After all that was 2020, the AFBF Economics Team previews what 2021 could look like for livestock and crop markets. The headline that took up almost all of 2020 was COVID-19. With a new year ahead of us, we turn our attention to what 2021 will have in store for crops and livestock; the outlook […]

Recently announced by USDA’s Risk Management Agency, the Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) is a federal crop insurance product available alongside the underlying crop insurance policy for 31 spring-planted crops. Crops eligible when coverage starts for the 2021 crop year include corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, peanuts, rice, oats, barley, hybrid corn seed, popcorn, silage sorghum, canola, […]

As we head further into fall, cattle inventories continue their return to relative normal, with most of the kinks from COVID-19 slaughter facility disruptions having worked themselves out. We see record cattle on feed, but a return to normal seasonal movements in total inventories. We have seen larger placements driven by positive margins and dryer […]

USDA recently announced details of a new $14 billion Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, or CFAP 2, that will provide direct payments to help farmers and ranchers struggling with COVID-19-related losses. This second program follows more than $10 billion in support provided to cattle, hog, dairy, non-specialty crop, specialty crop and other producers to offset COVID-19 related losses […]

August Crop Surveys Indicate Record Corn and Soybean Yields But Weather Surprises Suggest Yields Will Decrease In August, USDA’s Crop Production Report estimated record corn and soybean yields based on the data collected in producer surveys as of August 1. For the 2020 crop year, USDA estimates U.S. corn yield to be 181.8 bushels per acre, […]

Dairy Revenue Protection helps dairy farm families protect against the volatility of milk and dairy commodity prices by insuring their revenue. Since it was introduced in October 2018, nearly 100 billion pounds of milk have been insured under the program. Many dairy farmers and policymakers pointed to DRP as a lifeline when milk prices dramatically […]

On June 9, USDA’s Risk Management Agency announced changes to the Livestock Risk Protection insurance program for swine, fed cattle and feeder cattle. The improvements, which include moving premium due dates and increasing premium subsidies, will be implemented by July 1 for the 2021 crop year. In addition to the changes, RMA is authorizing additional […]

The May World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates is the highlight of spring reports and it gives the first look at the 2020/2021 marketing year since projections were announced in February at the USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum. Farmer planting decisions are incorporated from the March Prospective Planting report and planting progress reports are updated weekly […]

As global milk supplies tightened toward the end of 2019, milk prices reached their highest level since 2014, coming in at more than $20 per hundredweight. USDA’s December World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates projected that all-milk prices in 2020 would average $19.40 per hundredweight, making 2020 the year that milk prices finally turned the […]

Prices Drop on Pandemic Fears USDA’s latest Cattle on Feed report, released March 20, shows the number of animals on feed to be essentially unchanged from 2019. This report showed a total inventory of 11.806 million head for the United States on March 1. This lack of change year-over-year is right in line with analysts’ […]