Prospective Plantings Report Indicates Small Drop in Soybean Plantings Today's USDA Prospective Plantings report indicated U.S. farmers intend to plant slightly fewer acres to soybeans this year (77.126 million acres) than last year (77.198 million acres). This was a bit surprising since I and many other analysts expected a substantial increase in plantings. However, the plantings estimate declined because the expected increase in plantings in key Midwestern states was offset by declines in Minnesota and some southern states. Farmers in Minnesota indicated they intend to plant only 96 percent as many acres to soybeans this year as last and intend to plant more corn. Farmers in the South and in the Plains states apparently have decided to...
What You Need to Know Today: Cattle futures extended their sharp selloff Friday as weakening cash cattle prices, deteriorating feedlot profitability, and reduced packer demand continued to weigh on the market. The inability of futures to sustain a rally following last week's bullish Cattle on...
As predicted, the Federal Reserve held rates steady at the last meeting before the midterm elections, likely in part because of the election (see WPI 19 October and 22 September). The decision comes at the tail end of a midterm election cycle that has been marked by the two parties campaigning...
Key Takeaways: WPI’s new EU rapeseed crushing margin models point to weaker processing returns over the next four months due to higher rapeseed procurement costs and weaker product values. Statistical forecasts call for German crushing margins to decline from €181/MT to €...
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