Cotton futures have taken it in the shins the past few weeks and Gary Adams, Chief Economist with the National Cotton Council says it’s a basic supply/demand thing:
“If we look at the last few weeks, the supply and demand balance sheet for the global cotton market, the thing that really jumps out is the substantial increase in ending stocks of cotton for the 2011-2012 marketing year. The USDA is pushing that up to over 65 million bales by the end of this marketing year. They are also calling for another potential increase in the following marketing year. The mindset of the market is much different than a year ago, we no longer have any concerns about availability of cotton.”
Adams explains that to turn the tide back to profitability, demand from mills and consumers as well will need to increase.
El Niño risk rising for late summer, climate models show
Improving moisture conditions in the southwestern U.S. has improved the outlook for many farms and ranches for 2012, and meteorologists say the La Niña weather pattern responsible for last year’s drought is unlikely to return this year. Farmers on the other side of the globe, however, are rightfully worried about the looming threat of El Niño and the possibilities of drought it may bring to their crops.
Regions of Southeast Asia and Australia are most likely to be affected by an El Niño, and Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology says climate models indicate a possible return of El Niño in the second half of 2012.
Proposed Wind Farm Site Could be Hazardous to Bald Eagles
A preliminary report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says a wind farm proposed for eastern North Carolina could kill up to 20 bald eagles each year.
The estimate is based on only five months of bird counts in Beaufort County. The service wants to collect data for at least a year.
The wind farm has been proposed near the Pocosin Lakes Wildlife Refuge. Bald eagles are attracted to the area by fish breeding ponds, hog carcass disposals and other readily available food sources.
Invenergy of Chicago has proposed putting 49-turbines in the Pantego Wind Energy Facility.
Oil Prices Reverse Direction, Track Downward Again
Oil prices have hit a 7-month low, falling below 91-dollars-a-barrel today. Oil Analyst Phil Flynn says there's optimism and pessimism driving the oil market:
“We are pessimistic about the global economy, but we are also going down because we are optimistic that perhaps the talks with Iran could lead to some type of an agreement.”
USDA Faces Complicated Issue with Market, Report Timing
Grain market trading hours have recently been expanded - and many are wondering how that will affect the release timing of market sensitive USDA reports. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says it’s not an easy decision to make:
“The decision of timing and information being available can potentially make the difference of millions of dollars one way or the other to those who are trading.”
Vilsack says USDA is analyzing the pros and cons of a variety of ways to approach this issue. |