The state of Iowa is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to reverse a judge's decision to throw out the state's so-called ag-gag law.
As a result of changes to the Price Loss Coverage, or PLC, made in the 2018 farm bill, corn, soybeans, upland cotton and sorghum all have a higher 2018 yields than 2014 PLC update yields.
USDA expects total red meat and poultry production to reach a new record of 104.7 billion pounds, up from the previous record of 102.4 billion pounds in 2018.
USDA opens its Agricultural Outlook Forum on Thursday with a focus on acreage and production expectations for 2019. Meanwhile, land values largely remain strong in the Midwest and Plains states, but bankers are highlighting tighter loan conditions and worries about lower commodity prices.
The administrator for USDA's Risk Management Agency told participants at a crop insurance convention Monday that RMA is now busy implementing the changes to crop insurance that Congress included in the farm bill. One he expects to be popular will allow farmers with "enterprise units" to include acreage in more than one county.
Crops need the proper amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to produce healthy plants and top yields. Nearly as important is sulfur. Plants not only need sulfur but also require it in the right form for plant availability.
In recent years, there have been reliable opportunities to lock in futures spreads and earn "carry" for storing grain six months past harvest. The upward trend of flat prices from harvest to springtime is less reliable.
Net farm income in 2018 was the third lowest over the last 20 years in inflation-adjusted terms, with income down in all regions of the country, a Farm Bureau economist told crop insurers. Meanwhile, the impact from tariffs has driven up stocks for crops such as soybeans and lowered long-term export forecasts.
