China has a strong presence in trade for many commodities. China's soybean imports have risen sharply over the past 10-15 years, and now account for more than half of world trade.
USDA expects corn plantings to reach nearly 96 million acres in 2012, the highest since 1937, and 4% higher than 2011 acreage. Soybean acres are expected to fall slightly (down 1%) and acres planted to wheat are forecast to rise by 3% in the year ahead vs. last year.
USDA's issued its Prospective Plantings report last Thursday and it got the attention of most industry observers as it projected the most acreage planted to corn in 75 years. At the same time, it forecast that soybean and wheat acres would slip below 2011 plantings.
Yesterday, USDA reported 51% of the corn crop is in "good" or "excellent" condition, down from last week's 53% and last year's 68%. Soybean conditions also slipped to 53% in "good" or "excellent" condition, down from last week's 56% and last year's 63%
This afternoon, USDA released its weekly crop report and overall crop conditions continue to deteriorate as weather in various ag regions remains tough on yields.
Farmers effectively grow and market their crops, but the grain still has to be transported to its final destination. Sometimes, this is a food processing plant 89 miles away, a local ethanol plant or an export market that requires barging grain down the Mississippi River.
This morning, USDA lowered its 2010 corn acreage forecast by 0.9 million acres to 87.9 million acres. According to Henry Kirn, analyst for UBS, the revised forecast represents a 2% increase from last year’s 86.5 million acres.
In this episode of On the Record, brought to you by Associated Equipment Distributors, we look at the retaliatory tariffs Canada is enacting on U.S. goods, effective September 8.
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