Farm income cools, land prices climb in northern Plains
Cropland values rose by 7.2 percent in the northern Plains this summer, said agricultural bankers in a quarterly survey by the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank. Land values rose even as farm income declined from last summer, lenders said, due to high production costs and lower commodity prices, with a decline expected for this fall, too.
Squeeze on supplies drives global sugar prices to 12-year high
A combination of factors, including the El Niño weather pattern, congested Brazilian ports, export limits in India and Thailand, and expanded use of biofuels, has propelled global sugar prices to their highest level since 2011, said two analysts with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) on Tuesday. Sugar supplies “will likely shrink further if production impacts from El Niño worsen, putting continued upward pressure on prices,” they said in a blog.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Carbon pipeline application withdrawn: Wolf Carbon Solutions withdrew its application for the Illinois portion of its proposed carbon pipeline and said it would file an updated application in early 2024; last month, Navigator CO2 cancelled its Midwestern carbon pipeline. (Gas World)
$1.5 billion glyphosate award: A Missouri jury awarded $1.5 billion to three cancer victims who said they were not warned of the health risks of using a weed killer containing glyphosate; it was the fourth loss at trial in a row for Bayer. (About Lawsuits)
Summer EBT takes root: Fourteen states and two tribal governments were the first to say they will implement Summer EBT in 2024; the new program provides grocery benefits of $40 a month per child to families with children eligible for free or reduced-price meals at school. (USDA)
‘Adapt or die’: With drought a frequent menace, farmers are looking at drought-hardy crops and researchers are working to make row crops such as corn more drought resistant through genetic engineering and selective breeding. (Ambrook)
Ukraine sows less grain: With fall planting nearly complete, Ukrainian farmers have sown 10 percent less land to winter wheat, winter barley, and winter rapeseed than a year ago, according to the Agriculture Ministry. (Reuters)
