Tom Vilsack, nominated for agriculture secretary in the Biden administration, said he will rapidly ramp up USDA programs to combat climate change and that he believes farmers will be enthusiastic at the opportunity to make money by sequestering carbon in the soil. “Agriculture writ large is ready for this, much more than before,” said Vilsack on Tuesday during an interview with an Iowa newspaper. Read More…

Brazilian soy farmers, who started planting late because of dry weather in the final months of 2020, have harvested only 0.4% of the cultivated soybean area this season, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said on Monday. Read More…

For the past several years, members of the food community and environmentalists alike have looked to kelp, a type of seaweed, as the shiny future of food. Read More…

The National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) reported the December soybean crush at its second highest level ever recorded by the trade association but fell short of market estimates on Friday. Read More…

USDA's crop reports made some major changes to the supply and demand balance sheets this week. From showing a tighter stocks to use scenario in soybeans, to a historic cut to the national corn yield, the adjustments provided more fuel to the commodity markets. Read More…

Fewer new loans to farmers continued to drive a pullback in agricultural lending activity. A historically low number of new loans contributed to an increase in average loan size and drove a slight decrease in the overall volume of non-real estate loans at commercial banks in the fourth quarter. Stronger prices for agricultural commodities, alongside continued support from government payments, may have reduced financing needs for some farmers and contributed to the slower pace of lending. Read More…