Is Another Farm Financial Crisis Brewing?
Anyone who lived through the farm financial crisis in the 1980s can never forget it. My family managed to weather that storm but it definitely left a mark. The human cost of that crisis was very large within US agriculture. So, it was with great interest that I recently ran across this chart from the…
What Makes the “Golden Number” for U.S. Corn Belt Crop Production Golden?
In a recent post, I talked about the “golden number” for crop production in the U.S. Corn Belt in 2023. I called July precipitation the golden number because of its importance as a driver of (dryland) corn yield in the U.S. A state-level review of July precipitation revealed a mixed record across the Corn Belt…
How is the “Golden Number” for the U.S. Corn Belt Working out This Year?
In a previous post, I talked before about the “golden number” for crop production in the U.S. Corn Belt. While it is certainly not the only important yield factor, July precipitation is clearly at the top of the list. Historically, average July precipitation in Corn Belt states is very close to 4 inches. When July…
Why Were Grain Prices So High in 1988 and Other Market Mysteries
Sometimes you need to figure out something that was going on in the grain or livestock markets in the past and Wikipedia just does not cut it. For those lacking as much seniority as I have, it might be a mystery why grain prices were so high in 1988. Well, farmdoc to the rescue. I…
What does The Who Have to do with the U.S. Corn Trend Yield?
Last week, I wrote about the long-term trend in the US average corn yield (https://lnkd.in/gSYkmHjY). It was motivated by a post by Bob Nielsen of Purdue. Bob presented an amazing chart on the US corn yield going back to 1866. Well, Bob is back this week with another terrific post, this time on the mistakes…
Corn Trend Yield
If there is a topic that is sure to generate VERY strong opinions on the part of farmers, seed companies, and market analysts, it is the trajectory of corn trend yields. My motivation for writing about corn trend yields (again) is a recent post by the esteemed (and recently retired) agronomist at Purdue, Bob Nielsen.…