Commentary. Late last fall I was honored to receive a lifetime achievement award for my career in farm broadcasting. It was incredibly humbling to share the honor with my friend, Dr. Jim Evans, University of Illinois Emeritus Professor of Agricultural Communications and Journalism. Although never a student in his classroom, I have been a student of his through the knowledge he has shared and by the example he has set. […]
An ag real estate expert is alarmed by the rising number of issues farmers are facing this year. With five decades of experience in agriculture, Farmers National Company’s Randy Dickhut says he’s never seen this much uncertainty at one time. “Starting out with a drought in some areas and then it’s too wet in the Eastern Corn Belt, Northern Plains, and other areas,” he said. “The big one of course […]
Feed costs continue to rise at a time when livestock and dairy markets are facing increased volatility. Richard Flournoy Deputy Administrator for the USDA’s Risk Management Agency says programs like Dairy Revenue Protection, Livestock Gross Margin, and Livestock Risk Protection help producers mitigate risk. “The margin programs are going to help cover the difference between the price received and feed costs,” he says. “If that’s something that is a concern, […]
May corn closed at $7.98 and 1/2, down 2 and 1/4 centsMay soybeans closed at $16.69 and 3/4, up 10 and 3/4 centsMay soybean meal closed at $428.30, down $8.10May soybean oil closed at 87.08, up 278 pointsMay wheat closed at $10.66, up 32 and 1/4 centsJun. live cattle closed at $134.82, down 50 centsJune lean hogs closed at $105.10, up $2.90May Class III milk closed at $24.72, up 51 […]
Soybeans were higher on fund and technical buying. It was an up and down day, but beans were able to rally on the strength in soybean and crude oil. Bean oil was up on strong vegetable oil demand, which have pushed global prices higher, while crude oil was supported by talk of a possible ban on Russia imports by the European Union. APK-Inform says Ukraine’s April sunflower oil exports were […]
May Class III milk futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange up 51 cents at $24.72. June up 37 at $24.30. July futures 39 higher at $24.12. August through October contracts 18 to 29 cents higher. Dry whey down $0.0075 at $0.5875. Five sales were made from $0.5875 to $0.6025. Blocks unchanged at $2.3475. Three trades were made from $2.3450 to $2.35. Barrels up $0.03 at $2.33. One sale was made […]
U.S. dairy product production was mixed during March. The USDA says cheese production totaled 1.197 billion pounds, up 8.%3 from February and 1.1% from March 2021. That included a 2.1% year-to-year jump in Italian type cheeses, which canceled out 1.4% decline for American type cheeses. Butter production was 202.584 million pounds, an increase of 10.4% on the month and 1.5% on the year. Dry milk product production was lower than […]
Planting delays have some farmers feeling uneasy about marketing. Les Anderson grows corn and soybeans in southeast Minnesota and tells Brownfield he’s barely turned a wheel this spring. “The wildcard is the price of the inputs and are you going to be able to get fertilizer, and there’s so much uncertainty there. The dollars are that much bigger now and there’s bigger ways to mess up your marketing.” He says […]
Planters are halted again after a brief window of ideal conditions for a western Indiana farmer. Kevin Cox raises corn and soybeans in Clay and Parke counties. “We got two days of corn planting in, and we got rained out one night. Fortunately, we didn’t get a lot of rain, so we were able to get started back running again the next day but then got a lot more rain […]
