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.

Corn: So far this week, corn futures have been on a steady climb. May corn futures have increased $0.08 while September corn futures increased $0.07. The increase can be attributed to the USDA’s latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate (WASDE) report that was released today. The USDA is projecting higher exports and increased domestic demand due to higher ethanol production. Export figures were increased by 175 million bushels to 2.225 billion bushels. The cause of the increase is due primarily due to U.S. corn being competitive in the export market, strong sales, and lower competition from Argentina. Continue reading →

Announcement from USDA-FSA website.

America’s cotton producers have now faced four years of financial stress, just like the rest of the major commodities, but with a weaker safety net. In particular, cotton producers confront high input and infrastructure costs, which leaves them more financially leveraged than most of their colleagues. That economic burden has been felt by the entire cotton market, including the gins, cooperatives, marketers, cottonseed crushers, and the rural communities that depend upon their success. To help these farmers, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is taking action to assist cotton producers through the Cotton Ginning Cost Share (CGCS) program. Continue reading →

Corn, soybeans, cotton, and wheat were up for the week. This week saw significant improvements in futures prices for all four commodities. Corn closed up 7-11 cents; soybeans closed up 9-24 cents; wheat closed up 33-36 cents; and cotton closed up 0.28-0.75 cents. The rally was fueled primarily by four factors: 1) continued dry weather concerns in Argentina, 2) continued buying by managed money, 3) strong export sales, and 4) drought concerns in the Southern and Northcentral Plains in the US. All four factors will continue to influence prices next week.

Improved futures prices are a welcome sight by producers looking to price crop prior to planting, however, a potential fly-in-theointment of commodity prices could emerge from this week’s announcement by President Trump of potential tariffs on steel (25%)
and aluminum (10%). These tariffs could result in retaliatory action from trade partners that could have a detrimental impact on agricultural exports, particularly China. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.