Field Posts DTN/Progressive Farmer

The 2022 Ag Symposium was held by the Kansas City Fed May 23rd and 24th, and the theme of the bank’s annual event is help wanted in agriculture. 

Today, DTN Farm Business Editor Katie Dehlinger joins us to talk more about what she heard from President of the Kansas City Fed, Esther George, and from various Fed economists who have their attention trained on the ag sector as inflation climbs, global factors disrupt supply chains, and the resources farmers need to run their businesses get harder to find. 

From the bank's perspective– ag labor is at the top of the list, whether it’s the need for hired hands on grain operations, cowboys or dairy workers, or picking and pruning teams, workers are becoming fewer and farther between. We’ll discuss how the Fed understands this growing issue, what they can and can’t do about it, and where they expect relief to come from.

The June WASDE dropped Friday, June 10th, and what is usually a quiet report ahead of a more interesting USDA missive at the end of the month did not disappoint. 

Nevertheless, DTN’s Todd Hultman joins us to unpack the smaller updates that the department made to their production and stock estimates, and to talk about why even small tweaks matter in today’s historically tight supply situation.

We’ll discuss the near and long term weather forecasts and what they might mean for heat and dryness in the coming months, in addition to digging into the prospects for a new proposal to get grain out of Ukraine. We’ll also dig into what might be ahead for ag given current fuel costs, and what all of this means for grain and livestock producers as competition with South America heats up and China’s needs continue to rise.  

Then we'll talk more on soybean crush, record basis, and what Fed actions might mean for ag.

After months of back and forth on various legislative proposals, the House and Senate Agriculture Committees both sat down for a hearing in recent weeks to learn more from industry leaders about the problems and needs of the cattle market when it comes to price transparency. 

In light of the added recent hardships of rising feed prices and inflation in the grocery store, many ranchers are looking for answers, but there’s little agreement about what possible actions might be the most sensible way forward.

Today, we’re joined by DTN Ag policy editor Chris Clayton to talk about recent discussions on Capitol Hill and beyond. We’ll dig into proposed bills and their chances of being signed into law, responses from major cattle groups, how cattlemen are weighing in, and what might be next as a new farm bill cycle looms.

On May 19th, the annual Winter Wheat Tour wrapped up its survey of the Southern Plains wheat crop, which were estimated yields based on the results of 550 stops through the region. Progressive Farmer Crops Editor Matt Wilde made his way to Kansas with dozens of other industry experts to participate in collecting the data, and reports what he saw on the ground. 

Today, we’ll talk about crop development and weather risk still to come, in addition to pest and disease pressure and quality expectations. We’ll dig into variations by region and discuss what’s up next as the wheat harvest gets underway.

In the last few years, the ethanol industry has been through a lot. From promised E15 expansion and small refinery waivers through a global pandemic that cratered driving demand through today’s energy scarcity that has prompted the Biden administration to expand E15 availability during the summer months once again. 

Though demand is certainly looking up for ethanol, there are risks too as corn and other commodity grains rise in price. And at the same time, legislative uncertainty looms. 

Today, DTN Staff reporter Todd Neeley joins us to discuss what we can expect to see in terms of ethanol news and announcements during this summer driving season, and what that means for corn and ethanol demand. 

We’ll dig into the potential impact of pending state-level action, what the impact of global demand and alternative markets might be, and what the EPA might be thinking as it looks to a less certain future of the RFS. Plus, an update on how all of these factors may impact other parts of the ag sector.

The May WASDE dropped Thursday, May 12th, with USDA offering a first look at what might be ahead in the new crop season that’s just starting to unfold. 

DTN’s Todd Hultman joins us to unpack the department's updates to production estimates for corn and stocks predictions for wheat, and we'll also take a closer look at what all this might mean for a shifting demand landscape. 

The global weather picture, from the rain delaying planting, to drought in the plains and in South America will be in focus as we explore what pressures the market is most worried about. Then we’ll check in on the wide ranging impacts of the Ukraine conflict, and what it means for everything from wheat exports to soybean crush demand.  

We’ll discuss a heatwave in India, the complex supply chain picture, and why USDA is tweaking a long held prediction practice in 2022.