Some rain fell in the parched Plains over the weekend, but it fell short of earlier expectations, while planters finally started rolling in earnest in the Midwest. However, more rain in that region this week -- though needed -- could keep ...
Tags: Agriculture, Food, weather
Corn planting is marching its way north, but once you head north of the Mason-Dixon Line, the progress quickly slows to a crawl. State ag statistics service reports from this week -- issued despite a lack of federal-level reports from the ...
Tags: Corn, Agriculture, Food
The 2014 corn crop's going to be 4% smaller than 2013, while soybean acres will grow, according to Monday's USDA-NASS annual Prospective Plantings report. Those numbers were immediately bullish, but those bulls didn't run far. And now, ...
Tags: Agriculture, Food, Corn
Long-term outlooks for weather during the growing season aren't forecasts, meteorologists speaking at the USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum reminded listeners Friday. They show the probability of weather being hotter or cooler than normal, or ...
Canada has announced its second case of the PED virus, also in Ontario. The U.S. ended 2013 with PED on 2,000 farms and has added another 600 this month. The impact of the virus is pushing summer hog futures contracts close to record highs. ...
Tags: PED Virus
Pork exports during November were down 2.9% compared to a year earlier due to almost no pork going to Russia. Pork imports were up 14.3% in November due to more pork from Canada. In November, 22.2% of U.S. pork production was exported. ...
Tags: Pork, Agriculture, Food
A new report on farmer perspectives on climate and agriculture, gathered in a 2012 survey of nearly 5,000 farmers from 11 Corn Belt states, presents survey results by watershed. "Farmer Perspectives on Agriculture and Weather Variability ...
Tags: Corn Belt, Climate and Agriculture, Agriculture Report
Temperatures across the country this morning are in the teens and 20s from Nebraska northward, with 30s, 40s, and even a few 50 degree readings across the Midwest. A weak cold front is currently crossing the Midwest, with the associated ...
Tags: Midwest, temperatures, climate
Although the trade was expecting a slight increase, USDA's January supply and demand report (WASDE) trimmed the size of the 2013 corn crop by 64 million bushels to 13.925 billion. They increased the number of acres harvested by 0.5 million, ...
Tags: Hog, Hog Outlook, Hog Prices
With temperatures dropping well below freezing and snow seen in unusual places, the "polar vortex" affecting much of the nation means farmers have to work extra hard to stay updated on what to expect while they prepare for planting. The ...
Tags: NCGA-FMC, AG Weather Advisor, Farmers
Most of the attention to USDA's hogs and pigs reports is focused on their quarterly numbers. They also publish monthly estimates as part of the quarterly reports. Perhaps the most import number in the December 27 report was their estimate ...
Tags: Agriculture, Food
The chair of Manitoba Pork Council says 2014 is shaping up to be a much better year for pork producers than 2013. As the result of disappointing grain production in 2012 due to drought pork producers saw grain prices double heading into ...
Tags: Mood of Pork, Meat
USDA's December hog survey said the nation's swine breeding herd was down 1.1% compared to a year ago and the market hog inventory is down 0.6%. They said September-November farrowings were down 0.2% and predict winter farrowings will be up ...
Tags: Agriculture, Food, Pig
The USDA released its last Cattle on Feed report of 2013 this past Friday and it showed the number of cattle and calves on feed for slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 10.7 million ...
Volatility in global commodity markets remained a significant factor for the food industry during 2012. On the one hand, adverse weather conditions hit grain harvests causing prices to spike, while on the other, over-supply has meant cocoa ...