Despite headwinds such as low prices, costly fertilizer, tight credit, and a looming El Niño, USDA forecasts continued record Brazilian corn and soybean production in 2027, consistent with recent growth trends driven by area expansion and yield improvement. History shows Brazilian farmers rarely retreat; weather-driven yield shocks, still unobservable for some time, are the most likely cause of production losses.

Agricultural credit conditions in Illinois showed signs of strain in the first quarter of 2026. Although loan demand remained elevated, repayment rates deteriorated, and collateral requirements remained tight across the…

This article compares crop yields, gross revenue, total expense, and net returns for conventional and organic corn and soybeans. Consistent with previous work, organic corn and soybean enterprises had lower crop yields, higher crop prices and gross revenue, higher total expenses, and higher net returns. However, there was a much wider difference in enterprise net returns among organic corn and soybean enterprises than there was among conventional corn and soybean enterprises.

The purpose of this article is to translate the required pace of D4 RIN generation into physical volumes of domestic production and imports needed to meet the final 2026 and 2027 RVOs under the RFS. On the domestic side, meeting the final RVOs requires FAME biodiesel to run essentially at its highest sustained pace on record and renewable diesel to run well beyond any pace it has ever achieved, with the combined sector operating at 90% of operable capacity in 2026 and 95% in 2027.

Farmers were surveyed in the fall of 2024 on their concerns of consolidation within the fertilizer, crop protection, seed, and machinery sectors. Results suggest that farmers are concerned that consolidation at the manufacturing and retail levels will lead to higher input prices and reduce the customer service received. Concerns didn’t vary significantly across the different input sectors but concerns were greater that consolidation will increase prices than reduce customer service.

As cash flows from the farm operation become tighter, it is necessary to find other funds to help pay for asset purchases or delay asset purchases, and to repay debt. Unless crop price prospects improve, it would be difficult for the case farm to purchase assets, such as machinery and equipment, later this year. Working capital will be drawn down to meet term debt obligations under one of the three crop price scenarios examined, even if the farm does not purchase machinery and equipment in 2026.