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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Tuesday, December 24, 2024
USDA has cut its forecast for the value of U.S. ag exports in fiscal year 2023 to $181 billion, a $3.5 billion reduction from the agency’s February prediction of $184.5 billion.
The House Agriculture Committee is considering raising reference prices based on a commodity’s relative input costs, an approach that could benefit some southern crops over commodities such as soybeans and corn.
Groups representing producers of U.S. row crops are far from united on what Congress should do to improve commodity programs, even as the House and Senate Agriculture committees look to start writing a new farm bill in coming weeks.
The USDA on Friday said raised its planting forecasts for corn, soybean and most wheat, but slashed its prediction for cotton planting as dryness in Texas continues.
In a period when inflation has raised the cost of everything from fertilizers to shipping, groups representing agricultural producers and processors are calling for increased funding for two proven and longstanding export programs.
Soybean and wheat growers are taking the lead in pushing for lawmakers to increase farm program reference prices in the next farm bill, even as lawmakers wrestle with how to come up with the extra money that would be required.
Many cotton growers face a critical decision over the next few weeks: whether to switch some of the acreage to wheat, soybeans and other crops because of the significantly higher market prices for those commodities.
USDA’s latest farm income forecast could provide some ammunition to farm groups and their allies in Congress who argue that soaring production costs are eating into farm earnings while producers have little chance of seeing payments from commodity programs.
The Agriculture Department reduced its fiscal 2023 forecast for U.S. ag exports to $190 billion, a $3.5 billion drop from the agency’s last estimate in August, largely reflecting weaker expectations for soybean sales.
Farmers and ranchers who bought crop insurance across the Plains and West are finding that it’s going to make a big difference to their bottom lines due to the drought that plagued the region through the growing season.
