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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Sunday, February 16, 2025
As much as growers long for an end to the trade war with China, there are long-term threats to demand for corn, soybeans and other crops that could depress commodity prices for years to come and lead to calls for higher government spending, economists say.
Midwestern corn farmers will soon be helped to more effectively target and measure the impact of efforts to protect the environment on 1.5 million acres, thanks to a new initiative by Tate & Lyle PLC and Land O’Lakes.
President Donald Trump on Sunday confirmed that the U.S. and Japan have reached a preliminary deal to lower Japanese tariffs and increase market share for U.S. agricultural commodities. The deal, as reported Saturday by Agri-Pulse, is already being lauded as a success for farmers by major U.S. ag groups.
USDA is cutting its estimates of U.S. corn and soybean acreage after resurveying farmers and doing further analysis of areas of the Midwest hit hard by heavy rains this spring.
The latest Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer indicates that producers were growing more optimistic in July, but the ongoing trade spat with China may impact the next survey.
The latest version of the Trump administration’s trade assistance for farmers may provide some growers with more money than their actual losses from the ongoing trade war with China, but supporters of the aid package say it’s vital to helping many produces to survive until better times.
The Agriculture Department overhauled its Market Facilitation Program to broaden the number of farmers that would receive the trade aid, but officials may encounter new grumbling over the wide disparities in county payment rates.
By the end of the year, China is finally expected to implement the quotas for corn, wheat and rice as it agreed to do about 20 years ago, but it may not be a cause for celebration for American farmers.
Crop insurance for corn, soybeans and wheat will cost more because of the expected effects of climate change on yields, the Economic Research Service concluded in a report made public Monday.
The Environmental Protection Agency has approved the insecticide sulfoxaflor for use on corn, cotton, sorghum and citrus, as well as other crops, the agency announced Friday, saying it had concluded the chemical posed no significant risk to bees and that alternatives to the chemical are worse for the environment.
