At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, live and feeder cattle were sharply lower with boxed beef lower at midday, watching direct business unfold.  June lives closed $1.90 lower at $175.25 and August lives closed $2.12 lower at $173.37.  May feeders closed $1.95 lower at $244.10 and August feeders closed $3.10 lower at $256.30.  A light round of direct cattle business took place Wednesday.  Deals in the South were marked at $182 live, fully steady with the previous week’s business.  ..read more

A lawyer says the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent classification of two forever chemicals as hazardous substances could have a significant impact on the agricultural industry. Minneapolis-based Stoel Rives Environmental Partner Thomas Braun tells Brownfield farmers and agribusinesses could be held responsible for potential perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) contamination. “The most common scenario being a farmer that permits the land application of biosolids from a wastewater treatment facility,” he says ..read more

A market analyst reminds farmers there could be marketing opportunities ahead for July corn futures. Naomi Blohm, senior market advisor at Total Farm Marketing, tells Brownfield fifteen of the past 24 years the “summer high” has come in June. “Sometimes the high occurs early in June, sometimes it’s in conjunction with the June WASDE USDA report.”  She says, “Sometimes the high occurs after the June 30th final planted acres report, and then you get a price rally after that ..read more

May corn closed at $4.37 and 3/4, down 5 and 1/4 cents May soybeans closed at $11.66, down 1 and 1/2 cents May soybean meal closed at $346.00, up $1.80 May soybean oil closed at 44.66, down 65 points May wheat closed at $5.94 and 1/2, up 9 and 1/2 cents Jun. live cattle closed at $175.25, down $1.90 May feeder cattle closed at $244.10, down $1.95 Jun ..read more

Soybeans were mixed. Soybeans are watching late harvest activity in Brazil and the slowly advancing harvest in Argentina. Brazil’s harvest is nearly wrapped up and while prices are moving higher, they still hold a competitive advantage over the U.S. That’s significantly cut into U.S. export business, especially with China. Meanwhile, Argentina’s harvest is being hampered by wet conditions in some areas, which could also impact quality. The USDA’s next round of supply, demand, and production numbers is out May 10th, with CONAB’s updated outlook for Brazil on May 14th ..read more

The combination of high interest rates and lower commodity prices continue to threaten farm financial health.   West-central Illinois farmer Grant Strom says expenses are getting heavily scrutinized right now.  “When it comes to capital investments, especially,” he says.  “Can you ride things out another year or two with equipment or facilities or whatever the case may be?” He tells Brownfield the lending environment has changed a lot since he started farming in 2003.  ..read more

The amount of red meat and poultry in cold storage at the start of April was below year ago levels. The USDA says red meat stocks of 919.391 million pounds fell 12% on the year with a 10% decline for beef to 432.222 million pounds and a 13% drop in pork to 464.205 million pounds, due in part to solid demand. Demand also showed up for poultry, which came out at 1.12 billion pounds, 6% lower, with chicken down 11% at 763.713 million pounds, canceling out a 5% gain in turkey to 353.995 million pounds ..read more

An ag economist says cropland expansion in other countries could put U.S. farmers at a disadvantage. Ohio State University professor emeritus Carl Zulauf tells Brownfield about 400 million acres of farmland have been added to worldwide crop production since 2000. “Particularly, the land has increased in South America, but sub-Saharan Africa has been the other major expansion area, and India,” he says. Zulauf says deforestation, cropland returning to production, and double cropping have led to the increases in other countries ..read more

Broiler sets and placements have risen seven weeks in a row. The USDA says 245.393 million eggs went into incubation last week, 1.388 million less than the previous week, but up 2% on the year, with average hatchability at 79.1%. 189.354 million chicks were placed into meat production, about 501,000 below the week before, but 1% above last year, heading to market in June. The USDA’s next broiler production update is out May 10th ..read more

U.S. red meat production declined in 2023, down for the second consecutive year. The USDA says production of 54.538 billion pounds was down 2% from 2022, which was 1% less than the all-time high set in 2021. For 2023, beef production was 27.033 billion pounds, a decrease of 5% on the year, with the commercial slaughter down 4% to 32.8 million head due to tighter numbers and the average live weight losing four pounds to 1,365 pounds ..read more