At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, live and feeder cattle were lower on profit-taking and the lower boxed beef. February live cattle closed $1.52 lower at $207.02 and April live cattle closed $2.32 lower at $204.95. March feeder cattle closed $2.97 lower at $275.27 and April feeder cattle closed $3.20 lower at $274.60. Direct cash cattle…… Continue Reading
Soybeans were higher on speculative and technical buying. Near-term forecasts for parts of Argentina and southern Brazil are dry, potentially stressing crops. There’s also more rain in the forecast for central Brazil, further delaying the early harvest activity. For all the weather talk, there hasn’t been much movement yet on production projections, especially for Brazil,…… Continue Reading
Mar. corn closed at $4.97, up 11 and 3/4 centsMar. soybeans closed at $10.60 and 1/2, up 15 and 1/2 centsMar. soybean meal closed at $309.80, up $8.20Mar. soybean oil closed at 44.97, down 16 pointsMar. wheat closed at $5.62 and 1/2, up 17 and 1/4 centsFeb. live cattle closed at $207.02, down $1.52Mar. feeder…… Continue Reading
The Trump administration’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services was fielding questions about his stance on ag issues from the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. shared his thoughts on the state of farming in the U.S. “Agronomists now estimate if we continue doing these processes, we only have…… Continue Reading
The USDA’s reporting another year-over-year gain in broiler sets and placements as producers try to meet demand. 249.708 million broiler-type eggs entered incubation last week, rising 1.745 million on the week and 4% on the year, with average hatchability at 79%. 192.137 million broiler-type chicks went into meat production, an increase of 815,000 from the…… Continue Reading
The Iowa Pork Producers Association is tracking some animal health issues during the ongoing Iowa Legislative Session. IPPA Public Policy Director Ben Nuelle says, “One of our top priorities at the Statehouse, as we’ve done for the last several years, is continuing to support Secretary Mike Naig’s appropriations request for foreign animal disease preparedness.” He…… Continue Reading
An ag economist says he’s keeping a close eye on tensions between the U.S. and Colombia. University of Missouri’s Ben Brown says Colombia is a major importer of U.S. ethanol. “Ethanol trade with Colombia is a growing industry. We’ve seen some movement on that front the last couple years with the Colombian government willing to…… Continue Reading
Consumers in Illinois will soon be able to quickly identify products grown in-state. Raghela Scavuzzo, executive director of the Illinois Specialty Growers Association, says the new Illinois Grown label, which officially debuts today, builds off the successful Illinois Products program. “They’re gonna launch what’s called Illinois Grown.” She says, “This is specific for products grown…… Continue Reading
Farmers in the Upper Midwest might be wondering how mild winter conditions could impact cover crops. University of Minnesota Extension crops educator Liz Stahl says there’s concern a lack of snow and temperatures above freezing will result in some germination. “And then, you know hey it’s Minnesota (and) we could return back to cold temperatures,…… Continue Reading
U.S. ethanol production dropped to a multi-month low last week. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says production averaged 1.015 million barrels a day, the lowest weekly average since late September 2024 That was down 84,000 on the week at least partially due to tighter producer margins, but still up 24,000 on the year. Iowa State…… Continue Reading
