The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released its monthly Agricultural Prices report today, which noted that, “The corn price, at $3.66 per bushel, is up 1 cent from last month but is down 16 cents from January 2015.”
The NASS report added that, “The soybean price, at $8.71 per bushel, decreased 5 cents from December and is $1.59 lower than January a year earlier.”
And today’s update also stated that, “The January price for all wheat, at $4.82 per bushel, is up 11 cents from December but is $1.33 below January 2015.”
With respect to livestock, the NASS report stated that, “At $43.60 per cwt, the January hog price is up 80 cents from December but is $13.80 lower than a year earlier. The January beef cattle price of $130.00 per cwt is up $8.00 from the previous month but $34.00 lower than January 2015.”
And Purdue University agricultural economist Chris Hurt observed today at the farmdoc daily blog that (“Weekly Outlook: Pork Industry – A Little Profit for 2016“), “The outlook for the pork industry has turned somewhat more optimistic in recent weeks. The sources of that optimism include a $2 to $4 increase in spring and summer lean hog futures prices since the first of the year and slightly lower new-crop soybean meal prices. A bit higher hog prices and a little lower cost add to the potential for a profitable year.”
The farmdoc update also included this graph:
