Iowa Farm Outlook & News

Yield Adjustments Already (5/10/13)

USDA's first official for the 2013 crops came out today and production adjustments are already being worked in for corn. Normally, USDA starts with their February trend yield estimate. This time, USDA took 5.6 bushels off that trend, given the delays in planting progress and the soil moisture concerns. While the 2013 corn crop is still projected to be a record, that record is a bit smaller now.

Corn demand also was adjusted. Feed and export demand lost bushels, while ethanol gained. For 2012 corn, the ethanol increase offset the export decline. For 2013 corn, the feed and export reductions exceeded the ethanol boost by 100 million bushels. If the projections hold, corn ending stocks would grow to over 2 billion bushels.

For soybeans, the changes in the numbers were much more modest. There were no changes for the 2012 crop. For the 2013 soybean crop, the supply numbers were steady, but demand switched between sectors. Domestic crush was raised 35 million bushels, while exports were lowered 50 million. Projected prices for the 2013 crops are $10.50 per bushel for soybeans and $4.70 per bushel for corn.

Happy National Dairy Month! (6/1/13)

National Dairy Month started out as National Milk Month in 1937 as a way to promote drinking milk. It was initially created to help stabilize dairy demand when production was at a surplus, but has now developed into an annual tradition that celebrates the contributions the dairy industry has made. Iowa is currently 12th as a state in terms of dairy cows (205,000), 13th in milk production (4.43 billion pounds per year), and 10th in milk production per cow (21,730 pounds of milk per cow per year). In terms of gross income, the $888.88 million in 2011 represented 3 percent of all Iowa agricultural receipts and 7 percent of all Iowa livestock receipts.