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USA. Grain prices looking good
23.09.2010 11:18 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
Farmers in Iowa have plenty of reason to smile as they head into the fields this fall, assuming they get a crop to match the strong prices.
The Agriculture Department lowered its estimate of the nations corn harvest by 2 percent, to 13.2 billion bushels, a move that was no surprise to traders who have sharply bid up the price of corn in recent weeks.
Because of that smaller forecast and tightening grain supplies, the USDA raised its estimate of the average price that growers will get for this years corn crop to $4.40 a bushel, a 60-cent increase over the estimate made in August.
In other years, the higher corn price would be tough on livestock and ethanol producers, but this year prices for cattle, pork and ethanol have risen sharply, keeping those sectors profitable even with the rise in cost of their main input, corn, analysts say.
«Its been real interesting to see these markets jump like they have. Its a good time to be farming,» said Max Schmidt, who produces 30,000 hogs a year and also grows corn and soybeans near Elma.
Hog prices «have been exceptionally strong recently, and I look for that to continue,» he said.
Profit margins on hogs hit $35 a head in August, an unusually high level that was welcome news to producers who had weathered heavy losses in recent years, according to Iowa State University analysts…
…Cattle prices, meanwhile, have been running between 90 cents and $1 per pound and may go higher barring a downturn in the economy, Ellis said…
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