NATIONAL AG NEWS SPONSORED BY THE AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION
National Ag News for March 30, 2023
University of Missouri Releases 2023 Market Outlook
The University of Missouri’s Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute Wednesday released its 2023 U.S. Agricultural Markets Outlook. The report summarizes baseline projections for agricultural and biofuel markets prepared using market information available in January 2023. The report finds that if weather conditions allow crop yields to return to trend-line levels in 2023, prices for corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton and many other crops will likely fall. Higher input costs contributed to a sharp increase in farm production expenses in 2022. A smaller increase is projected in 2023, and lower prices for some inputs will reduce production costs in 2024 and 2025. In 2023, most projected livestock sector prices will fall as supplies rebound and demand growth slows. The one major exception is cattle, where drought and other factors limit the number of animals available for slaughter. Finally, net farm income reached a record level in nominal terms in 2022. The report projects net incomes to decline in 2023 and 2024 as receipts and payments fall.
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Survey Shows Strong Public Support for Farm Bill Passage
Almost three-quarters of Americans say that not reauthorizing the farm bill in 2023 would have a significant impact on the country. The response comes from a new American Farm Bureau Federation poll that explores the public’s awareness of the farm bill. The poll, conducted by Morning Consult, showed more than half of respondents said they would be more likely to support their member of Congress if they voted to reauthorize the farm bill. Nearly 70 percent of respondents also identified two areas of the farm bill as top priorities for government funding: risk management programs that serve as a safety net for farmers and nutrition programs that serve as a safety net for families facing hunger. A majority of adults agree that nutrition programs, 68 percent, and risk management, 67 percent, should be top priorities for government funding in the farm bill. Further, the survey found 89 percent of adults trust farmers.
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Lawmakers Welcome Vilsack Support of PASS Act
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack this week expressed support for their Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security, or PASS Act. The legislation would ensure USDA is fully involved in reviewing foreign acquisition of American agricultural land and companies, specifically targeting China. Vilsack responded to Representative Rick Crawford’s question during a House Agriculture Committee hearing regarding the role of a USDA Secretary on the Committee of Foreign Investment in the United States. Vilsack says, “Being a permanent member would allow us to educate the other members of CFIUS in the United States what to look for and what to be sensitive to when it comes to agriculture and agricultural production.” Crawford, an Arkansas Republican, responded, “It’s time to be proactive in addressing these threats to our food supply and to our producers.” Representative Elise Stefanik, a New Yor Republican, adds the legislation “takes critical steps to ensure we do not concede any ownership of our food supply to those actively working against our security interests.”
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FBN Releases Spring Planting Intentions Report
Farmers Business Network this week released its 2023 Planting Intentions Report. The survey, according to FBN, is one of the most accurate in recent years, released ahead of USDA’s Prospective Plantings report Friday. The report found U.S. corn acreage is projected to increase 3.9 million acres to 92.5 million acres in 2023, a 4.45 percent. Meanwhile, U.S. soybean acreage is expected to be at 84.5 million for 2023, 3.4 percent or three million acres lower than last year. U.S. farms are expected to plant 11 million acres of spring wheat in 2023, up only slightly from last year’s total. FBN Chief Economist Kevin McNew says, “This report helps decipher how the complex global geopolitical factors, weather conditions, and market demand are shaping farmer decisions for the year ahead.” During March 2023, an electronic survey was distributed to U.S. FBN members. The FBN survey responses accounted for 4.7 million acres of principal crops across the United States.
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CFTC Charges Chinese National with Fraudulent Scheme to Trade Against Employer
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission this week filed charges against a Chinese national, in the Northern District of Illinois Court. CFTC charged Dichao Xie (De-chow Sheah) with a fraudulent scheme in which he misused knowledge of his employer’s trading in feeder cattle futures and options to trade for his own benefit in breach of a duty to his employer. Xie’s trades also constituted illegal fictitious and noncompetitive trades under the Commodity Exchange and CFTC regulations, according to the complaint. The complaint seeks, among other relief, civil monetary penalties, return of any ill-gotten gains, restitution, and permanent trading and registration bans. The complaint alleges that from approximately December 2021 to April 2022, Xie engaged in a fraudulent scheme to misappropriate material, non-public information from his employer in breach of a duty to that employer. Xie misused that information to enter into trades of feeder cattle futures and options fraudulently and deceptively for his personal benefit.
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Economic Research Service: Georgia Leads U.S. Production of Peanuts
New data from USDA’s Economic Research Service finds Georgia leads U.S. production of peanuts, outpacing all other states combined. Peanuts are grown mainly in the South, where the climate is warmer and growing seasons are longer than in northern zones. Most U.S. peanut production comes from six States: Georgia, Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas. USDA data finds the U.S. peanut crop in 2022 was estimated at 5.57 billion pounds. Accounting for more than 50 percent of all U.S. peanut production, Georgia produced the most peanuts of any state, with a 2022 peanut crop estimated at 2.9 billion pounds. Alabama’s peanut harvest, at 559 million pounds, was a distant second to Georgia, followed closely by Florida with 554 million pounds. The 2022 U.S. peanut crop was nearly 13 percent smaller than in 2021 because of lower acreage and yields. Smaller crops were estimated in all states except North Carolina, where production increased three percent from 2021.
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