Your Pro Farmer newsletter (November 4, 2023) is now available

Corn and soybean harvest is moving toward the finish line, with the next crop estimates from USDA coming in the Nov. 9 Crop Production Report. Barring any supply-side surprises, adjustments to usage forecasts in the 2023-24 balance sheets are also likely to be minor. Given El Niño impacts, the potentially biggest changes could be to USDA’s global production forecasts, with a particular focus on South America. While conditions have improved a little, South American crop consultant Dr. Michael Cordonnier lowered his Brazilian crop estimates given erratic weather early in the growing season. In Washington, focus remains on trying to get a permanent spending measure in place for fiscal year 2024, which started on Oct. 1. With the deadline for the current stopgap measure approaching on Nov. 17, it appears another continuing resolution will be needed. It’s becoming clearer an extension of the 2018 farm bill will be needed – potentially for a full year or more. A new farm bill will likely start with 2025 crops, not 2024. We cover this and a host of other ag policy issues facing farmers in our News page 4 feature this week. On the economic front, the Fed paused for a second month in a row – and could be done with its monetary policy tightening cycle. We cover all of these items and much more in this week’s newsletter, which you can download here.