Jul. corn closed at $6.49 and 1/2, down 3 and 1/4 cents
Jul. soybeans closed at $14.64 and 1/2, up 16 cents
Jul. soybean meal closed at $435.30, up $10.20
Jul. soybean oil closed at 49.20, down 32 points
Jul. wheat closed at $6.85 and 1/4, up 2 cents
Jun. live cattle closed at $120.12, up 72 cents
Jun. lean hogs closed at $92.07, up 55 cents
Jun. crude oil closed at $96.71, up 69 cents
Jul. cotton closed at 85.78, down 63 points
Jun. Class III milk closed at $18.29, down 7 cents
Jun. gold closed at $1,384.10, up $19.40
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 15,335.28, down 19.12 points
Closing Grain and Livestock Futures: May 20, 2013
May 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Big jump in Nebraska’s corn planting
May 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Corn planting in Nebraska continued at a very rapid pace last week.
As of Sunday, 84 percent of the state’s corn crop was planted. That compares to 43 percent the previous week and the five-year average of 92 percent.
Soybean planting stood at 33 percent, well behind the 58 average.
The wheat condition rating remained basically unchanged at 49 percent very poor to poor, 40 percent fair and 11 percent good. Wheat was 61 percent jointed, compared to an 82 average. Heading was just getting underway in some fields.
The pasture and range condition rating also remained about the same with 69 percent rated very poor to poor, 26 percent fair and five percent good.
Conservation program funding reduced in the farm bills
May 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Pheasants Forever photo
As the farm bills work their way through Congress, there are a number of changes from the last bill including funding for conservation programs. Dave Nomsen is Vice President of Government Affairs with Pheasants Forever; he says “We are going to see a significant drop in expenditures for conservation programs.” He says we are seeing a “significant reduction in CRP land” due to high land and commodity prices and that is just a bigger challenge with less money available.
He is happy that the farm bills continue the CRP, wetlands and habit preservation programs as well as working-lands programs like EQIP. “Farm bill conservation programs are right there with expenditures on commodity programs right now.” He also encourages landowners to take a good look at the CRP program with both a general signup and continuous signup underway.
Meanwhile, organizations such as his need to step-up and help landowners manage sustainable landscapes for agriculture and wildlife. “Overall there’s going to be some substantial reductions in conservation programs period. There’s no way around that given where we are at with deficit, debt reduction, spending levels those types of things. So we are trying to find ways to do more with a little less.”
Corn inspections top estimates
May 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment
USDA reports corn export inspections for the week ending May 16 were larger than expected, while soybeans and wheat were within pre-report estimates.
Wheat came out at 21.149 million bushels, down 2.837 million from the week ending May 9 and 3.960 million lower than the week ending May 17, 2012. With wheat’s 2012/13 marketing year rapidly coming to a close, inspections are 966.139 million bushels, compared to 997.379 million late in 2011/12.
Corn was reported at 14.557 million bushels, 1.862 million more than the previous week but 12.246 million less than this time last year. So far this marketing year, corn inspections are 516.237 million bushels, compared to 1.165 billion a year ago.
Soybeans were pegged at 3.328 million bushels, 46,000 under the week before and 9.751 million below last year. At this point in the marketing year, soybean inspections are 1.259 billion bushels, compared to 1.136 billion a year ago.
Sorghum inspections totaled 83,000 bushels. That’s a drop of 803,000 bushels on the week and a decline of 156,000 on the year. 2012/13 sorghum inspections are 55.208 million bushels, compared to 41.771 million in 2011/12.
Website details N loss risks in Midwest
May 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment
The risks of nitrogen loss are mapped out for Midwest growers in a special website compiled by a University of Missouri Plant Scientist and Extension specialist. Professor Peter Scharf’s Nitrogen Watch 2013 identifies “danger areas that are on track to have widespread problems with nitrogen loss.”
Scharf says the areas on the map haven’t lost enough nitrogen, necessarily, to cause serious N deficiency in corn – but he says they could, depending on the amount of additional rain that comes. This year, Scharf recommends planting first in appropriate conditions and applying nitrogen later.
“Really, nitrogen application timing is timing-neutral from planting until the corn is 4-foot tall. I think there really are some yield gains by waiting and some yield losses by waiting and they about balance each other out.”
Scharf says you’re playing an odds game when you farm. He tells Brownfield Ag News, “I see, looking at all the available research that the odds are equal any time during that time frame and you’re really not giving yourself any big problems by delaying unless there are equipment problems. And, if you can figure out how to solve that you don’t need to worry about not having it done before you plant.”
Last year’s droughted corn left a lot of nitrogen in fields, most of which is likely gone by now. Scharf says “nitrogen is safe in the bin or in the tank” but there is going to be a lot to get done in a short time.
Unmanned aircraft could be a good thing in agriculture
May 17, 2013 By 1 Comment
A number of states have introduced legislation and three have passed bills prohibiting the use of unmanned aircraft in their states. But there are proponents who say unmanned aircraft could be used for all sorts of good including agriculture. Gretchen West is executive director of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, a non-profit trade association with 7,500 members from around the globe. She says the unmanned aircraft technology started decades ago and has been developed mainly for the military but we are now seeing a shift into the civil market, law enforcement, federal agencies and such. West says they would like to see the technology move into the commercial market and believes agriculture will be a big use.
First off, the Federal Aviation Administration has to clear the commercial use of unmanned aircraft. The first step in that journey could come in September of 2015. Beyond that, the technology would need to be refined for agricultural use but that could evolve quickly. West says Yamaha is already using unmanned helicopters to spray crops in Japan.
West says efforts by states to limit or completely ban unmanned aircraft could become a roadblock to development of the technology.
AUDIO:West talks about the possibilities 11:55 mp3
Visit the AUVSI website here:
Illinois Soybean says House bill lacks flexiblity
May 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Planting flexibility and market orientation fall short in the House Ag Farm bill, according to the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA).
ISA Chairman Bill Wykes, a soybean farmer in Yorkville, Illinois, says unlike the Senate’s Agricultural Risk Coverage, or ARC, program, the House wants to “recouple” target prices with much higher support levels. And that, he tells Brownfield, can distort the market.
“We need to continue to let the market tell us what we should be planting and not having the government, because of a support program they’ve laid out there, that you can’t plant this, that, or whatever.”
But to see the farm bill process get underway this past week, says Wykes, is very encouraging.
“There’s hope when you see movement {laughter}. So, we’ll go with that.”
Reference target prices under this House Ag farm bill’s Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program, are the same as last year’s proposed farm bill with soybeans at $8.40 per bushel. Farmers would have to make choice between Price Loss Coverage or Revenue Loss Coverage, RLC.
Soybeans, nearby corn up on commercials
May 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Soybeans were higher on commercial and technical buying. Unknown destinations bought 138,000 tons of combined old and new crop U.S. beans and China picked up 120,000 tons of new crop. Out of the purchase by unknown, 18,000 tons is for 2012/13 delivery and 120,000 tons is for 2013/14. Fundamentally, the near term supply remains tight and there are continued shipping delays out of major ports in Brazil, from both rain delaying loading and labor issues. Soybean meal was up on spillover from beans and oil was mixed in consolidation trade.
Corn was mixed on old crop/new crop spread adjustments, with nearbys up on commercial buying and deferreds down on speculative selling. The trade does expect good planting progress on Monday, but there has been rain in some already very wet areas and there’s more in the forecast in some key growing areas. In any event, those numbers are out Monday at 4 PM Eastern/3 PM Central. Ethanol futures were higher. South Korea’s Corn Processing Industry Association bought 45,000 tons of food grade corn from South Africa.
The wheat was lower fund and technical selling. There was no new buying interest for the winter wheat pits, despite domestic and international weather concerns. Losses in Minneapolis were limited by the slow spring planting pace and good demand for high protein wheat. European wheat was lower on recent rainfall in the Black Sea region and Australia. In sell-buy-sell export activity, Japan is tendering for 37,000 tons of food wheat, 2,000 tons of malting barley, and 1,000 tons of food barley.
Closing Grain and Livestock Futures: May 17, 2013
May 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Jul. corn closed at $6.52 and 3/4, up 11 and 1/4 cents
Jul. soybeans closed at $14.48 and 1/2, up 21 cents
Jul. soybean meal closed at $425.10, up $10.20
Jul. soybean oil closed at 49.52, unchanged
Jul. wheat closed at $6.83 and 1/4, down 4 and 1/2 cents
Jun. live cattle closed at $119.40, down 50 cents
Jun. lean hogs closed at $91.52, down $1.35
Jun. crude oil closed at $96.02, up 86 cents
Jul. cotton closed at 86.41, up 38 points
Jun. Class III milk closed at $18.36, down 9 cents
Jun. gold closed at $1,364.90, down $22.20
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 15,354.40, up 121.18 points
Commercials support soybeans
May 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Soybeans were higher on commercial and technical buying. The nearby supply remains tight and shipments out of Brazil continue to be slow due to rain delaying loading, along with labor issues. Weekly export sales were within estimates with another strong week for shipments. Bean meal sales topped pre-report estimates and USDA reported a net cancellation on soybean oil. Soybean meal and oil were higher, following beans, with oil getting additional support from the firm cash basis.
Corn was lower on fund and technical selling. Rain coverage around the Midwest has generally been light, allowing for solid planting progress in many areas. There’s more rain in the forecast but amounts could be less than originally expected. Ethanol futures were mostly lower. South Korea’s Corn Processing Industry Association bought 55,000 tons of food grade corn from Brazil, bringing purchases of corn and wheat by South Korean feed and flour mills over the past 10 days to more than 600,000 tons.
The wheat complex was lower on technical and fund selling. Weekly export numbers were pretty much neutral to bearish with nothing really outstanding and no fresh news. However, you would think weather would be a bigger factor with dry conditions for the hard red winter crop and more rain ahead for the Northern Plains. European wheat was lower on spillover from Chicago. Bangladesh bought 50,000 tons of wheat from India and in sell-buy-sell trade, Japan is tendering for 120,000 tons of feed wheat and 200,000 tons of feed barley.
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