If you’ve ever listened to a grain commodities report, you’ve probably heard the terms new crop and old crop. But what do they actually mean, and why do prices vary so much between the two? Using corn as an example, we’ll break down how futures markets, basis, and storage decisions all play a role in grain markets.
Fall is usually the most exciting season on the farm, but this year rising input costs and declining farmer sentiment are overshadowing the joy of harvest. With corn facing steep losses per acre and overall farm expenses projected to hit record highs, the numbers tell a sobering story for agriculture’s most important season.
Farm prices are on a wild ride. Beef is breaking records while corn is sinking to multi-year lows. Today, it takes roughly the value of four acres of corn to buy just one fed calf. What does this price gap mean for cattlemen, ranchers, and the future of herd expansion?
In 1972, the Farm Progress Show came to my hometown of Galesburg, Illinois and even to the farm of my family’s closest friends. That year’s show was the biggest in history, drawing over 360,000 people and marking the dawn of U.S. farming’s golden age. Looking back, it was a front-row seat to agriculture’s past, present, and future.
Corn Records Without Rewards U.S. corn growers are smashing records in acreage and yield, but instead of golden returns, many are facing low prices and soaring input costs. Record bushels don’t always mean record profits.
A heartfelt reflection on a simple summer dish of homegrown vegetables, honoring the resilience, self-reliance, and enduring legacy of Fred's grandparents who lived through the Great Depression.
#NationalFarmersMarketWeek: The Shortest Distance to Better Eating What is food really grown for: nutrition, taste, or just to survive a long supply chain? The truth may surprise you. This National Farmers Market Week, we explore why much of our food is grown to be shipped, not savored, and how local farmers' markets offer a fresh, flavorful, and community-powered alternative.
Just as all politics are local, all farming is local. Terrain, soils, weather patterns, market access and cultural production practices vary dramatically across the Fruited Plain, as do the issues and concerns shaping ag policy. So it only makes sense for the entity that combines politics and farming to go local. Because in an urbanized city located on the banks of the Potomac, run by elephants and donkeys, you don’t see many cows, pigs or chickens, much less corn, wheat or almonds.
Just step outside. It's brutal. You’ll instantly know it’s “sweating season” across the South and much of the Midwest. Sure, temperatures are hot, consistently now in the upper 90s across the Delta. But it’s the humidity that instantly gets your attention and triggers sweat glands overload. The dew point - aka "the misery index" - indicates the temperature where dew forms: the higher the dew point, the more moisture is in the air. The National Weather Service defines dew points above 75 degrees as “oppressive.” That’s where we’ve consistently been across the Delta; most days reaching the upper 70s.
This Week In Ag #124: Live Aid: Music That Fed the World (and Filled My Parents’ Basement) This past Sunday marked the 40th anniversary of the greatest PR and musical event in history. It was held at Wembley Stadium in London. And at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. It was viewed by nearly 40% of the world’s population. The event was Live Aid, a benefit concert to raise money and awareness for famine relief in Africa. It was the event that forged a generation, my generation, Gen X. I’ll never forget that day. Dad was among the first in our neighborhood to purchase a satellite dish. I threw a party that day, attended by seemingly every college-aged aggie in the county (or at least dad seemed to think so)
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