USDA Reports

Last year’s USDA Cattle Inventory Report showed the smallest cattle herd since 1951. With strong heifer prices and no strong signs of rebuilding underway, the Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor shows supplies may come in even lower than last year.

If the funding measure fails, USDA has a contingency plan in place for essential workers and services. The plan would retain a small number of administrative employees to oversee activities including disaster response and cybersecurity should funding lapse.

From increasing difficulty in accessing households due to new telephone technologies to concerns about data privacy and time constraints from farmers, the number of farmers participating in USDA surveys is on the decline.

Oklahoma State’s Derrell Peel points out with the U.S. beef cow herd the smallest since 1961 and the all cattle inventory the lowest since 1951, it’s setting the cattle market up for higher highs.

With larger-than-expected yield revisions to both corn and soybeans, it leaves one burning question: which states grew such big yields in 2023? USDA NASS released maps and charts to help answer that.

USDA released a few big surprises in the June acreage report, including a spike in corn acres and a large reduction in soybean acres. The agency also forecasts grain stocks below trade expectations.

USDA’s first official net farm income forecast shows an expected 16% drop in 2023 net farm income, largely due to a decline in commodity prices and government payments with higher expenses and costs at the farm level.

While Dale Durcholz does think there’s potential for a grain production number shift, he says the winter farmers and feed yards have faced is more likely to be the cause of a grain stocks shift lower.

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