LDPM-224, February 14, 2013
Cattle herd rebuilding was thrown a curve in 2012. Drought and weather conditions will determine inventory dynamics in 2013.
FDS-13B, February 12, 2013
Market analysis of domestic and international feed grain markets.
OCS-13B, February 12, 2013
Each month,the Oil Crops Outlook analyzes the major changes and events in the world market for oilseeds and oilseed products.
WHS-13A-01, February 04, 2013
During the 2000s, the three major grain-producing countries of the former Soviet Union--Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine (KRU)--became a large grain-exporting region. This report examines why this has happened and also provides the outlook for the region’s production and exports over the next 10 yea...
LDPM-223, January 17, 2013
With the new year continues the same drought as well and its continued negative impacts on the cattle sector.
FDS-13A, January 15, 2013
Market analysis of domestic and international feed grain markets
OCS-13A, January 15, 2013
Each month, the Oil Crops Outlook analyzes the major changes and events in the world market for oilseeds and oilseed products.
LDPM-222, December 17, 2012
Smaller Dairy Herd Expected in 2013.
FDS-12L, December 13, 2012
Market analysis of domestic and international feed grain markets.
OCS-12L, December 12, 2012
ERS -- working closely with the World Agricultural Outlook Board, the Foreign Agricultural Service, and other USDA agencies -- conducts market analysis and provides short- and long-term projections of U.S. and world agricultural production, consumption, and trade.
EIB-103, November 16, 2012
Since 2003, direct payments have accounted for a significant portion of farm program payments. If direct payments were eliminated, many agricultural producers would be affected, both through the loss of income and potential declines in land values and rental rates. This report considers the potentia...
LDPM-221, November 16, 2012
Meat production is trimmed in 2013.
EB-20, November 14, 2012
Nitrogen is a critical input in agriculture, enabling farmers to produce high crop yields profitably. However, nitrogen compounds released into the environment are a source of environmental problems, including eutrophication and hypoxia in aquatic ecosystems, visibility-impairing haze, and the loss ...
FDS-12K, November 14, 2012
Market analysis of domestic and international feed grain markets.
OCS-12-k, November 13, 2012
ERS -- working closely with the World Agricultural Outlook Board, the Foreign Agricultural Service, and other USDA agencies -- conducts market analysis and provides short- and long-term projections of U.S. and world agricultural production, consumption, and trade.
FDS-12J, October 15, 2012
Market analysis of domestic and international feed grain markets.
OCS-12J, October 12, 2012
ERS--working closely with the World Agricultural Outlook Board, the Foreign Agricultural Service, and other USDA agencies--conducts market analysis and provides short- and long-term projections of U.S. and world agricultural production, consumption, and trade.
OCS-12i, September 13, 2012
ERS--working closely with the World Agricultural Outlook Board, the Foreign Agricultural Service, and other USDA agencies--conducts market analysis and provides short- and long-term projections of U.S. and world agricultural production, consumption, and trade.
FDS-12H, August 14, 2012
Market analysis of domestic and international feed grain markets.
OCS-12h, August 13, 2012
ERS -- working closely with the World Agricultural Outlook Board, the Foreign
Agricultural Service, and other USDA agencies -- conducts market analysis and
provides short- and long-term projections of U.S. and world agricultural production,
consumption, and trade
FDS-12G-01, August 09, 2012
Exports to China have become a significant source of demand for U.S. Distillers Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS), the primary co-product from corn-based ethanol production.
FDS-12G, July 13, 2012
U.S. feed grain supplies for 2012/13 are projected sharply lower this month with lower
production for corn on lower yields. Extremely hot weather and drought result in a 20-
bushel-per-acre decline in the projected corn yield to 146 bushels per acre reducing
projected production to 13.0 billion b...
FDS-12F-01, July 03, 2012
An early corn harvest—before the August 31 end of the previous marketing year—creates an overlap of supply-and-use data between the old and new marketing years that can alter the patterns of corn use and ending stocks, with implications for official USDA projections and estimates.
FDS-12F, June 14, 2012
The 2012/13 U.S. corn balance sheet is unchanged this month. Corn ethanol use
for 2011/12 is projected up 50 million bushels this month to 5,050 million as recent
ethanol production data have been stronger than expected. While slowing from its
peak in December 2011, ethanol production and use has...
FDS-12e, May 14, 2012
As of May 6, 71 percent of the U.S. corn crop had been planted, compared with an
average of 47 percent in 2007-11 and 32 percent in 2011/12. As of the same date, 32
percent of the expected crop had emerged, compared with an average of 13 percent in
2007-11 and 6 percent last year. Early planting ...
FDS-12d, April 12, 2012
The U.S. feed grain balance sheet is unchanged from last month. The quarterly Stocks
Report confirmed continued tight feed grain supplies as of March 1. The Prospective
Plantings report pegged 2012 intended plantings of corn at 95.9 million acres, an
increase of 3.9 million acres from 2011.
OCS-12d, April 11, 2012
USDA’s Prospective Plantings report in March indicated that U.S. farmers intend to reduce the acreage sown to soybeans this year by 1.4 percent to 73.9 million acres as expected returns for corn were more attractive. Also, growers intend this spring to increase U.S. sunflowerseed acreage by 17 perce...
LDPM-213, March 15, 2012
Beef cow slaughter may be declining, and heifer retention to replace cows
may be in early stages. Cattle feeding margins are improving for the short term, but
packers are likely still seeing red. Retail prices may also be encountering some
consumer resistance.
FDS-12c, March 13, 2012
World 2011/12 coarse grain production and use are projected higher this month, but the increase in consumption is larger, trimming prospects for ending stocks. Brazil’s corn production and exports are increased based on higher area for second-crop corn.
Forecast EU corn feed use is increased, offse...
OCS-12c, March 12, 2012
Based on shrinking prospects for South American crops, USDA’s forecast of the 2011/12-average soybean price received by U.S. farmers fell to $11.40-$12.60 per bushel from $11.10-$12.30 last month. Similarly, USDA raised its forecast of the season-average price for soybean meal to $310-$340 per short...
FDS-12b, February 13, 2012
U.S. 2011/12 corn exports are increased 50 million bushels this month to 1.7 billion as
lower production prospects in Argentina reduce competition in global markets. U.S.
corn supplies are projected up slightly due to increased imports, but the larger increase in
exports leaves ending stocks down...
FDS-12a, January 17, 2012
The National Agricultural Statistics Service's Crop Production 2011 Summary and
January Grain Stocks reports revealed larger than expected corn supplies this month.
Feed grain production for 2011/12 is estimated at 323.5 million tons, up 0.4 million from
last month as higher estimated corn produc...
EIB-87, November 22, 2011
This report provides a classification of types of overlap and a synthesis of ERS research about overlapping payments in the U.S. farm safety net, including how to identify and measure overlap among crop revenue insurance, ACRE, SURE, and ad hoc disaster assistance. Future research avenues are sugges...
BIO-03, November 08, 2011
This report provides an overview of how the Renewable Identification Number (RIN) market works to ensure compliance with the Renewable Fuel Standard provision of the Energy Independence and Security Act, as well as how RIN prices are determined and which factors influence their prices.
FDS: FEED OUTLOOK-11I01, October 13, 2011
Corn-based dry-mill ethanol production and its coproducts – notably distillers’ dried grains with soluble (DDGS) – have surged in recent years. The report estimates the potential substitution of DDGS for corn and soybean meal in livestock feeding and the impact of substitution upon the U.S. feed com...
EIB-80, August 24, 2011
The adoption of precision agriculture, which encompasses a suite of farm-level information technologies, can improve the efficiency of input use and reduce environmental harm from the overapplication of inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides. Still, the adoption of precision agricultural technolo...
EIB-79, August 18, 2011
The recent 9-billion-gallon increase in corn-based ethanol production, which resulted from a combination of rising gasoline prices and a suite of Federal bioenergy policies, provides evidence of how farmers altered their land-use decisions in response to increased demand for corn. As some forecasts ...
GFA-22, July 15, 2011
The number of food-insecure people in developing countries is estimated to decline about by 9 million, from 861 million in 2010 to 852 million in 2011 and the number is projected to decline by 16 percent, or nearly 140 million over the next decade. Food security in Asia and the Latin America and the...
ERR-115, April 15, 2011
Since 2001, the United States has concluded negotiations with 13 countries, resulting in 8 trade agreements (TAs). Three additional agreements have been negotiated but not yet ratified by Congress, as of March 2011. Other countries have become increasingly active in negotiating their own trade pacts...
OCE-111, February 14, 2011
This report provides longrun (10-year) projections for the agricultural sector through 2020. Projections cover agricultural commodities, agricultural trade, and aggregate indicators of the sector, such as farm income and food prices.
AP-054, February 10, 2011
The House Report 111-181 accompanying H.R. 2997, the 2010 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, requested the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) in conjunction with the Office of the Chief Economist, to conduct a study of land-use...
FDS-10k-01, December 09, 2010
Growth in corn dry-mill ethanol production has surged in the past several years, simultaneously creating a coproduct—distillers’ grains (DDGS). Many in the U.S. feed industry were concerned about the size of this new feed source and whether it could be used entirely by the feed industry, but they al...
ERR-101, September 17, 2010
Crop revenue variability, which differs across crops and their growing regions and the geographic levels at which revenue is measured, is the focus of the Average Crop Revenue Election, an agricultural commodity program that was first available to producers in 2009. Using an empirically-based simula...
LDPM-194-01, August 30, 2010
This report provides a broad overview of the beef market in Japan, including consumer’s preferences, domestic production practices, domestic and trade policies, and market outlook.
BIO-01-01, May 14, 2010
This report assesses the short-term outlook for production of next-generation biofuels and the near-term challenges facing the sector. Next-generation U.S. biofuel capacity should reach about 88 million gallons in 2010, thanks in large measure to one plant becoming commercially operational in 2010, ...
ERR-84, December 29, 2009
Authorized by the 2008 Farm Act, the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program is the first revenue-based, income-support program that calculates payments using recent market prices and a producer’s actual plantings. The payments are triggered when a farm’s revenue and State revenue (price multip...
FDS-09k-01, December 14, 2009
China’s corn imports are minimal, even though it is using a growing proportion of its corn to produce starch, ethanol, and other industrial products. The corn-processing industry’s growth was encouraged by Chinese government policy, but the industry now has excess capacity. Many of the corn-based in...
ERR-86, November 18, 2009
The Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 established specific targets for the production of biofuel in the United States. Until advanced technologies become commercially viable, meeting these targets will increase demand for traditional agricultural commodities used to produce ethanol...
FDS-09G-01, August 05, 2009
The past 5 years have seen large increases in trading of corn, soybean, and wheat futures contracts by nontraditional traders, a trend that coincided with historic price increases for these commodities. These events have raised questions about whether changes in the composition of traders participat...
AP-037, June 25, 2009
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to evaluate the role of animal manure as a source of fertilizer, and its other uses. About 5 percent of all U.S. cropland is currently fertilized with livestock manure, and corn accounts for over half of the a...
ERR-72, April 07, 2009
Interest in revenue-based commodity support is evident in the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 Farm Bill), which gives eligible producers the option of participating in the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program in return for reductions and eliminations of payments under mor...
WRS-09-03, March 31, 2009
Implementation of the agricultural provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has drawn to a close. In 2008, the last of NAFTA’s transitional restrictions governing U.S.-Mexico and Canada-Mexico agricultural trade were removed, concluding a 14-year project in which the member coun...
AR-33, February 13, 2009
U.S. prices of fertilizer nutrients began to rise steadily in 2002 and increased sharply to historic highs in 2008 due to the combined effects of a number of domestic and global long- and shortrun supply and demand factors. From 2007 to 2008, spring nitrogen prices increased by a third, phosphate pr...
WRS-0801, July 23, 2008
World market prices for major food commodities such as grains and vegetable oils have risen sharply to historic highs of more than 60 percent above levels just 2 years ago. Many factors have contributed to the runup in food commodity prices. Some factors reflect trends of slower growth in production...
AP-022, January 23, 2008
The Farm Security Act of 2002, which governs Federal farm programs for 2002-07, was signed into law on May 13, 2002. This publication presents an overview of the Act and a side-by-side comparison of 1996-2001 farm legislation and the 2002 Act. For selected programs, information is provided to additi...
SB-974, January 07, 2008
These reports examine how production costs vary among producers of different commodities. These reports include details on production practices and input use levels (i.e., the 'technology set'), as well as farm operator and structural characteristics that underlie the cost and return estimates. The ...
WRS-0702, August 06, 2007
The volatile and upward trend in U.S. natural gas prices from 2000-06 has led to a 17-percent decline in the Nation’s annual aggregate supply of ammonia. During the period, U.S. ammonia production declined 44 percent, while U.S. ammonia imports increased 115 percent. Also, the share of U.S.-produced...
FDS-07D01, May 18, 2007
A large expansion in ethanol production is underway in the United States. Cellulosic sources of feedstocks for ethanol production hold some promise for the future, but the primary feedstock in the United States currently is corn. Market adjustments to this increased demand extend well beyond the cor...
FDS-07C01, March 30, 2007
The U.S. feed grain sector, largest of the major U.S. field crops, faces unprecedented demand conditions. The size and speed of the expanding use of corn by the ethanol industry is raising widespread issues throughout U.S. agriculture. Debate is ongoing over the use of grain for fuel instead of for ...
WRS-0701, March 29, 2007
Implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is drawing to a close. In 2008, the last of NAFTA’s transitional restrictions governing U.S.-Mexico and Canada-Mexico agricultural trade will be removed, concluding a 14-year project in which the member countries systematically disman...
ERR-35, February 28, 2007
U.S. grains were once exclusively handled by commodity markets characterized by standard grades (for example, number 2 yellow corn), a large number of buyers and sellers, and prices that were transparent on commodity exchanges. Increasingly, though, specialty grains (for example, fiber-enriched whea...
ERR-39, February 22, 2007
A model developed for this analysis improved on the USDA method of estimating counter-cyclical payment rates by accounting for the variability in market price forecast errors. This enhanced method produced unbiased estimates. Forecasters and producers can use the model to calculate the probabilities...
OCE-2007-1, February 14, 2007
This report provides longrun (10-year) projections for the agricultural sector through 2016. Projections cover agricultural commodities, agricultural trade, and aggregate indicators of the sector, such as farm income and food prices.
WRS-04-03, February 02, 2004
Poultry meat is the fastest growing component of global meat demand, and India, the world's second largest developing country, is experiencing rapid growth in its poultry sector. In India, poultry sector growth is being driven by rising incomes and a rapidly expanding middle class, together with the...
AER-721, July 01, 1995
Studies conducted since the late 1970's have estimated the net energy value of corn ethanol. However, variations in data and assumptions used among the studies have resulted in a wide range of estimates. This study identifies the factors causing this wide variation and develops a more consistent est...
AIB-498, April 01, 1986
The Food Security Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-198) establishes a comprehensive framework within which the Secretary of Agriculture will administer agriculture and food programs from 1986 through 1990. This report describes the Act's provisions for dairy, wool and mohair, wheat, feed grains, cotton, rice, p...