Farmland Forecast

WASDE: Corn yields decreased as expected

2010-03-11T11:00:00Z

The USDA updated the U.S. and World 2008/09 and 2009/10 balance sheet estimates for major agricultural commodities in the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report on Wednesday. Typically the March report receives little attention, but all eyes were focused on this month's report due to the resurvey of last fall's harvest. The resurvey included Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. North and South Dakota will be resurveyed at a future date.

Forecasted U.S. corn production estimates were decreased by 20 million bushels to a revised...

Everyone Wants Security, As Farmland Prices Go Parabolic

2010-03-10T11:00:00Z

(Business Insider) - Earlier this year and late last year, there was a steady drumbeat of investment gurus telling you to "buy farmland" as a protection against war, inflation, and whatever else.

It seems investors have taken the message to heart.

The price of high quality farmland is now generally in the rage of $5,500 - $7,000 per acre in Iowa and $6,200 - $7,500 in Illinois...

Drought in Southeast Asia impacting millions, costing billions

2010-03-09T11:07:00Z

A drought affecting Southeast Asia for the past six months shows no signs of letting up any time soon. Affected countries include China, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Lao PDR.

Digital Journal - The drought affects five provinces in China, as well as the countries of Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Viet Nam. Rainfall has been well below normal, devastating crops ...

Wet harvest can lead to wet planting - The risk of farmland flooding

2010-03-08T11:00:00Z

The planting season is right around the corner and that means that flood season is coming even quicker. After an extremely wet harvest across the nation, fields that have not had their fall tillage completed may be at a disadvantage when spring comes. Fields that still have crops standing in them will even further delay the planting season. Two to four times the normal precipitation level was seen in the Midwest this past fall, according to the National Weather Service.

As snow melts and the ground is exposed to the sun once again, the ground needs to heat up and dry out as quickly as possible so farmers can access the fields to plant their crop. Flooding becomes an issue in spring when...

Picture of the week: Deep snow in Odin, Minnesota

2010-03-05T11:00:00Z

This picture comes from Odin, Minnesota. The amount of snow on the ground across the Midwest varies greatly from county to county. For areas like Watonwan County, Minnesota, warmer weather needs to stay and temperatures need to continue to gradually increase so the risk of flooding is minimized. Eventually this moisture needs to make its way to the Mississippi River system before more precipitation comes. Fields with drainage tile will give operators an advantage this spring by drying out earliest. During this coming spring, we hope that there will not be as much rain as there has been in past ...

Ag Economist: U.S. Economy in Recovery

2010-03-04T11:12:00Z

After what's been called the worst recession since the 1980s, Purdue University agricultural economist Larry DeBoer said the economy is now in a period of recovery.

"When Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, or any economist says the recession is over, we mean the economy is not declining any more," DeBoer said. "Think of it in terms of digging yourself into a hole. When you stop digging deeper it's a significant change."

Another significant change is to climb back out of the ...

Warning issued over invasive biofuel crops

2010-03-03T10:59:00Z

(New Energy Focus) The Standing Committee of the Bern Convention (the Council of Europe Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats), has adopted a new recommendation for biofuels.

The recommendation, which is legally binding to member states, states that biofuel crops of species which are already recognised as invasive in the proposed planting region should be avoided.

This has come after the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) ...

Phosphorus Famine: The Threat to Our Food Supply

2010-03-02T11:01:00Z

This underappreciated resource--a key component of fertilizers--is still decades from running out. But we must act now to conserve it, or future agriculture could collapse

(Scientific American) As complex as the chemistry of life may be, the conditions for the vigorous growth of plants often boil down to three numbers, say, 19-12-5. Those are the percentages of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, prominently displayed on every package of fertilizer. In the 20th century the three nutrients enabled agriculture to increase its productivity and the world’s population to grow more than sixfold. But what is their source? We obtain nitrogen from the air, but we must mine phosphorus and potassium. The world has enough potassium to last ...

Peak Phosphorus

2010-03-01T11:11:00Z

Phosphorus, a key component of fertilizers, is crucial for the world’s food supplies. But as reserves of phosphate begin to run out, the impacts are likely to be immense – in terms of rising food prices, growing food insecurity and widening inequalities between rich and poor countries.

(The Broker) Reports of the world’s diminishing mineral resources are easy to come by. In the case of oil, for example, there is no shortage of researchers, industry experts and policy makers who are eager to discuss the problems of peak oil, declining reserves, the need for secure supplies and the implications of rising prices for the global economy ...

Picture of the week: Ground showing in Wisconsin

2010-02-26T11:14:00Z

This picture was submitted by Lou in Southern Wisconsin. Some ground is beginning to show in parts of the state, while in other areas of the Midwest, snow is still accumulating. If a fast thaw occurs, many areas will see localized flooding in their fields causing concern for planting or even late corn harvest. Farmers cultivate fields to get them as black as possible for spring. When the sun beats down on black soil, it will heat up and dry out faster than soil that is under plant residue, creating favorable planting conditions. ...

Agricultural finances slipped slightly in the fourth quarter

2010-02-25T11:10:00Z

A wet fall increased crop drying costs and delayed harvests. Profits and capital spending fell slightly for ag customers, according to lenders responding to the Minneapolis Fed’s fourth-quarter (January) agricultural credit conditions survey. More farmers and ranchers delayed repayment and extended loans. Lenders have bountiful funds, but loan demand was flat and collateral requirements increased. Land prices and cash rents were relatively stable during the quarter. Interest rates on loans did not change much from the third quarter. The ...

'Buy farmland and gold,' advises Dr Doom

2010-02-24T11:00:00Z

Times Online - The world’s most powerful investors have been advised to buy farmland, stock up on gold and prepare for a “dirty war” by Marc Faber, the notoriously bearish market pundit, who predicted the 1987 stock market crash.

The bleak warning of social and financial meltdown, delivered today in Tokyo at a gathering of 700 pension and sovereign wealth fund managers.

Dr Faber, who advised his audience to pull out of American stocks one week before the ...

U.S. Midwest farmland values edged higher in 2009

2010-02-23T11:09:00Z

(Reuters) - The value of farmland in the heart of the U.S. grain belt, the world's largest grain exporting region, rose 2 percent in 2009, boosted by a rebound in the fourth quarter, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said on Thursday.

"With a 2 percent annual increase for 2009 in the value of 'good' agricultural land, the District experienced its smallest change in a decade," the Fed said in its quarterly survey of 214 regional bankers.

"Still, this small annual increase, registered for the final quarter of ...

Major oil company enters ethanol industry

2010-02-22T11:00:00Z

Royal Dutch Shell plc has plans to strike a deal with Brazil’s Cosan for a $21 billion a year ethanol joint venture. Shell will become the first major oil company to access ethanol on this scale. The deal will be Cosans largest entry into fuel distribution as well. Cosan purchased Exxon Mobil’s Esso chain of service stations for $1 billion in 2008. Shell and Cosan’s 50/50 joint venture features 4,500 filling stations nationwide.

The companies plan to more than double ethanol output to up to 5 billion liters a year from about...

Rural Mainstreet Economy Slumps for February

2010-02-19T17:40:00Z

OMAHA, Neb. – For the first time since August of last year, the overall index for the Rural Mainstreet economy declined and continues to indicate significant economic weakness, according to the February survey of bank CEOs in a 10-state region.

The Rural Mainstreet Index (RMI), which ranges between 0 and 100, slumped to 36.6 from January’s 41.0. A reading of 50.0 is considered growth neutral.

“The RMI has remained below growth neutral for 24 consecutive months. It is clear that the rural economy...

Picture of the week: Healthy soybeans in Argentina

2010-02-19T11:00:00Z

This picture was submitted by Luciano in Argentina. The soybeans are running thick in Argentina this year by the looks of this picture taken earlier this week. There have been estimates of Argentina’s soybean crop to be over 1.8 billion bushels this year because of excellent weather. All across the world people will be watching to see how the South American soybean harvest progresses and how it will affect grain prices globally. Remember, we are always looking for more agricultural pictures from anywhere in the world. Submit pictures to farmlandforecast@colvin-co.com. ...

Saudi's Nadec to obtain farmland in Sudan

2010-02-18T11:00:00Z

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi-based National Agricultural Development Co (Nadec) said on Sunday it has completed procedures to obtain a 42,000-hectare farmland in Sudan.

Saudi Arabia has urged companies to invest in farm projects abroad after abandoning a 30-year old programme for self sufficiency in wheat in 2008. The programme depleted the desert kingdom's scarce water supplies.

The decision forced many local agricultural companies growing wheat for the domestic market...

U.S. Plains farmland values firmed up at end-2009

2010-02-17T11:01:00Z

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Farmland values in the U.S. central Plains rose 2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 as crop prices climbed while ranchland values fell with livestock markets, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City said Friday.

The Fed's tenth district is a leading U.S. producer of cattle and wheat, corn and other top row crops. It stretches across Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming and parts of New Mexico and Missouri. So land values, the main collateral for most farm loans, are widely watched as an economic...

Crop Insurance Basics

2010-02-16T11:00:25Z

Anything can be insured today; let it be a cat, car, or crop. Crop insurance has been in existence since the early 1930s. Federal crop insurance was established to combat the effects of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. If a farmer were to pick out crop insurance today, they would have many different options to choose from.

Crop insurance provides a safety net for farmers by reimbursing them due to revenue or yield diminishing ...

DuPont, Daschle Start Food Initiative

2010-02-15T11:00:00Z

KANSAS CITY (Reuters) -- DuPont on Thursday said it would set up an advisory committee to study public policy and other agriculture and food production issues as the global conglomerate positions its crop and chemicals businesses to address a rapidly growing world population.

Former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle will chair the committee on "Agricultural Innovation & Productivity for the 21st Century," which, among other initiatives, is to examine public-policy mechanisms to help increase agricultural production as global population soars toward an expected 9 billion people by ...