The U.S. Justice Department intervened in a large sale of grain elevators from one company to another, citing concerns about the impact on cash grain market competition.
Zen-Noh Grain Corp, a subsidiary of the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations of Japan, reached a $300 million deal to buy 35 operating and 13 idled grain elevators from Bunge North America last April.
Read MoreOn Wednesday, the USDA released its Outlook for U.S. Agricultural Trade, a quarterly report from the Department’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and Economic Research Service (ERS). Today’s update includes highlights from the report, which was coordinated by Hui Jiang, Dylan Russell, and Adam Gerval.
The Outlook stated that, “U.S. agricultural exports in fiscal year (FY) 2021 are projected at $164.0 billion, up $7.0 billion from the February forecast, led by increases in corn, soybeans, and livestock, poultry, and dairy products.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture’s quarterly agricultural trade forecast projects fiscal year 2021 U.S. farm exports at $164 billion – the highest total on record. This represents an increase of $28 billion, or 21%, from last fiscal year’s total, and a $7-billion increase from USDA’s previous FY 2021 forecast published in February. The annual export record of $152.3 billion was set in FY 2014.
Read MoreBloomberg writer Ailing Tan reported on Monday that, “China’s imports of American goods slowed in April, pulling back on the already incremental progress toward the purchase targets agreed with the U.S. in the 2020 trade deal.
Read MoreThe Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer saw a significant decline in May, down 20 points to a reading of 158. This marks the lowest reading for the survey since September of 2020.
Producers were less optimistic about both current conditions and the future of the agricultural economy. The Index of Current Conditions dropped 17 points to a reading of 178 and the Index of Future Expectations fell 20 points to a reading of 149. The Ag Economy Barometer is calculated each month from 400 U.S. agricultural producers’ responses to a telephone survey.
Read MoreHave you experienced shipping delays? Just about anyone you talk to these days has had trouble getting something. It seems lately much of the stuff we need is not available when we need it. For farmers that could be chemicals, fertilizer, even equipment parts. But it’s not just an agricultural problem. Building materials, computers, auto parts. Even Elon Musk is having trouble getting enough microchips to build his Teslas. And apparently Chick-fi-A is facing a sauce shortage? Why can we not get our stuff on time?
Read MoreU.S. farm exports are projected to set a record in 2021, according to the latest information from USDA. USDA's quarterly agricultural trade forecast projects fiscal year 2021 farm exports at $164 billion, an increase of $28 billion, or 21%, from the last fiscal year and a $7 billion increase from USDA’s previous FY 2021 forecast published in February. The annual export record of $152.3 billion was set in FY 2014.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Agriculture’s quarterly agricultural trade forecast projects fiscal year 2021 U.S. farm exports at $164 billion — the highest total on record.
The projections represents an increase of $28 billion, or 21 percent, from last fiscal year’s total, and a $7-billion increase from USDA’s previous FY 2021 forecast published in February. The previous annual export record of $152.3 billion was set in FY 2014.
Read MoreMany people in New Orleans don’t realize how crucial the Port of New Orleans is not only for Louisiana’s, but also the United States’ economy. Without it, both would be up a river without a port.
“In Louisiana, we have about 8.3 million acres of row crops,” explained Mike Strain, the Agricultural Commissioner for Louisiana. “The majority of our commodities are exported and when you look at the United States, one in three acres of America’s production is exported. Right now, 65% of the nation’s agricultural commodities that are exported come right down the river.”
Read MoreU.S. farmers will reap two of their largest corn and soybean crops ever and sell them for the highest average prices since the commodity boom ended several years ago, said the government Wednesday in its first projections of the fall harvest. The USDA also said that global soybean king Brazil would increase its share of the world market at the expense of U.S. exports.
Read MoreMore than a thousand barges — many of them likely carrying corn or soybeans — can now resume their trip along the Mississippi River after traffic was stopped due to a cracked bridge near Memphis, Tenn., according to a statement released by the U.S. Coast Guard.
"Based on information provided to us by the Tennessee Department of Transportation, the Coast Guard has determined that transit under the I-40 bridge is safe for maritime traffic," said Coast Guard Capt. Ryan Rhodes. "We appreciate the cooperative efforts of both the Tennessee and Arkansas Departments of Transportation, as well as maritime port partners, to ensure the safety of our waterway."
Read MoreThe port of Lake Charles is moving Louisiana rice to help feed areas of Central Africa that are in need.
Crews at the port have been packing bags of rice, weighing 110 pounds each, into the Tao Star cargo ship that will sail across the Atlantic to help some of the African countries facing conflict. More than 19,000 tons of rice are being shipped to Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic and Cameroon.
Read MoreSpecialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA), on their website, recently wrote that, “For more than six months, U.S. ag exporters, including SSGA members who supply Identity Preserved (IP) soya and specialty grains for food manufacture, have suffered under unreasonable practices by ocean carriers.
“These practices include the declining of U.S. agricultural and other exports in favor of sending empty containers back overseas in order to keep up with the massive demand for consumer imports.”
Read MoreU.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai met virtually Monday with U.S. agriculture organizations to discuss the Biden-Harris administration’s trade agenda and to hear from the organization’s on specific trade priorities.
Meetings were held with the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, National Potato Council, National Milk Producers Federation and the Northwest Horticultural Council. The Ambassador expressed her desire to support U.S. agriculture producers in a worker-centered trade policy and she committed to staying in close communication, according to a readout from USTR.
Read MoreAgriculture organizations sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai highlighting the great strides the U.S. ag industry has made toward environmental sustainability and climate goals and stressing the importance of voluntary, market and incentive-based policies to help rural economies better adapt to climate change.
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