Australian Wheat Exports Near a 50-Year Low
Hellenic Shipping News – 05/27/2019 International demand for Australian wheat has collapsed with exports likely to hit an almost 50-year low as Indonesia and other major customers look to cheaper sources in the Black Sea. Australia is on track to export just over 6 million tonnes of wheat for the season from October to September 30, less than half the 10-year average and the lowest level in 47 years, according to US Department of Agriculture analysis. A leading Australian trader and supplier to Indonesia said demand was in freefall. “It is pretty dramatic, we have lost so much market share,” said the trader, who did not want to be named.
Read More
EU Wheat at Three-Month High in The Wake of Chicago Rally
Reuters – 05/28/2019 European wheat prices hit a three-month high on Monday in the wake of a surge in Chicago in the previous session on concerns that wet weather in the United States could damage crop quality. “The hesitation is big between those who think that a looming heavy situation on Black Sea wheat is such that it will take everything in its path, and those who think that the U.S. weather… can cause a major reversal of the situation,” consultancy Agritel said in a note. Above-normal rainfall is expected across most of the Midwest and Plains farm belt over the next 15 days, further delaying planting of corn and soybeans and potentially damaging the quality of the developing winter wheat crop, forecasters said. On the French cash market, activity was at a standstill as buyers were cautious in the face of the sharp rise and sellers wanted to hold off in hope of better prices.
Read More
Like USMCA, Japanese Trade Deal is An Opportunity for Kansas
The Wichita Eagle – 05/26/2019 This week, President Trump is traveling to Japan to embark on a new trade mission. The time is right for Japanese trade talks, as we enter the final stages in approving the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Throughout this month, we have seen significant progress on advancing the USMCA to replace NAFTA and achieve free and fair trade between our countries. Mexico passed sweeping labor laws called for in the USMCA. Tariffs on aluminum and steel were dropped, in addition to retaliatory tariffs on American agriculture by Mexico and Canada. All of these moves signal the final steps toward ratifying the USMCA. As a member of the whip team helping to secure final approval in Congress, I believe passing the USMCA is among the most important things we can do this year to boost the Kansas and U.S. economy.
Read More
Why China’s Dependence on Farm Subsidies is An Obstacle to a Trade War Deal With the U.S.
South China Morning Post – 05/27/2019 For Han Yahui in the farming town of Ulanhot in Inner Mongolia, the opening of China’s soybean market to imports in the late 1990s was a harbinger of things to come. “I witnessed how our industry [almost] collapsed because of cheap imports,” Han said. Han runs a rural cooperative specialising in organic farming of wheat, soybean and rice on about 133 hectares (328 acres) in northeast China. She is one of up to 200 million farmers in China who rely on government subsidies and other aid to buy new farm equipment and to produce strategic crops. Han’s cooperative, for example, receives 300 yuan (US$43.50) in annual government subsidies for every mu – 666 square metres – of soybeans they plant. “Government subsidies are very important to help cover our labour costs,” she said. “The subsidies make sure that we won’t lose money. “I don’t want to see our farmers make nothing after a year of hard work.
Read More
Wind, Hail and Rain Impacting Farmers’ Harvests This Year in Oklahoma
The Oklahoman – 05/28/2019 Wind, hail, flooding rains and tornadoes continue to be the primary public safety concern across Oklahoma the final week of May. But that extreme weather also is wreaking havoc on the state’s agricultural producers, who were within weeks of beginning to harvest their canola and wheat crops. Through Monday, the Oklahoma Mesonet shows 30-day rainfall totals ranged from about 2 inches to nearly 8 inches in the Panhandle, and from about 7 inches in extreme southwest Oklahoma to more than 23 inches in the northeast corner of the state.
Read More
Source: US Wheat Associates