News

March 11 (Bloomberg) — Corn rose for a third session in Chicago as a government report showed U.S. inventories will remain at a 17-year low on increasing use of the grain in livestock feed. Soybeans and wheat advanced.
U.S. corn stockpiles before the next harvest will be 632 million bushels, the Department of Agriculture said March 8, leaving its forecast unchanged at the lowest since 1996 even as analysts predicted a climb to 646 million bushels. The USDA raised its forecast for corn use in animal feed to 4.55 million bushels, from 4.45 million bushels. Corn stockpiles worldwide will drop to 117.5 million metric tons, smaller than the 118 million tons predicted last month.
“Adjustments look bullish, as U.S. corn stocks remained unchanged, against higher stocks estimated by analysts,” Arnaud Saulais, a broker at Starsupply Commodity Brokers in Nyon, Switzerland, said today in an e-mailed report. “Low-priced wheat was thought to be displacing corn feed for livestock.”
Corn for delivery in May gained 0.4 percent to $7.0625 a bushel by 7:39 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade, after climbing 2.2 percent in the previous two sessions. Soybeans for the same delivery month rose 0.4 percent to $14.765 a bushel. Both crops surged to records last year in Chicago trading because of the worst U.S. drought since the 1930s.
Argentine Harvest
World soybean harvests will total 268 million tons, 1.5 million tons smaller than February’s estimate, as the production outlook was lowered for Argentina, according to the USDA. The Argentine crop, the third-largest globally, will be 51.5 million tons, down from 53 million tons forecast last month, it showed. The outlook for U.S. inventories was unchanged at 125 million bushels, the lowest since 2004.
“Prices are rising as stockpiles from the current crop decline,” Makiko Tsugata, an analyst at Market Risk Advisory Co., said today. “The downward revision of the USDA estimate on Argentina’s production is also a strong factor pushing prices higher over the short term.”
Wheat for delivery in May rose 0.2 percent to $6.9825 a bushel. In Paris, milling wheat for the same delivery month climbed 1 percent to 232.50 euros ($302.17) a ton on NYSE Liffe.

Exports for U.S. soybeans will soften once South America’s crop hits the market

Soybean exports will soften as more of South America’s beans become available to the world market, and corn demand will remain strong offsetting the soft export market for corn, according to USDA’s latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE), released March 8.
“In general, the report is a neutral report, relatively well-anticipated by the trade,” says Jim Bower, president of Bower Trading in Lafayette, Ind. Bower was the analyst on a post-report MGEX press conference call.
Looking at corn first, USDA left projected 2012-13 U.S. corn ending stocks unchanged at 632 million bushels. The department also lowered projected corn exports by 75 million bushels, a move that was widely anticipated, and raised both feed use and corn imports.
“Corn exports have been dismal for the past couple of months,” says Bower. The trade was anticipating that USDA would lower its forecast for corn ending stocks, which could be considered a small surprise in the numbers.
Competition from South American corn exporters has been stronger than expected, notes USDA in the report. Competitively priced feed wheat has also hurt U.S. corn exports, the department notes.
USDA’s forecast for feed and residual disappearance for corn was raised 100 million bushels due mostly to expansion in poultry production
USDA’s projected season-average farm price for corn was lowered 20 cents on the high end of the range to $6.75 to $7.45 per bushel.

Soybean exports to soften
Concern over tightness of old-crop U.S. soybean supplies was a major concern heading into the report, but USDA left ending stocks of old-crop soybeans unchanged at 125 million bushels, which is slightly higher than expected.
“USDA is somewhat hesitant to bring the estimate of the soybean carryout lower,” says Bower. “In Brazil, the line up at two ports of embarkation is eight to nine days. There is 9.9 million tons of cargo space waiting to be loaded.”
Eventually, he says, Brazil’s supply of soybeans will hit the world market, but until it does, China will continue to buy from the United States, and that will support prices.
“Although soybean export commitments through February exceeded last year’s pace, U.S. exports are expected to decline in the months ahead as increased competition from a record South American soybean crop limits additional U.S. sales during the second half of the marketing year,” says USDA in the report.
USDA narrowed its projected season-average price range for soybeans by 25 cents on both ends of the range to $13.80 to $14.80 per bushel.

World snapshot
USDA lowered its world ending stocks estimate for corn, from February’s 118 million metric tons to 117.5 million metric tons this month. World production was cut 310,000 metric tons on reductions in the size of both Argentina’s and Brazil’s corn crops.
USDA raised ending stocks of world soybeans slightly to 60.21 million metric tons, up from February’s 16.12 million.
“It takes the edge, at least temporarily, off the tightness in the soybeans,” says Bower.
USDA lowered its projected world production figure for soybeans to 268 million metric tons […]

High-Profit Vs. Low-Profit Beef Producers

The prices of fuel and equipment have risen significantly faster over time than the market value of cattle. Therefore, I prefer a production system highly dependent on soil, sunlight, rainfall, and our ingenuity and inventiveness, than one highly dependent on fossil fuels and equipment. Most of the following suggestions will tie back to this statement, as well as the fact that cattle prices tend to be cyclical and will most likely decline again at some time.
In my travels, I have visited with many ranchers who struggle to be profitable, even with the good prices of the last few years. At the same time, I talk with ranchers who are having the highest profit years of their lives. Nonetheless, this latter group of ranchers assumes that cattle prices will go down and that the price of purchased inputs will continue to rise, largely because of fuel and equipment prices. As a result, they are paying attention to several, or even all, of the following factors:
• Ranch size. There are significant economies of size in ranching. Unless there are sources of income besides cattle, small ranches struggle to be profitable and sustain a good standard of living. However, small ranches run by people with off-farm jobs can be very profitable if they keep it simple, and keep overhead low. In fact, they can compete very well with medium-sized ranches where the operators only work on the ranch.
• Cows per worker. Except for land-associated costs, many ranches have more costs that align with the number of workers than with the number of cows. I know of many ranches that run 800-1,200 cows, or cow and yearling equivalent, per worker. That keeps labor, housing, equipment and horse cost per cow quite low.
• Acres per cow. My experience says it’s usually much less expensive to increase carrying capacity by developing stock water, adding fence and managing grazing than by purchasing more land. As you add cows, you don’t have to add people or other overhead. In addition, grazing management can be a very enjoyable challenge.
• Fed feed vs. grazed feed. There are very few situations where grazing more and feeding less won’t be more profitable. This may mean you begin to graze former hay land. As I travel about giving talks to groups of cattlemen, I usually hear two kinds of responses. There are those who contend it’s impossible to reduce feeding, and those who tell me about the financial progress they’re making by grazing more and feeding less. I’ve personally been involved in, and have seen, thousands of acres of hay land turned to pasture. In a few cases, pastures that previously produced winter hay are now pastured in the summer, while the cattle are wintered on what once was summer range.
• Keep debt-to-equity ratio low. I’ve seen too many cases of a rancher wanting to develop water and buy some fencing to graze better, but his operation’s debt-to-equity ratio was too high to borrow money. Low debt gives you […]

Feb. 28, 2013 by Amanda Radke in BEEF Daily
Have you ever heard the phrase, “overfed but undernourished?” This aptly describes the two-thirds of Americans who are considered overweight or obese. As a society, we are eating plenty, but are we getting the nutrients we need to thrive? And, if not, how does this impact our daily performance, longevity and future generations?

Amidst a sea of Meatless Mondays campaigns and anti-beef sentiments, a new study in the United Kingdom (UK) highlights the crucial role of red meat in the diet.

The study, which is entitled, “The Seven Ages Of Man – Is There A Role For Meat In The Diet?” is set to be published in the British Nutrition Foundation’s Nutrition Bulletin.
Here’s an excerpt from a report on the study:

“Millions of people are putting their health at risk because of inadequate intakes of vital vitamins and minerals, a new study has revealed. But the research also highlights just how important the role of red meat is in the diet in helping to cover this nutrition gap. Meat has been a staple part of the human diet since the dawn of mankind, but in recent years there has been some debate over whether too much red meat can raise the risk of health problems. Now a team of researchers has studied the issue of meat in the diet to help gauge just how important it is for a healthy mind and body – as well as the crucial nutrients that red meat in the diet brings.

“The latest study found that data from dietary surveys indicates that diets for people of all ages can be worryingly low in nutrients normally found in meat, such as vitamin A, vitamin D, iron, magnesium, zinc, selenium and potassium. The researchers say that integrating red meat into diets across the age spectrum, from infanthood to old age, may help to narrow the present gap between vitamin and mineral intakes and recommended levels. In addition, there is emerging evidence that nutrients commonly found in red meat may play a role in supporting cognitive function, immune health and addressing iron deficiency.”

So, what is red meat’s role in the diet? Here is what the study finds:

“Red meat – defined as beef, veal, pork and lamb, which is fresh, minced or frozen – is a source of high-quality protein and important micronutrients. Beef and lamb are classed as a ‘rich source’ – more than 30% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) – of vitamin B3 (niacin), B12 (cyanocobalamin) and zinc. It is also a ‘source’ – 15% or more of the RDA – of iron, potassium and phosphorous. Pork is also a ‘rich source’ of vitamin B1 (thiamin). Meat, particularly from grass-fed animals, can be a valuable source of long chain (LC) n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) such as omega 3 fatty acids. Research shows that these fatty acids support normal fetal development as well as help lower the risk of inflammatory conditions, depression and dementia in later life. Red meat is […]