CONTINUOUS RAINS HAVE BOTH ANVANTAGEOUS, ADVERSE EFFECTS

Unrelenting rains and the resulting soaked soil kept producers out of the field, allowing only 2.3 days suitable for field work. The rains, as customary, helped in some areas while delaying progress in others. The rain kept most producers who had planned to plant corn at bay, while wheat flourished from the rains and was in mostly good to excellent condition. Both pastures and cattle were in mostly good condition. Apples in full bloom were well ahead of last year. Topsoil moisture was 1 percent short, 48 percent adequate, and 51 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture was 4 percent short, 53 percent adequate, and 43 percent surplus. Continue reading at TN_04_02_18.  The U.S. Crop Progress report can be read at CropProg-04-02-2018.

Corn and soybeans were up; cotton was mixed; and wheat was down for the week.

On Thursday March 29th, USDA released the Prospective Plantings and Grain Stocks reports. The markets reacted swiftly after the reports were released with corn (10-15 cents), soybeans (25-35 cents), wheat (5-10 cents), and cotton (0.5-1.5 cents) futures trading up.

The biggest surprise was planted acreage. Corn planted acreage was projected at 88 million acres, down 2% compared to last year; soybean planted acreage was projected at 89 million acres, down 1% compared to last year, wheat planted acreage was projected at 47.3 million acres, up 3% compared to last year; and cotton planted acreage was projected at 13.5 million acres, up 4% compared to last year. Overall, net planted acreage for the four commodities was projected down 1.115 million acres. This almost makes up all of USDA’s projected decrease in principle crop area planted (16 commodities) of 1.158 million acres (317.989 in 2018 compared to 319.147 in 2017). For comparison, the decrease in principle crop acreage planted between 2016 and 2017 was 91,000 acres (319.238 to 319.147). Having projected corn and soybean acres planted simultaneously decrease caught the market off guard as typically acreage decreases for corn are partially offset by increases in soybeans and vice versa. It remains to be seen, but adding some additional acreage back to corn and soybeans seems probable. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.

Released: March 29, 2018

Tennessee producers to plant less burley tobacco, soybeans in 2018

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the Prospective Plantings report today, showing Tennessee farmers intend to set less burley tobacco and plant fewer soybean acres, but increase cotton acreage in 2018.

“Prospective plantings gives us the first indication of producers’ plans for row crop acreages,” said Debra  Kenerson, Tennessee State Statistician. “In addition to farmers intending to set 2,500 fewer acres of burley tobacco and 90,000 fewer soybean acres, this release indicates that growers intend to plant 5,000 more acres of cotton this season, an increase from the 345,000 planted in 2017.” Continue reading at MarchPP18_TN.

Corn, soybeans, cotton, and wheat were down for the week. Concerns over potential retaliatory tariffs and trade disruptions were a hot topic in agricultural markets this past week. Currently, there is more smoke than fire however, in the past, agricultural commodities have received retaliatory tariffs when trade disputes occur. Posturing is always a part of trade negotiations but, the more trade rhetoric remains at the forefront of news headlines the more volatility will continue to be a concern in agricultural markets. One thing is certain, for the sake of US agricultural prices, strong export sales are vital. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.

Corn, cotton, and wheat were down; soybeans were up for the week.

This week, on Wednesday, December corn peaked at $4.12 the highest offering, for the December 2018 contract, since August 10, 2017. However, prices declined 8 ¼ cents on Thursday and Friday. Futures prices above $4 per bushel represents a good opportunity to start / increase pricing on the 2018 crop. Securing a price on up to 50% (depending on pricing method) of anticipated production should be considered prior to planting.

This week November soybeans continued to exhibit volatility. For the week daily trading ranges on the November contract were: 12 ½ cents, 8 ¾ cents, 17 ¾ cents, 14 ¾ cents, and 8 ¼ cents. In the near future volatility is likely to continue due to uncertainty about the Argentinian crop, U.S. planted acreage, and export sales / trade negotiations. Continie reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.

Cotton producers were pleasantly surprised Feb. 9 when seed cotton became a covered commodity under Title 1 of the 2014 Farm Bill. This will have wide-ranging implications for not only cotton producers but all landowners and producers who have generic base on farms.

While we are waiting on USDA’s interpretation of the bill and how it will be put in place, we do know the generalities of the program. Seed cotton is unginned upland cotton – a combination of cotton lint and cottonseed. In other words, it is cotton in its raw form just like it is packed into a module. Numerous articles have recently been written in the Southeast & Delta Farm Press, so I will only touch on a few highlights and discuss the decision-making process. Only landowners with a generic base will have a decision to make. Continue reading at Southeast Farm Press.

Corn and cotton were up; soybeans and wheat were down for the week. On Thursday, the USDA released its monthly World Agricultural Supply and De-mand Estimates (WASDE) report. The report provided bullish news for corn and cotton, bearish news for wheat and a mixed bag for soybeans.

Corn futures rallied based on increased ethanol use (50 million bushels) and exports (175 million bushels). Domestic and foreign ending stocks were revised down 225 million  bushels and up 70 million bushels from last month’s projections, respectively. Compared to the previous marketing year’s ending stocks, global corn ending stocks are projected to decrease by 1.287 billion bushels. A substantial year-over-year decrease. The largest contributors to the decrease are increased global use and reduced South American production. Continue reading reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.