Blogs

  • Ag Policy Blog

    A food aid bag displayed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Food for Peace program. USAID buys about $2 billion a year in commodities, mainly small grains and pulse crops. A group of lawmakers want to move the Food for Peace program over to USDA to run. (DTN photo by Chris Clayton)

    A group of Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that would move the Food for Peace program from USAID over to the Department of Agriculture. The move would help ensure continuity of $2 billion in commodity purchases every year for humanitarian food aid.

  • An Urban's Rural View

    A Surgeon General's advisory warns that drinking alcohol raises risks of seven different cancers. On the other hand, a National Academies report says there's less risk of death from all causes in drinking than not drinking. (Office of the U.S. Surgeon General graphic)
    Posted by Urban C Lehner , Editor Emeritus

    Many Americans are cutting back on drinking, even some who have doubts about the studies painting alcohol as a health risk.

  • Ag Weather Forum

    Multiple wintry impacts are forecast over the next couple of days across a good portion of the country. (DTN graphic)
    Posted by John Baranick , DTN Meteorologist

    A potent winter storm system will bring widespread snow, freezing rain, wind and severe storms capable of damaging winds and flooding over the next couple of days.

  • Sort & Cull

    Will traders be able to keep cattle futures above the 40-day moving average if cash prices move lower? (DTN ProphetX chart)
    Posted by ShayLe Stewart , DTN Livestock Analyst

    Without the rallying nature of the cash cattle complex to help traders along, how much upward potential does the futures complex possess for the near term?

  • Market Matters Blog

    The Marshall Islands-flagged Federal Biscay docked at Duluth's Ceres Riverland Ag terminal late on Dec. 25, 2024, to load durum wheat for Algeria. It was the last saltie of the 2024 Duluth-Superior navigation season. (Photo courtesy of Schauer Photo Images)
    Posted by Mary Kennedy , DTN Basis Analyst

    The Twin Ports of Duluth-Superior reported a strong year for grain tonnage in 2024.

  • Canada Markets

    This feeder cattle weekly continuation chart contains a wealth of information. Cutting to the chase, the breakup from the latest ascending triangle suggests the rally should be far from over. (DTN ProphetX chart)
    Posted by Mitch Miller , DTN Contributing Canadian Grains Analyst

    The price you pay for record high values is the anxiety and volatility that inevitably goes with them. That is one situation where technical analysis helps, so let's have a look.

  • Technically Speaking

    This feeder cattle weekly continuation chart contains a wealth of information. Cutting to the chase, the breakup from the latest ascending triangle suggests the rally should be far from over. (DTN ProphetX chart)
    Posted by Mitch Miller , DTN Contributing Canadian Grains Analyst

    The price you pay for record high values is the anxiety and volatility that inevitably goes with them. That is one situation where technical analysis helps, so let's have a look.

  • Editors' Notebook

    (DTN/Progressive Farmer graphic)

    A busy week ahead with farm shows, government reports and examining the ongoing executive actions and how they will affect agriculture and commodity markets.

  • Fundamentally Speaking

    Chart by Joel Karlin, DTN Contributing Analyst
    Posted by Joel Karlin , DTN Contributing Analyst

    Amount of U.S. corn sold, shipped and the shipped/sold ratio as of the fourth week in January as a percent of USDA's January export projection vs. the percent change in USDA's export projection from the January WASDE report to the final figures for the past 25 years.

  • Production Blog

    Though it might be tempting this spring to use up leftover over-the-top dicamba as a pre-plant burndown, it's illegal to do so. (DTN file photo)
    Posted by Jason Jenkins , DTN Crops Editor

    Farmers enter this season without a post-emergence, over-the-top dicamba product registered for weed control in soybeans and cotton. What does it mean for the controversial chemistry? Here are some do's and don'ts.

  • South America Calling

    Heavy rain is forecast for central Brazil at the end of January; amounts of 50-100 millimeters (2-4 inches) are common, while some spots in the region will eclipse that. (DTN graphic)

    Producers in central Brazil are in the midst of a brief break from daily showers, allowing them to get some fieldwork done. But a period of heavy rain is forecast to close out the month of January and begin February, which is likely to cause some delays to soybean harvest and...

  • MachineryLink

    Fendt's 30-foot Momentum planter earned an AE50 award. The 30-foot planter brings Fendt's advanced planting capabilities to smaller farms, with 100-bushel seed capacity and 800-gallon liquid fertilizer capacity. (DTN photo by Dan Miller)

    The American Society of Ag and Biological Engineers has named its 2025 AE50 innovation awards. Here are 18 of the awards given to AGCO, CNH and CLAAS.

  • Ethanol Blog

    Green Plains Inc. announced progress on a carbon capture and storage project for its ethanol plants in Nebraska. (Green Plains logo)
    Posted by Todd Neeley , DTN Environmental Editor

    Green Plains Inc. announced on Thursday it had acquired all the necessary property to complete a carbon-capture project at its ethanol plants in Nebraska.

  • Minding Ag's Business

    USDA forecasts 2024 net farm income at $140.7 billion dollars, while net cash farm income is projected at $158.8 billion. (Chart courtesy of USDA)
    Posted by Katie Micik Dehlinger , Farm Business Editor

    The Economic Research Service's third reading of net farm incomes is lower than 2023, but the decline is softer than initially forecast due to better-than-expected production expenses.