Inflation news
From a window atop my grandfather’s old barn, you can see my family’s whole farm, from the hayfields to the chicken houses to the pasture where the mama cows are grazing.
The CattleFax Outlook Seminar, held as part of the 2024 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show in Orlando, shared expert market and weather analysis.
The No. 1 soybean and corn production area in Brazil has been impacted by drought during the current growing season.
On the first business day of the new year, Missouri Treasurer Vivek Malek began accepting applications for about $120 million of state-subsidized, low-interest loans to small businesses, farmers and affordable housing developers.
The Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer lowered one point in December compared to November — indicating stability in farmers’ perceptions about the ag economy.
Although indicators pointed to a recession in 2023, the U.S. economy has grown during this year.
About 36.4 million tons of food and food products, including corn and soybeans, are shipped annually via Illinois waterways and are dependent upon locks and dams that were built in the 1930s.
A year-over-year gain of 5% in agricultural land values, the smallest gain in three years, was reported in the third quarter of 2023, according to a survey.
There was a modest improvement in farmer sentiment about the ag economy in October as farmers reported improvements in current conditions and future expectations on their farm.
Moderation in input prices, particularly fertilizer prices, is likely to result in lower crop breakeven prices in 2024, according to a recent article by Michael Langemeier at Purdue University.
A year ago, my column was entitled “Cattle supplies to tighten moving forward.” The day I wrote that column December live cattle futures traded around the $154 level, but a few days ago kissed $192.
An important gauge of inflation was released this week, the Consumer Price Index. It showed August inflation above expectations at 3.7% and a new three-month high.
Those who follow my column know I am quite bullish toward the food and energy markets. They also know that my forecast for those markets to turn bullish has not yet come to fruition.
Even before Congress returned from its five-week, no-work period, Republicans signaled their return will bring no 2023 farm bill and no 2024 federal budget by the two laws’ drop-dead date, Sept. 30.
A shortage of food and energy should be coming sooner than later. I fully expect the final quarter of this year and into late 2025 to be a period marked by rising prices for those two basic markets.