Low prices for products, along with high input costs and an expected large crop are conspiring to keep farmers historically pessimistic about the future. The DTN/The Progressive Farmer Agriculture Confidence Index (ACI) shows the concerns focus on unstable commodity prices and uncertain farm incomes linger. Producers’ perceptions over their current situations have dropped steadily, if not dramatically, from 118.0 last …
Latest FAPRI Commodity Price Report
The prices for grains, oilseeds, cotton, milk and hogs are down sharply from record levels set in recent years. An update to the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute’s (FAPRI) long-term baseline report says no quick price recovery is expected. Given all of the assumptions of the analysis, here are a few highlights of the results: · Projected corn prices …
Soybean Donation to Feed Central American Children
The gift of soybeans will feed hungry children in Central America. This news release from the American Soybean Association says the Northern Food Grade Soybean Association (NFGSA), a non-profit organization of nine regional soybean processing companies, donated two 20 metric ton containers of food-grade soybeans to the World Soy Foundation (WSF), with the soybeans being shipped to Guatemala and Honduras …
MGEX Has Record Fiscal Year
It was a good year trading for MGEX. This news release from the Designated Contract Market (DCM) and Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) says it set new all-time records in both total volume and electronic volume. Total volume finished the year at 2,278,559 contracts traded, a 13 percent increase over the previous record set a year ago. This marks the third …
Farmland Brings Ag Lessons to College Students
School’s back in session, and the lessons of agriculture are being brought to some of the nation’s most prestigious universities in the form of the movie Farmland. The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) says the movie, produced with the generous support of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, of which the National Corn Growers Association is a founding affiliate, will …
GROWMARK Debuts New Website
GROWMARK has unveiled a new company website. Company officials say the old site had been around for the last five years, and it was time for a change. “[C]ombined with the adoption of responsive design technology, we believe users will have a better experience on the redesigned website.” [Cliff Dolbeare, GROWMARK’s corporate strategic development manager] said the new site will …
Farmers Almanac Predicts Harsh Winter
It might be the unofficial end of summer today, but some folks are already thinking about winter. The Farmers’ Almanac warns those in the eastern part of the United States, especially the Southeast, to “brace yourselves” for a harsh winter. “The winter of 2015–2016 is looking like a repeat of last winter, at least in terms of temperatures,” reveals Caleb …
FFA Awards 1000th Gift of Blue Jacket
A California FFA member is the proud owner of his very own blue jacket, thanks to the group’s Give the Gift of Blue Program. This news release from FFA says Casey Custer, a junior, who attends Waterford High School in Waterford, California, was the proud recipient of the 1,000 FFA jacket through the program. FFA has more than 610,000 members …
Farmers Union’s Grassroots Activists Coming to DC
They might be from rural America, but in just a couple of weeks, the grassroots activists of the National Farmers Union (NFU) will make their way to the big city of Washington, D.C., for their annual fly-in, Sept. 15-18, 2015. This news release from the group says their enthusiasm and willingness to fight for better public policies for family farmers …
Senator Roberts Happy About WOTUS Decision
A federal judge has put the brakes on the controversial “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) rule in several states, and that has gained praise from the chairman of the Senate Ag Committee. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) welcomed the preliminary injunction to stop the WOTUS rule in North Dakota, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota, Wyoming …