Ag News

Improved Method Will Minimize Potential Forfeitures

WASHINGTON, April 10, 2009 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today said that USDA will begin using an improved and more stable system for determining non-recourse marketing assistance loan repayment rates and loan deficiency payment rates for wheat, feed grains, pulse crops, oilseeds, wool, mohair and honey.

“The new method will moderate fluctuations of the loan repayment rate,” said Vilsack. “In keeping with President Obama’s commitment to American agriculture, this decision reduces the effects daily market volatilities have on loan repayment rates and provides more certainty for producers who have taken advantage of marketing assistance loans or loan deficiency payments.”

The 2008 Farm Bill provides Vilsack the authority to establish a loan repayment rate that may be determined as the lesser of the loan rate plus interest and a rate based on: 1) average market prices during the previous 30 days, or 2) an alternative method the secretary may develop.

Complete Press Release on The 2008 Farm Bill

Tags: Barley, Commodities, commodity credit corporation, corn, cotton, county loan rate, feed grains, loan deficiency payments, loan repayment, Oats, Sorghum, soybeans, sunflower, wheat

PRO Commentary by Canadian Wheat Board
2008-09 crop year

Wheat
U.S. wheat futures have remained extremely volatile on a day-to-day basis. Throughout the month, futures values showed some strengthening, but in the past few days those gains have been lost. International values, however, were pressured last month due to continued exports from the EU and Black Sea region. As the size of the unsold portion of the pool decreases, current price changes will have less significance for the PRO.

More Commentaries

Tags: canadian wheat board, commentaries, crop, international values, price changes, strengthening, Values, wheat, wheat futures

DATE: March 26, 2009 by Canadian Wheat Board

Wheat, Durum and Barley Values Mostly Unchanged in Latest CWB PRO for 2008-09

Winnipeg — The CWB today released its March 2009 Pool Return Outlook (PRO) for the 2008-09 crop year, showing only minor changes in values from last month for wheat, durum and malting barley. Wheat values range from unchanged to up $1 per tonne from the February PRO, depending on grade. Milling durum values range from up $2 per tonne to down $3 per tonne. Malting barley values are unchanged, while Pool B feed barley has dropped by $3 per tonne from last month.

Complete Article

Tags: Barley, crop, Dow, Durum, feed barley, Malting, malting barley, Milling, milling durum, Values, wheat

GRAIN demand fell more sharply than expected as lowered use of corn for ethanol and greater supplies of wheat globally mean higher ending supplies for both commodities.

Ending stocks for corn and wheat for the in both the U.S. and globally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday and quarterly U.S. usage figures for the grains were softer-than-expected.

“The biggest surprise was the ending stocks for corn. [It's] the destruction of the ethanol sector and corn is also seeing competition for feed with the supply of feed wheat,” said Joe Victor, vice president of marketing for Allendale Inc.  Continued

Tags: Agriculture, Commodities, corn, demand, department of agriculture, Dow, ethanol, Grain, supply, USDA, wheat

AMES, Iowa — The 2008 corn crop is wetter and lower in test weight than average corn. Long, cool growing seasons produce high yields but the corn is wet and soft, with more soft white starch. This means lower test weight, and reduced storability as mold can invade the softer textured kernels more rapidly. It also takes more energy to remove water from softer corn.

Summary

The 2008 corn crop will be more prone to breakage, and will contain more broken grains. Cleaning and coring can help, along with minimizing the number of handlings. Corn that will be held until next summer will need particular attention to be clean, uniform in moisture, and of the highest test weight available.

[ Complete Article on Corn Breakage ]

Tags: airflow, breakage, capacity, cooling, corn, corn quality, dry corn, dryer, Drying, dust mask, Grain, grain flow, moisture, safety precaution, screen, system

SYDNEY, Nov 13 (Reuters)

Australia exported 46 percent more bulk wheat in October than a year earlier, with new entrants to the market taking advantage of the start of a much larger harvest.

The government’s new wheat export regulator said on Thursday 400,000 tonnes of bulk wheat had been exported in October, up from 274,497 tonnes a year earlier, with 8 newly licensed exporters participating in the sales.

[ Complete Article on Australian Wheat Exports ]

Tags: australian wheat, crop, export, forecasters, government, market, Research, season, wheat exports, wheat harvest

U.S. Department of Agriculture anounces that US stock piles of grain are higher than expected.  Delays in the harvesting of corn and soybeans has reduced the use of harvested grain for the planting of new crops.  Wet weather hampered the production of fall crops and slowed planting of winter wheat.

There was also increase in the estimate of global wheat production by the government.

Tags: bloomberg, bushel, Commodities, department of agriculture, estimate, harvests, Inventory, production, report, seed wheat, soybean, soybeans, stockpiles, u s department, wheat futures, wheat prices, winter varieties

The agency’s weekly update Monday also gave the new crop a favorable rating. The agency estimates 73 percent of the emerging wheat is in good to excellent condition. About 24 percent is rated as fair and 3 percent as poor.

Meanwhile, farmers across the state are making progress on the harvest.

Complete Article

Tags: Agricultural, condition, corn, corn crop, cotton, crop, harvest, rating, Sorghum, sunflower, sunflower crop, update, wheat, wichita kansas, winter, winter wheat crop

CHICAGO, Nov. 3 (UPI) — Grains closed higher on the Chicago Board of Trade Monday as oil prices fell and the dollar made gains.

Corn was up 1 1/2 to up 1 3/4, soybeans were up 3 to up 4 1/2, wheat was up 25 1/2 to up 25 3/4 and oats were up 4 1/2.

Corn traded higher although good harvest weather meant supplies were on the rise. Wheat prices jumped with export inspections at 53.7 percent of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s forecast, compared with a five-year average of 43.8 percent.

Complete Article

Tags: chicago board of trade, department of agriculture, export, Grain, grain prices, grains, harvest, Oats, U.S. Department, weather, wheat, wheat dec, wheat prices