Russian Wheat Prices Boosted by Gains in Global Benchmarks
Hellenic Shipping News – 05/29/2019
Russian export prices for the new wheat crop, due to arrive on the market in the summer, advanced further last week alongside a rise in global benchmark prices in Chicago, analysts said on Monday. Black Sea prices for the Russian new wheat crop with 12.5pc protein content were $188 per tonne on a free on board (FOB) basis at the end of last week, up $2 from a week earlier, Russian agricultural consultancy IKAR said in a note. SovEcon, another Moscow-based consultancy, quoted FOB new crop for July delivery at $187 per tonne at the end of last week, up from $184.5 a week earlier. Russia usually starts wheat harvesting in late June or early July.
European Milling Wheat Rallies
DTN The Progressive Farmer – 05/29/2019
The European Union increased its estimate for 2019-20 wheat production (excluding durum) to 143.8 million metric tons this month, up from 141.3 mmt last month, a level 11.8% or 15.2 mmt higher than realized in 2018. Businessrecorder.com reports this as a combination of seeded area estimates reported by member countries while combined with yield estimates from the Monitoring Agriculture with Remote Sensing (MARS) satellite technology. Despite a larger crop in Europe, along with bearish global data reported by USDA this month, European milling wheat is on the move higher with a focus on the North American situation.
Questions Surround Trade, Disaster Relief as Farmers Struggle to Plant
Agri-Pulse – 05/29/2019
The Trump administration’s announcement of a new trade assistance package, plus congressional agreement on disaster relief for prevented plantings, will put billions of dollars into the struggling farm economy, but the prospective aid is injecting new uncertainty into the planting decisions facing growers across the soggy Plains and Midwest. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue emphasized that the administration doesn’t want the $16 billion new trade aid plan to affect farmers’ decisions, but some economists, lawmakers and farmers themselves say that it inevitably will. There also are still key unanswered questions, including the size of the new Market Facilitation Program payments.
Despite Aid Package, Farm Groups Look for Solutions on Trade
Agri-Pulse – 05/29/2019
There were plenty of smiles and hurrahs at the White House last Thursday when Trump met with leaders of some of the largest farm groups to publicly unveil the assistance. However, those same officials expressed as much uncertainty as cheer after the meetings that ended up with a photo opportunity in the Oval Office. “We will ensure that farmers get the relief that they need and very, very quickly,” Trump said in the Roosevelt Room, standing among farm state lawmakers, Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue, and representatives of the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Association of Corn Growers, American Soybean Association, International Dairy Foods Association, USA Rice Federation, California Almond Board and more. “It’s a good time to be a farmer. We’re going to make sure of that.”
Trade Aid Not a Solution
Ohio Country Journal – 05/28/2019
Leaders of farm groups on Thursday showed they have President Donald Trump’s back as he offered them another $16 billion in federal aid in lieu of anticipated higher exports to China. In response to the new Market Facilitation Program rolled out Thursday, farm groups offered praise to the Trump administration for helping offset export losses, but reiterated that a second consecutive year of trade aid is insufficient to make up for potentially years of lost trade revenue. Farm groups praised the $16 billion in aid, though it is unclear exactly how much farmers will be paid individually. Payments will be based on all planted commodities in a county, yet USDA will only pay crop farmers based on a single county payment rate multiplied by a farm’s total planted acres in 2019. The new MFP payments will be limited to the total amount of eligible acreage a farmer planted in 2018.
Rain Hampers Wheat Harvest
Tulsa Public Radio – 05/29/2019
Oklahoma’s canola and wheat harvests could be smaller and come later than expected due to recent severe weather, agriculture officials said. Josh Lofton, the state’s agriculture secretary and Mike Schulte, executive director of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, said that growers will need another week to assess the damage, and the harvests likely won’t start before then, The Oklahoman reported. “We have got a lot of challenges ahead of us, weather wise, before we can get this crop out,” Schulte said.
Source: U.S. Wheat Associates