Uncertainty over trade policy, weather, and African swine fever dominated agricultural markets last quarter, causing greater volatility.
A report just released by CoBank says issues in the market are affecting producers, supply chains and end-users. Trade negotiation breakthroughs have largely remained elusive, and the U.S. agricultural sector is preparing for its second consecutive harvest under the shadow of hefty tariffs.
A CoBank spokesperson responded that, “Global trade tensions are ratcheting up as world economic growth slows.” Meanwhile, the historically late planting of the 2019 corn crop is creating extremely volatile cash corn prices.
End users like ethanol producers and livestock feeders are biding old-crop corn supplies higher in anticipation of a short harvest this fall, with prices falling back to levels seen before spring planting. And, the report says the already volatile U.S. animal protein markets have gotten more volatile in the third quarter on nearly every front. The full Quarterly Rural Economic Review is available on cobank.com.
