Recent Farm Inputs Analysis
Eye on Weather for 2022 Considering Fertilizer Prices
There has been much discussion and focus on the weather conditions in South America, and Brazil in particular where it has been dry across the central and southern parts of the country. Heavy rains are also causing crop loss in some of the northern areas. The forecast is for more La Nina effect...
Africa Already Green
When the EU and the African Union meet in February, Brussels will reportedly encourage the AU to adopt Europe’s Green Deal/Farm to Fork strategy in agriculture, which involves 50 percent reduction in the use of pesticides, plus a 20 percent reduction in fertilizer. Europe already uses 20...
Changes in Chemical Usage
The U.S./Canada and Europe have increased pesticide usage only slightly over the past two decades whereas South America’s usage has grown by almost 120 percent. Africa’s pesticide usage in agriculture has grown by nearly 69 percent, but from a very small base. Asia is the dominant a...
Worsening Food Prices
Key agricultural commodity prices have risen sharply over the past two years, some reaching their highest level in a decade (see graph below). Now the UN says that climate change could cause production to fall 30 percent at the same time food demand is forecast to rise by 50 percent. The cautio...
No N, No GMO, No Food
Some environmentalists were aghast at the COP26 meeting when mega-billionaire and serial do-gooder Bill Gates described nitrogen fertilizer as “magical” and opined that, “to grow crops, you want tons of nitrogen.” They called nitrogen fertilizer a major cause of greenhou...
Tech City on a Hill; Distance Warms Heart
Tech City on a Hill Some nationalistic political philosophers like to characterize the U.S. as a beacon of hope for democratic ideals and while some will say this has come to pass, it does offer hope to technologists. The proof was today’s House Agriculture Committee hearing on how to boo...
Notable TFP Changes
U.S. Secretary for Agriculture Tom Vilsack and EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski will be on the stage together next week at the Forum for the Future of Agriculture & Farm Europe. Mr. Vilsack has taken the position that increasing productivity is the pathway to sustainability...
High-Cost Energy/Ag Inputs Forecast
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its winter fuels outlook last week, forecasting rising prices for several key agricultural inputs. First, natural gas will continue pushing up nitrogen fertilizer prices. While there are a number of factors at play in fertil...
F2F Proxy; Rolling Inflation; Selective View of Tensions
F2F Proxy Greens in Europe have been downplaying the impact on production from reduced use of inputs, arguing that studies showing lower production are flawed. Whether the use of inputs like fertilizer are reduced due to government restrictions on use (F2F) or tempered by record high prices, th...
Technical Views - Retrace Lower
SPREADS Dec crush trades to 88c/bu while oilshare trades at 45.0%. Dec/March corn trades out to 8c from 7c, while Dec 21/22 trades from 23 1/2c carry to 20 3/4c. Dec/March wheat carry trades from 10 1/2c to 11c. Dec wheat/corn trades from 1.86 1/4c to 1.83c. Nov/Jan bean...
Fertilizer Prices and Production
DTN reports that for the first time in about nine months there was no significant increase in fertilizer prices this past month. Among the eight major components, prices have risen between 36 percent to a 76 percent increase for MAP. Higher crop prices have meant higher farm revenue and increas...
GMO Tipping Point; One-Way Ethanol; Opium or Food?
GMO Tipping Point They do not call it genetic modification because of all the negative baggage associated with the first wave of organisms modified to be better. The technologies that have evolved from originally inserting a gene into DNA instead have a trendier moniker, new genomic techniques...
Eye on Weather for 2022 Considering Fertilizer Prices
There has been much discussion and focus on the weather conditions in South America, and Brazil in particular where it has been dry across the central and southern parts of the country. Heavy rains are also causing crop loss in some of the northern areas. The forecast is for more La Nina effect...
Africa Already Green
When the EU and the African Union meet in February, Brussels will reportedly encourage the AU to adopt Europe’s Green Deal/Farm to Fork strategy in agriculture, which involves 50 percent reduction in the use of pesticides, plus a 20 percent reduction in fertilizer. Europe already uses 20...
Changes in Chemical Usage
The U.S./Canada and Europe have increased pesticide usage only slightly over the past two decades whereas South America’s usage has grown by almost 120 percent. Africa’s pesticide usage in agriculture has grown by nearly 69 percent, but from a very small base. Asia is the dominant a...
Worsening Food Prices
Key agricultural commodity prices have risen sharply over the past two years, some reaching their highest level in a decade (see graph below). Now the UN says that climate change could cause production to fall 30 percent at the same time food demand is forecast to rise by 50 percent. The cautio...
No N, No GMO, No Food
Some environmentalists were aghast at the COP26 meeting when mega-billionaire and serial do-gooder Bill Gates described nitrogen fertilizer as “magical” and opined that, “to grow crops, you want tons of nitrogen.” They called nitrogen fertilizer a major cause of greenhou...
Tech City on a Hill; Distance Warms Heart
Tech City on a Hill Some nationalistic political philosophers like to characterize the U.S. as a beacon of hope for democratic ideals and while some will say this has come to pass, it does offer hope to technologists. The proof was today’s House Agriculture Committee hearing on how to boo...
Notable TFP Changes
U.S. Secretary for Agriculture Tom Vilsack and EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski will be on the stage together next week at the Forum for the Future of Agriculture & Farm Europe. Mr. Vilsack has taken the position that increasing productivity is the pathway to sustainability...
High-Cost Energy/Ag Inputs Forecast
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its winter fuels outlook last week, forecasting rising prices for several key agricultural inputs. First, natural gas will continue pushing up nitrogen fertilizer prices. While there are a number of factors at play in fertil...
F2F Proxy; Rolling Inflation; Selective View of Tensions
F2F Proxy Greens in Europe have been downplaying the impact on production from reduced use of inputs, arguing that studies showing lower production are flawed. Whether the use of inputs like fertilizer are reduced due to government restrictions on use (F2F) or tempered by record high prices, th...
Technical Views - Retrace Lower
SPREADS Dec crush trades to 88c/bu while oilshare trades at 45.0%. Dec/March corn trades out to 8c from 7c, while Dec 21/22 trades from 23 1/2c carry to 20 3/4c. Dec/March wheat carry trades from 10 1/2c to 11c. Dec wheat/corn trades from 1.86 1/4c to 1.83c. Nov/Jan bean...
Fertilizer Prices and Production
DTN reports that for the first time in about nine months there was no significant increase in fertilizer prices this past month. Among the eight major components, prices have risen between 36 percent to a 76 percent increase for MAP. Higher crop prices have meant higher farm revenue and increas...
GMO Tipping Point; One-Way Ethanol; Opium or Food?
GMO Tipping Point They do not call it genetic modification because of all the negative baggage associated with the first wave of organisms modified to be better. The technologies that have evolved from originally inserting a gene into DNA instead have a trendier moniker, new genomic techniques...