Agriculture News
USDA raises US, global year-ending corn stocks estimates for 2018-19 to above market expectations
S & P Global | Posted on September 19, 2018The US Department of Agriculture projected Tuesday domestic corn stocks at the end of the 2018-2019 marketing year, which closes August 31, 2019, to be at 1.774 billion bushels (45.062 million mt), down 228 million bushels from its 2017-2018 estimates of 2.002 billion bushels but up 90 million bushels from its prior forecast for the period.USDA's domestic corn stocks estimates for the next marketing year was within the top end of the range of analysts' expectations of 1.477 to 1.785 billion bushels, but above the average analysts' expectations of 1.693 billion bushel, sources said.The increase in the 2018-2019 year-ending stocks projection reflected an increase in production due to a higher yield estimate."Corn production is forecast at 14.827 billion bushels, up 241 million from last month on an increased yield forecast," the USDA said. "If realized, the crop would be the second highest on record.""Corn supplies are higher from last month, as a larger crop more than offsets a small decline in beginning stocks due to higher estimated exports for 2017/18," the agency said. "Feed and residual use for 2018-2019 is raised 50 million bushels with a larger crop and lower expected prices."
Federal Reserve: Observations on the Ag Economy- August 2018
Illinois Farm Policy News | Posted on September 13, 2018Since the last report, weekly comparisons indicated lower commodity cash prices for some recently tariffed agriculture exports such as soybeans, and the USDA has announced a financial relief program for affected agriculture producers. Sixth District- Atlanta– “Agriculture conditions across the District continued to be mixed. Drought conditions were little changed from the previous report; most of the District remained drought free although there were reports of abnormally dry conditions in much of Louisiana and in parts of Mississippi and Alabama. August production forecasts indicated year-over-year increases in rice, soybean, and cotton, while peanut production was down. Year-over-year prices paid to farmers in June were up for corn, cotton, rice, soy- beans, broilers, and eggs, while beef prices were down.Seventh District- Chicago– “Overall crop yields in the District appeared set to forge a new record as the result of widespread good weather. Contacts expected a record harvest for soybeans but not for corn, reflecting the shift in the composition of crops in this year’s plantings.
Tariffs Hit Fruit Growers Hard at Harvest
Growing Produce | Posted on September 13, 2018Ray Norwood, Director of Sales and Marketing for Auvil Fruit Co., told the news outlet the operation had to lower prices and find alternative destinations for the cherries. Auvil Fruit Co. exports about 80% of the operations’ cherries. Apple growers are equally nervous about the harvest season this year, with China imposing stiff tariffs on U.S. goods including fruits and nuts in retaliation to a U.S-imposed tariffs on imported goods from China.Tariffs on 10 fruit and tree nut exports are expected to cost U.S. growers around $3.4 billion annually, according to a recent study from the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Agricultural Issues Center.In California, fruit and tree nut exports account for half of production and in Washington, about 30% of apples are exported.
Tariffs will cost U.S. dairy farmers $1.5B this year
Capital Press | Posted on September 13, 2018A study by Informa Economics found retaliatory tariffs by China and Mexico will reduce U.S. dairy farmer revenue by $1.5 billion in 2018 and $3 billion in 2019 if they remain in place.While U.S. dairy producers appreciate USDA’s plan to purchase dairy products and increase funding to develop foreign markets in its tariff-mitigation strategy, they say the agency’s plan to distribute $127 million in direct payments to dairy producers falls far short of what’s needed.
Animal rights activists attempting “outreach” to truck drivers
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted on September 13, 2018As soon as stopping trucks to hold “vigils” at meat processing plants became the latest activist trend, I knew it was only a matter of time before an activist claimed to get injured. It’s pretty clear why a few people gathering around a semi full of livestock (usually at dawn) isn’t really the safest course of action. The Alliance has been working to notify meat companies about this trend and encourage them to take steps to protect not only their businesses and drivers, but the protestors as well.Members of an “Animal Save” group in California are claiming that a truck driver “hit” one of their members when they walked in front of the truck (a review of the video makes it clear that the protestor was not hurt). The activist group involved is affiliated with “The Save Movement,” a network of more than 100 similar local organizations who want to “bear witness” to livestock going to slaughter. “Bearing witness” means stopping trucks to stick their hands in and pet animals, as well as give them food and water. Group leaders have said their goal is to have a “vigil at every slaughterhouse” across the country.
Dairy Troubles in Indiana: What Affects Where Your Milk Comes From
| Posted on September 13, 2018Tariffs, oversupply and European policies may all be to blame for some Hoosier dairy farm troubles. The dairy industry is dealing with some tough times and that trickles down to Hoosier dairy farmers. You may have heard the story of one Indiana farm where milk will no longer be produced. Joe Kelsay said his troubles don't just come from the tariffs on exports, but from a long downward trend in the market. Deb Osza, CEO of the American Dairy Assoc. Indiana, said she believes overproduction may be caused by the tariffs, and that may be a reason Hoosier farmers are having trouble."It's a tough situation when there's too much supply and not enough demand," said Ozsa. "We consume the vast majority of what we produce. But, we don't consume every last bit of it. So, we hneed to be involved in the export market."And, there's another problem-nature."Cows can't just stop producing milk," she said. "They will produce milk for as long as their cycle, eight or nine or ten months, they can't just shut it off."Moving business elsewhereSo, people involved in the industry are trying to make sure that all the extra milk is used, even trying to encourage food companies to make it into cheese and other products, rather than it not being sold and going to waste. She said the tariffs may have stopped some of that because that production happens, to a large degree, outside the U.S."When the tariff situation is resolved things will balance out and we'll be able to get rid of this oversupply," said Osza.
Farmers reeling from record year of wildfires
Modern Farmer | Posted on September 13, 2018In the era of climate change, record-setting fires are the new norm — something farmers are learning to adapt to. Delbar says it will be weeks if not months before the USDA compiles a comprehensive list of fire damage on Mendocino and Lake County farms, an area known for its vineyards, orchards and organic vegetable farms, in addition to a handful of large ranches. But she says early indications are that ranches, which typically consist of dry, hilly terrain, have had the worst of it, as most other farms are clustered in valleys that were kept safe by firebreaks, or in some cases by farmers’ own irrigation systems used as a last resort.Many ranchers in the area, even if they didn’t lose any livestock, will have heavy financial losses this year because their grazing areas have been reduced to charred earth, says Delbar. “We’ll have to buy a lot of extra hay from now through the winter, plus there are fences and watering systems to rebuild.”Emily MacNair, director of the B.C. Agriculture and Food Climate Action Initiative, says the situation is similar in her province, which is suffering through the worst fire season on record (the previous “record” was set last year). Other than ranch land, few farms have actually burned, she says, but that doesn’t mean that farmers aren’t impacted. MacNair offers a laundry list of secondary impacts, ranging from “smoke taint” making wine unsellable, to farmworkers being treated for respiratory problems as a result of laboring in smoky conditions.
African swine fever outbreak in China major threat to US pork
Pig Health Today | Posted on September 13, 2018News that China broke with African swine fever (ASF) generated great concern for many in the US swine industry, including Scott Dee, DVM, Pipestone Veterinary Services. “This is a very challenging situation,” Dee told attendees at a recent swine-health conference in Macomb, Illinois. “ASFV is a very tough virus…and difficult to clean up should it get into a premise.”No treatment or vaccines are available for ASF, which can cause up to 100% mortality. Surviving swine continue to shed the virus. The virus only affects swine and generally spreads through oronasal contact and not aerosol. It also is spread by a tick (not found in the US) and in contaminated feed, feces, water, meat and uncooked garbage.Along with Megan Niederwerder, DVM, Kansas State University, and Diego Diel, DVM, South Dakota State University, Dee worked on research that proved viruses, including ASFV, survive in feed products shipped from Eastern Europe to the US.Under the conditions of the study, ASFV survived in several feed ingredients, such as soybean meal, and pork sausage casings, as well as in an empty container during a 30-day trip across the Atlantic Ocean.With nearly 2 million metric tons of ag products including feed shipped to the US from China every year, the risk of spreading a virus like ASF in feed is significant, Dee added.
U.S. Agricultural Exports Set July Record as China Trade Row Persists
Illinois Farm Policy News | Posted on September 13, 2018U.S. agriculture exports set a record in July. “It’s the best July that the U.S. has seen as far as agricultural exports go, the value total,” said Bryce Cooke, an economist with USDA’s Economic Research Service. The total value of U.S. agricultural exports in July totaled just over $11 billion. In the radio update, Gary Crawford pointed out that the USDA trade data showed U.S. agricultural exports at $122 billion for first ten months of the fiscal year (October – July), which is two percent ahead of last year.
Idaho’s economy depends on ‘foreign-born’ workers
High Country News | Posted on September 13, 2018It’s August in southern Idaho, and all is calm for the region’s dairy workers. But after four workers were picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE, in July, Latino families have mostly stayed inside, missing church and otherwise lying low. In dairy country, the anxiety is constant. The Idaho Dairymen’s Association’s website is clear about who those workers are today: “Of the 8,100 on-dairy jobs, 85-90 percent are filled by foreign-born labor.” They are also foundationally important: “Without those jobs, none of the 31,300 supporting jobs would exist.” According to a recent study, 40,000 workers in the milk, cheese, yogurt and related products industry have built a $10 billion yearly value in a state economy of $72 billion.Yet because “foreign-born” is too often a euphemism for “illegal,” many of these workers are vulnerable. Consequently, so is an industry that is far more important to Idaho than its famous potatoes.