The US Department of Agriculture on Nov. 7 projected area planted to soybeans to expand in 2024, but wheat and corn planting areas were forecast to decline. The forecasts were contained in early-release tables from the USDA Agricultural Projections to 2033 report, which will be issued in February 2024. The USDA forecast area planted to all wheat for harvest in 2024 at 48 million acres, down 1.2 million acres from 49.6 million acres in 2023. The 2024 forecast compared with 46.4 million acres as the recent five-year average planted area.

United States grain producers are still the world’s most productive and can compete with anyone in the world, but world prices are set by many factors including drought, the war in Ukraine, logistic hiccups, Argentina’s economic woes, the Brazilian harvest, and even petroleum prices. On the positive side, input prices have fallen significantly and margins are up for soybean producers. Those were some of the messages emerging from a recent Harvest Report given by experts at Rabobank, the global agricultural bank with headquarters in the Netherlands.

The fall of the yen this year has had little effect on Japan's wheat imports from the U.S., but it's another matter for meat. The value of the U.S. dollar rose by more than 30% compared to the yen between March 1, 2022, and Nov. 1 of this year, going from 115 to 150 yen. In this country, wheat imports are ordered by the government three or four months in advance depending on demand, Japan Flour Millers Association Executive Director Yasuo Sasaki said.

Water storage and river levels are below normal in many areas around the world, raising much concern about the future of agriculture and the availability of water for human consumption and manufacturing. The phenomenon is not just confined to a few areas but is a global problem, impacting areas from Southeast Asia to Australia and from Africa to North and South America. Low river levels have affected the shipment of goods and services most recently in the United States and in South America. In the past two years, similar situations have occurred in Europe, Asia and even Central America

Ukrainian farmers are producing more wheat and corn than expected in a war-torn country where seeds and inputs are di cult to come by and swaths of farmland are in occupied territory, but exports are on the decline again as Russia steps up its attacks on Ukraine’s beleaguered port facilities, according to a new analysis by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. Thanks to good growing weather and the perseverance of Ukrainian farmers, wheat and corn production this year is expected to eclipse last year's production even though farmers had less acreage to plant.

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia will be able to hold its place as the top wheat exporter in the world because the crop is "very good." "We have a very good wheat harvest in Russia this year. The export potential will remain at the level of 60 million tons, and we will surely hold the first place in the world in terms of exports and sales on world markets of this very important commodity," Putin said at a meeting with Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana.

A stopgap government funding bill that includes a one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill easily passed the GOP-controlled House Tuesday after Democrats more than made up for the desertion of hardline GOP conservatives who were unhappy the legislation includes no spending cuts. The measure would extend funding for some departments and agencies, including USDA, to Jan. 19 at fiscal 2023 levels. Most departments and agencies would be funded until Feb. 2. The House approved the measure 336-95 with 209 Democrats joining 127 Republicans in support. The measure should also pass the Senate easily.