Senate to Vote on U.S. Farm Bill

Feb 03, 2014

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

The U.S. Senate will be voting on the nearly $1 trillion five-year 2014 farm bill this afternoon. If the Senate passes the farm legislation (it requires 60 votes for passage), then President Obama is expected to sign it into law. Congress has been in partisan gridlock for the past two years to pass an agreement on the food and farm legislation.

Last week, the House approved the bill, in a 251 to 166 vote. The bill ends direct payments for farmers, while expanding crop insurance. Is also offers livestock disaster assistance and a new program for dairy farmers. The bill also cuts about $8 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps.

Most of the U.S. farm groups support the farm bill, with the exception of livestock groups who strongly oppose the wording of the country-of-origin meat labeling rule. The bill is expected to pass the Senate with strong bipartisan support.

Video: U.S.-China Trade “Truce” + U.S. Fed Cuts Rates Again

The market was hoping for a US-China trade deal, but we got a trade “truce” for now from the keenly awaited Trump-Xi meeting at the APEC Summit.
China commits to minimum purchase commitments of 12 MMT of U.S. soybeans during the “current season” and a minimum of 25 MMT annually through 2028.
U.S. Treasury Sec Bessent said other Asian countries have agreed to buy additional 19 MMT of US soybean.
Soybean futures trading above $11 now- they normally tend to rally to $12.
As expected, US Fed cuts interest rates by -0.25% again in October to 3.75%–4.00%. No further cuts promised for this year but trade looking out to the Dec FOMC.
The Bank of Canada cut interest rates to 2.25% but raised concern over trade war damage.
Soy meal futures, remarkably, have had 14 consecutive higher close sessions. A bull market in soybeans is a bull market in soy meal!
Cattle futures lower as funds unwind out of cattle for now due to Trump headlines and objective to lower beef prices.
All major stock indices climb to new record highs. It was Mag 7 reporting week, which had mixed results. But we now have the first $5 trillion company in Nvidia!