April 11, 2025

Thursday’s WASDE Bullish for Corn and Soybeans, Bearish for Wheat 

USDA cut domestic corn ending stocks more sharply than pre-report estimates and boosted corn exports by 100 million bushels. In USDA’s latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) and Crop Production reports released Thursday, ending stocks for corn in the 2024-25 crop were lowered to 1.465 billion bushels (bb) with 100 million more bushels of export demand. Corn production for the 2024-25 crop was held at 14.87 billion bushels. USDA held the national yield at 179.3 bushels per acre. Harvested acres were 82.9 million. In soybeans, USDA lowered ending stocks for the old-crop 2024-25 by 5 million bushels to 375 mb, within the range of pre-report expectation. USDA estimates increased U.S. wheat ending stocks for the 2024-2025 season at 846 million bushels from 819 mb in March. USDA cut total use by 17 million bushels, down from 1.99 mb last month.

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Trump Tariff Pause a Positive and Appreciated by Farmers

Farmers across the U.S. were pleased to hear most countries will get a 90-day reprieve from the new individualized tariffs announced April 2—an opportunity for negotiations with our trading partners that could lead to consensus and potentially avoid permanent tariffs, along with improving market access for U.S. agriculture. “Farm Bureau appreciates President Trump’s decision to pause the reciprocal tariffs on dozens of America’s trading partners for 90 days,” said American Farm Bureau president Zippy Duvall. “We have been engaging directly with the White House, U.S. Trade Representative and U.S. Department of Agriculture to emphasize the toll tariffs will take on America’s farmers and ranchers, who are already strapped because of high supply costs and shrinking paychecks. Creating more market challenges puts at risk more than 20% of U.S. farm income. We’re encouraged that those concerns are being heard.” With the pause came a rate drop to 10% for each of the countries itemized during that announcement—except for China. After including the “normal” VAT and standard duty rate for soy, the effective rate for soybeans shipped to China is 114.73%.

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Trump says Administration to Slow Deportations on Illegal Farm, Hotel Workers

President Donald Trump held a Cabinet meeting with his top officials Thursday and said his administration would provide some relief to farmers and hotel operators who employ immigrants lacking legal status. “We have to take care of our farmers, their hotels and, you know, various places where they need the people,” he said. “A farmer will come in with a letter concerning certain people saying they’re great, they’re working hard. We’re going to slow down a little bit for them, and then we’re going to ultimately bring them back. They’ll go out, they’re going to come back as legal workers,” Trump explained. More than two-thirds of U.S. crop workers are foreign-born, according to the USDA. Many of them came to the country through the H-2A visas, but officials estimate that 42% of the workers are undocumented migrants.

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Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act Reintroduced in Senate

Bipartisan legislation has been reintroduced in the U.S. Senate to address anticompetitive markets and vertical consolidation in the meatpacking industry. The “Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act of 2025 would create the “Office of the Special Investigator for Competition Matters” within the Packers & Stockyards Division at USDA. The Office of the Special Investigator would hold legal powers to address violations of the Packers and Stockyards Act taken by large meatpackers. “Producers have gone too long without fair options when it comes to processors and meatpackers,” according to U.S. Cattlemen’s Association President Justin Tupper. “The industry is much more consolidated than is equitable, with the four largest beef packers controlling 85 percent of the space.” The House released their version of the bill on March 20.

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U.S. Ethanol Exports Up 27 Percent Year-over-Year

U.S. ethanol exports have crossed the one-billion-gallon threshold halfway through Marketing Year (MY) 2024/2025, a 27 percent increase from the same period in MY 2023/2024, according to new information from the USDA. The sharp rise in ethanol sales contributed to an 11 percent increase in U.S. grains in all forms (GIAF) exports compared to last year’s data. “Passing one billion gallons in ethanol exports just six months into MY 2024/2025 is a testament to the quality and versatility of U.S. ethanol,” said Alicia Koch, U.S. Grains Council (USGC) director of global ethanol export development. Canada is maintaining its place as the top importer of U.S. ethanol, purchasing 19 million more gallons than at this point in the last marketing year, and the European Union is showing strong appetite for U.S. ethanol by importing 78 million additional gallons.

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Senators Press USDA on Avian Flu Response

Senate Agriculture Committee members have written Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins urging her department to broaden its strategy for managing avian flu to include measures for turkeys and dairy herds. “Since the beginning of the outbreak, the virus has impacted more than 160 million birds, including more than 18.6 million turkeys, and nearly 1,000 dairy herds across the country,” the letter stated. “We appreciated your commitment to make addressing avian flu a top priority during your confirmation process and believe this strategic plan is an important first step in this effort… We request an update on the Department’s plan for ensuring turkey producers, dairy and other impacted livestock and wildlife species are covered under the plan. In addition, we request the Department develop a strategy and timeline for working with foreign trading partners to ensure potential vaccination of avian flu in poultry and cattle does not disrupt trade.” Signatories included Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ranking Member of the Committee, along with Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.).

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