[Quinny]

Where can I find information on the state of USA agriculture and this years crops.

OTOH we have SOS and Oily saying we have record crops and OTOH we have mcgowan saying 50% of crops have had maor problems. I'd really like to research a bit further to check the situation.

[frankthetank]

Qunny...i've used this before. Has a ton of good info on everything from grains, to veggies, to fruits...gives an excellent idea of what we grow in the US. I have no idea how current some of the info is, but its something.

http://www.fas.usda.gov/commodities.asp

U can also go look over on

http://www.agriculture.com/

[timmac]

Central California farm area is way down because of the drought problems, almonds and nuts, some vegetable's, etc will be hiring in price come next year, I guess we can just import them from China like everything else..

[frankthetank]

Another decent source for AG related news...
http://westernfarmpress.com/

Something i read today:

Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Corn climbed to a four-week high in Chicago on reports that snow and ice damaged U.S. crops still in the fields following a late harvest. Soybeans and wheat also advanced.

“Miserable” windy and cold weather with sleet and snow reached the U.S. Great Plains and the Midwest over Christmas week, said agricultural meteorologist Gail Martell. About 5 percent of the U.S. corn crop, the world’s largest, remained uncollected as of Dec. 20, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said last week.

“Strong gusty winds, ice and driving snow damaged remaining corn in the field, estimated to be 600 million to 800 million bushels,” Martell, head of Martell Crop Projections, said in a crop report today.

Corn for March delivery gained 2 percent to $4.1675 a bushel in electronic trading on the Chicago Board of Trade at 2:14 p.m. Paris time, the highest intraday price since Dec. 1.

The U.S. corn harvest, which is usually completed by the end of November, proceeded at the slowest pace since at least 1986 this year, according to the USDA.

“This may lead to a reduction in U.S. corn production and year-end stockpiles,” said Toshimitsu Kawanabe, an analyst at Tokyo-based commodity broker Central Shoji Co. An increase in U.S. export sales also supported the market, he said.

Corn added 0.9 percent on Dec. 24 after the USDA reported export sales in the week ended Dec. 17 rose 30 percent from the previous week to 1.592 million metric tons, the largest rise since January 2008. Sales in the marketing year that started Sept. 1 have risen 17 percent from the year-earlier period.

Record Harvest

The grain has jumped 26 percent this marketing year as rain delayed the harvest. The USDA forecasts corn production at 12.921 billion bushels, second only to the record harvest of 2007. The agency will update its estimate on Jan. 12.

Twenty-one of 27 traders and analysts surveyed on Dec. 24 from Tokyo to Chicago said corn will rise this week, and 18 of 28 said soybeans will rebound. Last week, corn rose 2.7 percent to $4.085 a bushel and soybeans slipped 1.2 percent to $10.08 a bushel, touching a five-week low on Dec. 22.

“Concerning corn and soybeans, the very cold temperatures that are now more and more evident in the upper Midwest and out on the high plains are raising the demand for feed for livestock,” economist Dennis Gartman said in his daily letter. “Cold temperatures demand greater feed for the animals.”

March-delivery soybeans climbed 1.2 percent to $10.20 a bushel. Wheat for March delivery added 1.9 percent to $5.3425 a bushel after declining for a fifth week

Milling wheat for January delivery traded on Liffe in Paris added 0.8 percent to 129.75 euros ($186.87) a metric ton at 2:16 p.m. local time.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... bNO2nzOh30

China can't feed their own people, yet they want to export food to us! This world is upside down.

[Cloud9]

Check this out: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article16063.html