Soybean price confusion

By Doug Tenney, Leist Mercantile

Producers look at the computer monitor every day, viewing commodity prices for grains and livestock, along with the inputs for each commodity sector, wondering what news events markets are following or not following as they take place in the world today. Often, huge daily price swings are wider than those of previous years.

The first 5 weeks of the new U.S. Presidential administration have detailed executive orders almost non-stop, often far reaching in scope, policy, and scores of government employees being furloughed or fired. Early thoughts in February as the government firings were taking place, suggested that for every four government job vacancies as the Biden administration ended, one employee might be hired. Sometime — heavy emphasis on sometime. The continued shrinkage for the U.S. government in its employee totals and attempts to reduce costs has brought about heightened uncertainty across all industries. Rumors of cuts for NOAA with its plethora of weather maps they produce is just one thread of uncertainty for producers.… Continue reading