economics

Dr. Steve Meyer, Paragon Economics, provided an update on the state of the meat and poultry markets. His main take away is that the demand continued to struggle late 2011.

The bad news is that these "annual" numbers for 2011 have been getting worse and worse as the year has progressed.

Steve reminds us that the indexes only describe how demand is changing, not why a change is occurring. He believes consumer incomes and spending was the major negative force in the domestic market in 2011.

Charts below from Paragon Economics, using USDA data.

BeefCast 0508 Show Notes: 

• Speaking at the recent Kansas State Swine Day, Analyst Joe Kerns with the International Agribusiness Group had some soothing words for producers dealing with volatile feed costs.  He speaks with AgToday's Eric Atkinson.

BeefCast 0507 Show Notes:

• Recently signed Free Trade Agreements with U.S. trading partners, especially South Korea, appear especially bullish for ag exports.  K State economist Glynn Tonsor reports on research funded by the U.S. Meat Export Federation on just how big a bonanza it could be. 

There are a series of campaigns aimed at securing larger government support for smaller farms. Smaller operators believe US agriculture policies do not favor small, independent farmers.

"I think funding is one of the biggest struggles I have encountered," said [Alex] Bryan. "To get funding to play in the game, to purchase equipment or to build infrastructure that follows guidelines that may be more appropriate for a large-scale producer, may be prohibitive to the small producer. We're following a lot of the same regulations."

Rules through the Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) are seen as a way to help smaller farms be on a level playing field with larger operations.

BeefCast 0506 Show Notes:

• Devastating drought conditions in the southwest continue to bump slaughter numbers.  How and why with Oklahoma State livestock economist Darrell Peel as he talks with Eric Atkinson.

Photo AP Photo/Danny Johnston, File

The Diane Rehm Show brought together four experts on world economies and agriculture to address the current commodity prices and their impact on food, fuel, and fiber.

The Agricultural and Food Policy Center (AFPC) at Texas A&M University and the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri recently published their Representative Farms Economic Outlook for December 2010. This baseline report offers an assessment of farms, crops and their financial outlook.

Feed grain producers across the nation should increase the financial strength of their operators over the next five years, helped by strong commodity prices. Farms that have been in marginal or poor financial position in the last several years because of lower grain prices should recover and climb into stronger financial positions.

Some highlights include: