How are the crops growing in the Midwestern United States?

Jun 07, 2016

Have your corn and soybean fields featured in a 2016 Farms.com Risk Management Crop Tour video!

Every growing season brings its own set of challenges. Will corn prices go up or down this year? How is the weather impacting yields? Did farmers get all of their acres planted and did some farmers switch some corn acres back to soybean after the recent spike in soybean prices? How will the weather, the yields, and other factors, such as disease or fertilizer and nitrogen needs and prices, impact the price of corn and soybeans this year?

For the fifth consecutive year, the team at Farms.com Risk Management will visit 12 states in 17 days to attempt to answer these questions with first-hand knowledge, so that farmers can get a better understanding of crop growth and the potential for commodity prices.

Farms.com Risk Management’s Moe Agostino, Chief Commodity Strategist, will visit U.S. Midwestern states with a high concentration of corn and soybeans; states such as Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan, to assess farm fields to forecast grain prices. The Farms.com Risk Management 2016 5th Annual U.S. Corn Belt Crop Tour will take place June 25 to July 11, 2016.

The information gathered on the tour allows the Farms.com Risk Management team to anticipate the size of the corn and soybean crops early in the growing season, so that they can give farmers better insight into where prices are heading over the next several months. This information can help farmers determine if they should book corn and soybean prices early, or wait until later in the growing season.

“When to book the price of their crop is a decision that can impact a farmer’s bottom line by tens of thousands of dollars,” says Agostino. “So it is critical for farmers to gather as much information as they can. We conduct this fact finding tour on behalf of farmers every year.”

This year, the Risk Management Team is inviting farmers to volunteer to have their corn and soybean fields be part of the crop tour. If you would like to volunteer to have your farm included on the 5th Annual U.S. Corn Belt Crop Tour, simply complete the online form at: riskmanagement.farms.com/tourvolunteer. By applying, you may also be selected to be in one of the daily Corn Belt Crop Tour videos.

The 2016 5th Annual U.S. Corn Belt Crop Tour sponsors include Penta Equipment, Pride Seeds, and of course, Farms.com. For more information on the 2016 U.S. Corn Belt Crop Tour, visit riskmanagement.farms.com/tour. Follow the tour on Twitter by using #cornbelt16, or download the US Corn Belt Crop Tour from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

Video: Will the 2025 USDA December Crop Report Be a Market Mover/Surprise?

Historically, the USDA December crop report is a non-event or another dud report as the USDA reserves any final supply changes to the final report in January of the following year in this case 2026. But after the longest U.S. government shutdown in history at 43 days and no October crop report will they provide more data/surprise and make an exception?
Our China U.S. soybean purchase tracker is now at 26.6% or a total of 3.2 mmt but for traders it’s taking too long to unfold.
The final Stats Canada production report was bearish canola and wheat projection a record crop in both (it adds to the global glut of supplies) and bullish local corn and soybean prices in Ontario/Quebec thanks to a drought. It will not help the fund flow short-term, the USDA may need to offset it?
A U.S. Fed interest rate cut of another 25-basis point next Wednesday (probability 87.1%) could help fund flow and sentiment in stock and ag commodities into year end.
More inflows into Bitcoin this past week saw prices rebound back above 90,000 with support at 82,000 and resistance at 96,000.
A V-shaped bottom in cattle suggest the lows are in after Mexico reported another new world screwworm case. Lower weights, seasonal demand and higher U.S. beef select/choice values with a continued closure of the Mexican border to cattle will result in a resumption of higher cattle futures into yearend.
Australia is expected to produce its 3rd largest wheat crop ever at 36 mmt adding to the global glut of supplies.
Reports of ASF in hogs in Spain the largest pork exporter in Europe could see the U.S. win more pork export business long-term.
If the rains verify into next week of 3-5 inches for Brazil it would go a long way to fixing the dry regions from the last 2-months, but the European weather model has been wrong for the past 2-months!
Natural gas futures are surging to the 3rd price count as frigid hold temps set in.
CDN $ is also surging to end the week on a very resilient economy and better employment numbers suggesting no interest rate cuts next week.
Finally, the CFTC report showed funds were net buyers of soybeans but sellers of corn, canola and wheat. In real time the funds have gone back to selling as they take some profits.