Ag News

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We hear the term sustainability everywhere today.  One way we as consumers, can incorporate sustainability in our lives is by addressing food waste.  Brandon Schulz with the Wisconsin Grocers Association says it isn’t something that can be fixed overnight and will take time.  But it starts with education. AUDIO: Healthy Living on reducing food waste …

The director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources says work continues to help the state’s agriculture industry navigate the challenges from expanding drought. Dru Buntin tells Brownfield only a few points along the Mississippi River have required dredging from the Army Corps of Engineers. “The dredging that happened in the past year, because we haven’t seen high flows that are going to move that sediment, the previous dredging has done pretty good work.” Buntin says in other areas of the state, the near-normal rainfall in October helped topsoil moisture, but digging deeper… “When you go down 20 inches, there’s a mix of positive and negative changes throughout the state. …

A U.S. Senator from Missouri has introduced a bill to ensure one state can’t mandate animal welfare standards in another state. Josh Hawley says California’s Proposition 12 law has been a costly burden to livestock producers and this new bill called the Protecting Interstate Commerce for Livestock Producers Act would preempt states and local governments from regulating the raising, production and importation of livestock from another state or local government. Hawley says the bill would also allow states to regulate livestock imports in the event of animal disease and protect farmers from states implementing laws preempted by the bill. …

A U.S. Congressman from South Dakota says more transparency is needed to better understand how the U.S. government oversees foreign-owned farmland. Dusty Johnson tells Brownfield a new bipartisan bill, called the Protect American Farmland and Rural Communities Act, would make investments in research to understand the impacts of foreign-owned land and require USDA to conduct an annual audit on foreign owned land and training to state and county officials. “It really looks at all foreign ownership so we get a better understanding of how big an issue this is.” The bill would also impose additional financial penalties for foreign investors and companies who don’t report their holdings to the U.S. …

At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, live and feeder cattle were lower, pressured by the recent drop in cash business.  December live cattle closed $1.02 lower at $170.87 and February live cattle closed $1.65 lower at $171.82.  January feeder cattle closed $2.25 lower at $219.95 and March feeder cattle closed $1.70 lower at $222.57.  There was another round of scattered direct cash cattle business that took place on Thursday on Thursday.  Live deals in the South were at $174, $1 lower than the bulk of this week’s business and $3 below last week’s trade.  …

Dec. corn closed at $4.61 and 3/4, up 12 centsJan. soybeans closed at $13.42 and 3/4, down 4 and 1/4 centsDec. soybean meal closed at $442.20, down $2.10Dec. soybean oil closed at 52.29, down 39 pointsDec. wheat closed at $5.70 and 1/4, up 14 and 1/4 centsDec. live cattle closed at $170.87, down $1.02Jan. feeder cattle closed at $219.95, down $2.25Dec. …

Soybeans were mixed, adjusting spreads. The trade continues to monitor weather in South America, with some recent improvements in parts of Brazil and overall good conditions in Argentina. Still, that planting pace in Brazil is slower than average and there is continued talk of substantial replanting in some areas. CONAB’s updated outlook for Brazil is out December 7th. China bought 134,000 tons of 2023/24 U.S. beans Thursday morning, quite a bit less than what’s been rumored this week, while weekly sales were solid. …