IFES 2012: The Impact of Biofuels Mandates on Grain and Oilseed
Listen to MP3 podcast Minimum volumes of biofuel usage were first mandated for the U.S. in the 2005 Energy Policy Act and then revised in the Energy Independence and Security…
IFES 2012: Crop and Livestock Price Prospects for 2013
Listen to MP3 podcast The crop price environment will likely remain very volatile in 2013, reflecting production uncertainty and unsettled economic issues. However, a transition to lower prices is anticipated…
IFES 2012: 2013 Projected Crop Farm Incomes: A Drought Reprieve
Listen to MP3 podcast Net farm incomes in 2012 on many grain farms will be above expectations, even given relatively low corn and soybean yields caused by the drought. This…
Your Farm’s Financial Health (Debt-to-Asset Ratio)
The end of another year approaches - time to close out your accounting records for the year and review financial statements to assess the financial health of your business.This post…
CFTC-SEC Merger Proposal May Have Hidden Costs
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is the federal regulatory agency for the futures and options markets, and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) is the federal regulatory agency for the…
Do Recent Precipitation Deficits Tell Us Anything about Next Summer’s Precipitation?
Drought conditions that impacted corn and soybean production in many areas of the U.S. in 2012 generally began in June. By the end of the growing season, large precipitation deficits…
Weekly Farm Economics
Per Acre Non-land Costs of Grain Farms of Different Sizes
Listen to MP3 podcast Considerable interest exists in examining per acre costs for grain farms of different sizes. Herein data from grain farms enrolled in Illinois Farm Business Farm Management…
Weekly Outlook
Difficult to Anticipate December 1 Corn Stocks Estimate
Listen to MP3 podcast The USDA's estimate of December 1, 2012 inventories of corn, to be released on January 11, 2013, will be one of the more important factors influencing…
RIN Stock Update: Implications of the 2012 Drought
Today's post provides an update on U.S. ethanol production and imports through August, and projections for 2012 ending Renewable Identification Number (RIN) stocks. Prior analyses of the available stock of…
A Move Towards a More Fair Division: Envisioning a New Illinois Fence Act
Largely unchanged since its initial passage in 1819, the Illinois Fence Act provides that adjoining landowners ". . . shall make and maintain a just proportion of the division fence…
Range in 2013 Market Year Average Prices for Soybeans Suggested by History
Current Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) futures prices suggest that market year average (MYA) soybean prices for 2013 will be near $13.00 per bushel. Obviously, prices could vary from $13.00. In…
Will ACRE Pay in 2012?
ACRE, or the Average Crop Revenue Election, is a revenue based program contained in 2008 Farm Bill. In Illinois, 2012 ACRE payments for corn are possible if the Market Year…
Weekly Outlook
Will Corn and Soybean Prices Return to Pre-Drought Levels?
Listen to MP3 podcast March 2013 corn futures dropped below $5.50 in early May 2012 and were drifting lower when U.S. drought conditions turned prices higher starting in mid-June. The…
What’s Driving the Surge in Ethanol Imports?
With ethanol production margins under pressure in recent months there has been an understandable search for explanations. One widely-discussed factor is the recent surge in "cheap" imports of ethanol to…
2012 Farm Bill Update
The 2012 Farm Bill has become entwined with the debate over federal budget priorities at a time of large fiscal deficits, a debate commonly called the fiscal cliff. The 2012…
U.S. Fiscal Cliff and U.S. Agriculture
The U.S. fiscal cliff refers to the combination of 2 events that will occur in late 2012 and early 2013: (1) implementation of federal budget cuts resulting from the compromise…
Weekly Farm Economics
Range in 2013 Market Year Average Prices for Corn Suggested by History
Current Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) futures prices suggest that market year average (MYA) corn prices for 2013 will be near $6.00 per bushel. Obviously, prices could vary from $6.00. In…
Weekly Outlook
Continued Support for Corn Prices
Listen to MP3 podcast Corn prices peaked in August, moved sharply lower in September, and have been in a sideways pattern over the past two months. Within that sideways pattern,…