriculture? "I'm almost gun-shy of making strong predictions in the environment we've been in, in the last couple years," noted USDA Chief economist Seth Meyer.  But he went add, "Rising interest rates in the United States strengthens the dollar, makes us a little less export competitive." ...

The cost of growing crops could outpace revenue for many farmers this year, making it more difficult to break even despite rising commodity prices and increasing domestic and global demand. An American Farm Bureau Market Intel Report says that farm production costs are likely to rise 6% in 2022, which follows a 12% year an hour earlier ...

The news sounds good for American farmers at first glance, but a deeper dive reveals many challenges in farm country. Recent USDA figures show farmers are receiving more for their commodities. Sean Ellis with the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation said the non-farming community may think producers are getting rich off the increase, but he said that couldn’t be further from the truth. He ... Read Mor

Earlier this week, USDA announced a new USDA Market News Mobile Application. The app provides producers and everyone else in the supply chain with instant access to current and historical market information. The initial version of the free app includes nearly 800 livestock, poultry, and grain market reports, with additional commodities added throughout the coming year ...

USDA's top economist, Seth Meyer, says crop prices are still high enough for many producers to justify paying these very high prices for fall application fertilizers for next year's crop. "But the last thing you want to do is put out a bunch of money for fertilizer and then see corn prices drop and be unhedged against those higher fertilizer prices ...

"Total production expenses are forecast to increase 29.8 billion, or about 8.3%," USDA Chief Economist Seth Meyer said in 2021, farmers this year will end up paying more for almost every major farm input compared to 2020. "32% on fuel and oil, 15% on those, kinda, livestock inputs, or the purchases of livestock ...

The latest USDA prices index for October shows what many in the farming community already know; crop and livestock prices while still roughly 20% higher than a year ago are moderating. According to Gary Crawford, prices, in some cases dropped by 2% for crops and about 1% for livestock in October ...

Higher commodity prices are contributing to a sharp increase in U.S. net farm income in 2021. However, under current policies, farm income could drop again in 2022 as government payments decline and production expenses rise. That's according to the University of Missouri Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute September baseline report ...

February's Ag Economy Barometer reading of 165 changed little compared to January when the index stood at 167. This week’s reading shows producers continue to report strong current conditions on their farms as February's Current Conditions Index value of 200 is near its all-time high. Tha ...

The American Farm Bureau Federation says China has been a boon to U.S. farm commodity prices for several months. Now the organization is hopeful President Biden’s Ag and trade teams follow through and preserve the Trump Phase I deal and consider a Phase II agreement. AFB ...