Topics for consideration in the farm bill are starting to take shape. According to reports from Capitol Hill, one likely change in the 2023 farm bill will be the reference prices under the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program, which are likely to get updated to reflect current markets. The PLC program was created in the 2014 farm bill, along with the Ag Risk Coverage (ARC) program. PLC reference prices were set in the 2014 farm bill and haven’t been adjusted. The charts below show the evolution of commodity prices against the reference prices from the MY 2014/15 average price through the MY 2022/23 projected average.
ARC The ARC program provides payments tied to historical base acres, not current production, of covered...
What You Need to Know Today: Crude oil prices extended their rally today, supported by several developments, including escalating Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure and growing concerns about supply disruptions. The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to remove 50 perc...
Key Takeaways: The agricultural trade surplus has become a sizable deficit: the balance swung from a $40.1 billion surplus in 2011 to a $40.7 billion deficit in 2025. Imports kept growing while exports lost momentum: between 2020 and 2025, agricultural imports increased 45 percent, compa...
USDA released its October Cattle on Feed report Friday, showing 11.4 million cattle in feedlots with capacity for 1,000 head or more, slightly below last year. September placements were the lowest for the month since records began in 1996, marking the third consecutive month of placements sett...
Total Red Meat & Poultry September 2026 total red meat and poultry stocks totaled 1.97 billion pounds, down 1.4 percent from August despite typically increasing 0.8 percent during the month, and were 1.5 percent below September 2025 levels. The decline pushed total inventories to a new five...
