Battlefront Reporting; Technical Limits; Poopy Water; Migrant Pressures
Battlefront Reporting Another day and more news on the trade war front. On the first day of new retaliatory tariffs by the EU on U.S. goods, German automakers offered zero-for-zero transatlantic tariffs. President Trump responded with the threat to impose 20 percent tariffs on imports of Europe...
Trade War Endgame; Laudable Reorg; Mixt
Trade War Endgame Starting the trade war was “easy” for Mr. Trump, sustaining it will become more difficult for domestic political reasons. That fact was revealed by this week’s Senate Finance Committee hearing during which its members expressed skepticism about the trade acti...
Cattle on Feed; Compact Comeback?
Cattle on Feed Industry pre-report estimates for tomorrow’s Cattle on Feed report from USDA peg the total number of cattle on feed as of 1 June at 103.4 percent of last year. If realized, it would be the 17th consecutive month that the inventory was larger than the year prior. May p...
Oilseed Highlights: Palm Oil Prices; U.S. Soy Export Sales; Brazil’s Soy Exports
Falling Palm Oil Prices Reach Two-Year Low Palm oil prices are declining because of anemic demand and the market turmoil caused by the U.S.-China trade dispute. Today the September palm oil futures price on the Malaysian futures exchange fell for the fourth consecutive day to the equivalent of...
Predictable Trade War; Owed Freebies; Jurisdictional Meat; Sweet Natural Duplicity
Predictable Trade War After the Shanghai Composite Index plunged in value, the headlines say that the Chinese were “caught off guard” by President Trump’s announcement of counter-retaliatory tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese exports. Wall Street was also supposedly surprised...
Southeast Europe Regional Analysis
Milling Wheat The Black Sea market had a weaker tone last week with the new crop harvest approaching and as export commitments for the first quarter of the new campaign are lower than a year ago at this time. The buyers/consumers in the major destinations are confused due to the conflicting rep...
Trade War Chapters Three and Four; NAFTA Dairy Confusion; Tech Solution
Trade War Chapters Three and Four President Trump’s “easy to win” trade war is heating up, and U.S. farm groups are beginning to push back against it. This week the Trump administration announced that it would apply 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion worth of “industriall...
Market Commentary
There probably isn’t much point in talking about fundamental issues surrounding the grain and oilseed markets as very little has changed in that regard. The Black Sea region continues to suffer from adverse weather that is reducing yields and production there, and most of Australia is sti...
Roadblock Italy; Lemon to a Knife Fight
Roadblock Italy The new Italian government says it will not ratify the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada. It is a major agreement, but the Italians say it does too little to protect their country’s specialty foods. This does not bode well for EU c...
FB: Boring Bipartisanship; Triangulating Trade Arrangement; Farm Policy Purpose
FB: Boring Bipartisanship The Senate Agriculture Committee approved its farm bill proposal by a vote of 20-1. Only Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley voted no, a bipartisan tradition for senators from that state. While the House version of the legislation, which failed in a floor vote, atte...
Market Commentary
The overnight market did not seem to know how to take the results of the Trump/Kim Jong Un meeting in Singapore. It ended with an announced agreement to denuclearize North Korea and for the U.S. to cease joint military exercises with South Korea. As always, the “devil is in the details,&r...
U.S.-Canada Road Forward; Limits of Tariffs; Real Ag Problems
U.S.-Canada Road Forward Donald Trump initially thought that U.S. agriculture was a problem for him since the sector was so paranoid about trade retaliation that it cried out loudly for him to “do no harm.” Now he has come to realize that it presents some of the best examples of pro...
Battlefront Reporting; Technical Limits; Poopy Water; Migrant Pressures
Battlefront Reporting Another day and more news on the trade war front. On the first day of new retaliatory tariffs by the EU on U.S. goods, German automakers offered zero-for-zero transatlantic tariffs. President Trump responded with the threat to impose 20 percent tariffs on imports of Europe...
Trade War Endgame; Laudable Reorg; Mixt
Trade War Endgame Starting the trade war was “easy” for Mr. Trump, sustaining it will become more difficult for domestic political reasons. That fact was revealed by this week’s Senate Finance Committee hearing during which its members expressed skepticism about the trade acti...
Cattle on Feed; Compact Comeback?
Cattle on Feed Industry pre-report estimates for tomorrow’s Cattle on Feed report from USDA peg the total number of cattle on feed as of 1 June at 103.4 percent of last year. If realized, it would be the 17th consecutive month that the inventory was larger than the year prior. May p...
Oilseed Highlights: Palm Oil Prices; U.S. Soy Export Sales; Brazil’s Soy Exports
Falling Palm Oil Prices Reach Two-Year Low Palm oil prices are declining because of anemic demand and the market turmoil caused by the U.S.-China trade dispute. Today the September palm oil futures price on the Malaysian futures exchange fell for the fourth consecutive day to the equivalent of...
Predictable Trade War; Owed Freebies; Jurisdictional Meat; Sweet Natural Duplicity
Predictable Trade War After the Shanghai Composite Index plunged in value, the headlines say that the Chinese were “caught off guard” by President Trump’s announcement of counter-retaliatory tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese exports. Wall Street was also supposedly surprised...
Southeast Europe Regional Analysis
Milling Wheat The Black Sea market had a weaker tone last week with the new crop harvest approaching and as export commitments for the first quarter of the new campaign are lower than a year ago at this time. The buyers/consumers in the major destinations are confused due to the conflicting rep...
Trade War Chapters Three and Four; NAFTA Dairy Confusion; Tech Solution
Trade War Chapters Three and Four President Trump’s “easy to win” trade war is heating up, and U.S. farm groups are beginning to push back against it. This week the Trump administration announced that it would apply 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion worth of “industriall...
Market Commentary
There probably isn’t much point in talking about fundamental issues surrounding the grain and oilseed markets as very little has changed in that regard. The Black Sea region continues to suffer from adverse weather that is reducing yields and production there, and most of Australia is sti...
Roadblock Italy; Lemon to a Knife Fight
Roadblock Italy The new Italian government says it will not ratify the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada. It is a major agreement, but the Italians say it does too little to protect their country’s specialty foods. This does not bode well for EU c...
FB: Boring Bipartisanship; Triangulating Trade Arrangement; Farm Policy Purpose
FB: Boring Bipartisanship The Senate Agriculture Committee approved its farm bill proposal by a vote of 20-1. Only Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley voted no, a bipartisan tradition for senators from that state. While the House version of the legislation, which failed in a floor vote, atte...
Market Commentary
The overnight market did not seem to know how to take the results of the Trump/Kim Jong Un meeting in Singapore. It ended with an announced agreement to denuclearize North Korea and for the U.S. to cease joint military exercises with South Korea. As always, the “devil is in the details,&r...
U.S.-Canada Road Forward; Limits of Tariffs; Real Ag Problems
U.S.-Canada Road Forward Donald Trump initially thought that U.S. agriculture was a problem for him since the sector was so paranoid about trade retaliation that it cried out loudly for him to “do no harm.” Now he has come to realize that it presents some of the best examples of pro...