Markets Brace for Second Appearance by Fed Chair Powell

Focus of USDA’s WASDE on South American crops, especially Argentine soybeans

Personal note: My left knee muscle tear operation was a success. Little pain at this time, but it’s likely the pain medicine they gave me hasn’t worn off. I alerted the Defense Dept. to not shoot me if I got up too high if you know what I mean. Thanks for all your hopes for a successful outcome.

A House Ag Committee letter does a very good job in discussing key new farm bill issues. See Policy section and our special report (link) on the topic filed earlier today.

KAPOWELL! The Federal Reserve expects to raise interest rates multiple times in the coming months and is prepared to reaccelerate its pace of monetary policy tightening if needed, Chairman Jerome Powell told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. Powell today gives testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. We have key remarks and analysts from Powell’s appearance Tuesday before the Senate Budget Committee in the Market section. Powell’s higher-for-longer pronouncement — a scenario many on Wall Street had been underplaying — sent stocks and commodities lower, and the safe-haven dollar and bond yields higher.

U.S. private employment growth beats forecasts: ADP. Private businesses in the U.S. unexpectedly created 242,000 jobs in February, well above an upwardly revised 119,000 in January and market forecasts of 200,000. The services sector added 190,000 jobs, led by leisure and hospitality and the goods-producing industry added 52,000. Meanwhile, annual wage growth decelerated slightly to 7.2%.

Russia’s Wagner group has taken full control of the eastern part of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, its chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said. If the claim is true, it would mean Russian forces control nearly half the city. Ukrainian defenders remained defiant, however.

Biden targets TikTok. A Senate bill that would give the Biden administration the power to ban Chinese-owned social video app TikTok just got a big boost. The White House on Tuesday endorsed the bipartisan legislation and urged lawmakers to pass it quickly. The bill, dubbed the RESTRICT Act, would allow the Commerce secretary to review certain deals, software updates and data transfers, and then refer them to the president if there is an “undue or unacceptable risk” to national security.

President Biden will unveil a plan to cut federal deficits by $2 trillion. The measures, including tax increases for companies and savings from spending cuts, will be part of the White House’s budget proposal that will be announced tomorrow. They’re meant to counter demands by House Republicans for steep budget cuts in exchange for their support for raising the debt ceiling, the New York Times reports.

One of the Biden administration’s nominees to the Federal Communications Commission, Gigi Sohn, withdrew after blistering opposition from lobbyists and Republicans.

Read this if you want to stop being addicted to your phone. Now reading this dispatch is an important and crucial daily exercise, but most of the other stuff is not! Link to how to kick the habit.

Equities today: Global stock markets were mixed but mostly lower overnight. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward slightly higher openings. In Asia, Japan +0.5%. Hong Kong -2.4%. China -0.1%. India +0.2%. In Europe, at midday, London flat. Paris flat. Frankfurt +0.4%.

U.S. equities yesterday: All three major indices suffered sharp losses in the wake of testimony Tuesday from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell (see below). The Dow dropped 574.46 points, 1.72%, at 32,856.46. The Nasdaq fell 145.40 points, 1.25%, at 11,530.33. The S&P 500 declined 62.05 points, 1.53%, at 3,986.37.

The yield on two-year Treasury notes climbed to 5.011%, its highest close since 2007, from 4.892% Monday. It finished more than a percentage point above the 10-year yield, the biggest such gap since September 1981 — an inverted yield curve — and a level which according to Deutsche Bank strategists signals recession within a maximum eight months.

Agriculture markets yesterday:

• Corn: May corn futures fell 2 3/4 cents at $6.34 1/4 and near the session low.
• Soy complex: May soybeans saw corrective selling today before closing at $15.15 2/4, down 13 2/4 cents. May soybean meal saw losses of $5.60 and closed at $487.80. May soyoil saw selling alongside crude oil, closing 179 points lower at 58.66 cents.
• Wheat: May SRW wheat futures rose 2 3/4 cents to $6.98, marking a mid-range close, while May HRW rose 1 1/2 to $7.99 1/4. May spring wheat fell 10 cents to $8.52 3/4.
• Cotton: May cotton fell 194 points at 82.77 cents and near the session low.
• Cattle: Nearby April live cattle futures slipped 12.5 cents to $165.975 Tuesday, while most-active April feeder futures gained 7.5 cents to $198.675.
• Hogs: April lean hogs rose $1.325 to $84.80, marking a high range close.
  

Ag markets today: Corn, soybeans and wheat faced light selling pressure during a relatively quiet overnight session. As of 7:30 a.m. ET, corn futures were trading mostly 1 to 2 cents lower, soybeans were 3 to 4 cents lower and wheat futures were 3 to 6 cents lower. Front-month crude oil futures were modestly weaker, while the U.S. dollar index was slightly higher.

Technical viewpoints from Jim Wyckoff:

On tap today:

• U.S. trade deficit is expected to have widened to $68.7 billion in January. (8:30 a.m. ET) UPDATE: The U.S. trade deficit increased slightly to $68.3 billion in January of 2023 from a downwardly revised $67.2 billion in December, compared to market forecasts of a $68.9 billion gap. Exports were up 3.4% to $257.5 billion, led by sales of pharmaceutical preparations, civilian aircraft, telecommunications equipment and passenger cars while a decline was seen for travel and transport. Meanwhile, imports rose 3% to $325.8 billion, prompted by purchases of cell phones, pharmaceutical preparations, toys, games, and sporting good, trucks, buses, and special purpose vehicles, passenger cars, electric apparatus, telecommunications equipment and travel.
• Fed Chairman Jerome Powell testifies before the House Financial Services Committee. (10 a.m. ET)
• Labor Department releases the Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey for January. (10 a.m. ET)
• USDA WASDE report, noon ET.
• Federal Reserve releases the Beige Book. (2 p.m. ET)
  

• Fed Chair Jay Powell warned Tuesday the Fed is prepared to return to bigger interest rate rises. Key comments from his Tuesday comments before the Senate Banking Committee:

• Data ahead is key. Friday’s Employment report and updated data on the Consumer Price Index next Tuesday could add clarity before Fed officials’ next meeting on March 21-22. “The latest economic data have come in stronger than expected, which suggests that the ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously anticipated,” Powell said. “If the totality of the data were to indicate that faster tightening is warranted, we would be prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes.”

  Translation: Rates could go higher and faster than the Fed has already signaled. Traders increased their bets on a half-point rate rise at the Fed’s March 21-22 meeting, with the odds now favoring such a rise rather than a quarter-point increase, according to the CME Group. Traders in interest-rate futures expect the federal-funds rate to reach as high as 5.6% in October and sit around 5.5% at year-end, according to FactSet. However, the prospect of U.S. rates hitting 6% is becoming real enough for some investors to rethink their strategies.
  

• Past data shows why the Fed is on a higher-rate mode. Last month the Federal Open Market Committee slowed its pace of increases, raising rates by 25 basis points. In December, the consensus for the terminal rate was between 5% and 5.5%. “There is little sign of disinflation thus far in the category of core services excluding housing,” Powell said. He noted rising wages, which “remain above what is consistent with 2% inflation and current trends in productivity.” Upshot: The process of the Fed getting back to their 2% target, “has a long way to go and is likely to be bumpy,” Powell warned.
  
• Market impacts: U.S. equities cratered while Powell’s comments triggered a large dollar rally. Short-term U.S. gov’t bond prices sank on the day, with the yield on the two-year Treasury, sensitive to monetary policy expectations, rising above 5% for the first time since 2007. In contrast, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury fell to 3.97%. The diverging moves in Treasuries signal that markets expect the Fed “is going to have to cause a recession to bring inflation under control,” said Lyn Graham-Taylor, senior rates strategist at Rabobank.
  
• Political tensions rise. Rising political tensions were evident in a testy exchange with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who criticized Powell for putting the labor market at risk. Using the Fed’s own estimates, Warren said Fed rate increases risk throwing about 2 million people out of work. “How would you explain your view that they need to lose their jobs?” Warren asked. Powell responded: “Will working people be better off if we just walk away from our jobs and inflation remains 5% to 6%?”
  
• On tap today: The second round of Powell’s testimony (to the House), a speech by Thomas Barkin (president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond) and the release of the Fed’s Beige Book.
  

U.S. mortgage applications were up 7.4% in the week ended March 3rd, 2023, the first increase in four weeks, and rebounding from 28-year lows touched last week, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed. Applications to refinance a home loan jumped 9.4% and those to purchase a home loan were up 6.6%. Meanwhile, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($726,200 or less) went up 8bps to 6.79%, a fresh high since November, and tracking a rise in Treasury yields. “Even with higher rates, there was an uptick in applications last week, but this was in comparison to two weeks of declines to very low levels, including a holiday week,” noted Joel Kan, an MBA economist.

Consumer credit use rebounds in January. Consumer Credit increased at an annual rate of 3.7% in January, rising to $14.8 billion after the December mark of $10.6 billion which was the smallest rise since November 2020. Revolving credit rose at an annualized pace of 11.1% in January after rising just 6.9% in December, while nonrevolving credit increased 1.2%, a slight slowing from the 1.3% boost registered in December. Many expect credit use will slow ahead as rate increases, along with slower jobs growth and inflation will reduce the level of personal outlays by consumers.

Germany retail sales unexpectedly fall. Retail sales in Germany declined 0.3% month-over-month in January of 2023, following a 5.3% slump in December and compared to market forecasts of a 2% surge, as high inflation and uncertainty weigh on consumers’ mood. Compared to January 2022, retail sales sank 6.9%.

Meanwhile, German industrial output rose 3.5% in January from the previous month, following a 2.4% decline in December. The surge was driven by an increase in production of electronic equipment and chemicals, although other sectors, such as the motor industry, saw significant decline.

Market perspectives:

• Outside markets: The U.S. dollar index was slightly higher and hit another three-month high overnight. Crude oil was under pressure ahead of U.S. gov’t inventory data due later this morning. WTI crude was trading around $77.30 per barrel with Brent around $83.15 per barrel. Gold and silver futures were weaker, with gold around $1,817 per troy ounce and silver around $201.7 per troy ounce.

• Concern about a strong negative Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) may rise during the spring and summer because sometimes that pattern can help induce a warmer and drier weather scenario in central parts of the U.S. during the summer season.

• Ag trade: South Korea purchased 65,000 MT of corn expected to be source from South America and another 117,000 MT of optional origin corn. Taiwan purchased 52,000 MT of corn expected to be sourced from South Africa. Jordan tendered to buy up to 120,000 MT of optional origin milling wheat. Tunisia purchased 100,000 MT of durum wheat from unspecified origins.

• NWS weather outlook: Multiple day heavy rain and flash flood threat continues across the Central Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley... ...Threat of heavy rain, flooding, and heavy high-elevation snow will increase for the West as an Atmospheric River impacts the region Thursday... ...Moderate to locally heavy snowfall accumulations will spread across the Northern/Central Plains late Wednesday into the Upper Midwest Thursday.

Items in Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today include:

• Mildly weaker grain commodity price tone this morning
• March S&D Report out at noon ET
• Bioceres to market GMO wheat in Argentina this year
• Negative PDO could have strong influence on spring/summer weather
• Feeder cattle surging
• Retailers respond to dip in wholesale pork price

— New reports surface on the underwater explosions in the Baltic Sea, which last September blew giant holes in both Nord Stream 1 pipelines and one of the two Nord Stream 2 pipelines. German public broadcasters ARD (link) and SWR and newspaper Die Zeit on Tuesday evening published reports citing unnamed officials claiming Western intelligence services have traced the attacks to a “Pro-Ukrainian group.” The New York Times had similar revelations (link). Ditto for the Washington Post (link).

Officials told the NYT it was unclear who directed the attack in September, though there is no evidence linking it to Ukraine’s government. Die Zeit reported that six people destroyed the pipelines with explosives.

Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine has gone on for more than a year, said: “We are still not allowed in the investigation. Only a few days ago we received notes about this from the Danes and Swedes,” a Kremlin spokesman said. “This is not just strange. It smells like a monstrous crime.”

— Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has been forced to use more of its professional recruits in Bakhmut to replace enlisted prisoners, who are perishing by the thousands as the battle for the city drags on, a Ukrainian official told the New York Times (link). The claim suggested that Ukraine sees an opportunity in Bakhmut, despite the heavy casualties it has suffered. Western officials say that between 20,000 and 30,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded in the battle for Bakhmut. Earlier, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, vowed to strengthen the town’s defense.

— House Ag panel’s budget views and estimates for fiscal year 2024 is the topic of a special report (link) we released earlier this morning. The Ag panel will hold a business meeting at 10 a.m. ET Thursday for its consideration.

The letter is something farmers and farm groups should clearly like: The letter stresses production agriculture, Title I, and the importance of funding the farm safety net.

Steve Censky, CEO of the American Soybean Association (ASA), told Farm Journal’s Tyne Morgan that, “A message we have been delivering is that we need Congress to have an adequately funded on-time farm bill and we say adequately funded because we recognize that the current farm bill needs more resources. We’re working very hard with other farm groups, and we’ve been leading an effort with other commodity and farm groups to the budget message to the Budget committees, letting them know that that the Agriculture committees are going to need more resources. We’re hopeful that they can get more resources. But we’re also realistic, that, you know, it’s going to be tough to try to get those additional resources.”

My comments in the special report on the views and estimates letter: This letter is one of the better if not best I have seen over my long career in reporting on the business of agriculture. The letter presents a clear roadmap, with lots of transparency, on what is really needed in the new farm bill. Budget panel chairs should take the well-researched policy and funding recommendations to heart in working out a realistic farm bill baseline because without that, the farm bill will not get the reforms it clearly needs to alter Title I and move away from the billions of dollars in ad hoc disaster program payouts. I also applaud what the letter notes is the importance of trade promotion programs and agricultural research — two topics that usually get a lot of farm bill attention in the early rounds of working on the legislation, only to find them short-changed at the end of the process. The nearly $20 billion in new funding for conservation programs that was part of legislation last year will also be a focus by the House Ag Committee as detailed in the letter. As for food and nutrition programs, the letter attempts to find a middle ground. It remains to be seen whether any changes in this area will be quickly blasted as unworkable by some who want significant increases in funding and little to no reform.

— President Biden is expected to propose a 5.2% raise for federal workers in his budget plan on Thursday, Washington Post reports, citing two unidentified federal officials (link).

— Gigi Sohn withdraws as nominee for Federal Communications Commission. After a stalled confirmation process, Sohn informed the White House she would be withdrawing. The Washington Post reported about her decision earlier. In a statement, Sohn said she was withdrawing because of attacks on her record as an advocate that she said came from “legions of cable and media industry lobbyists, their bought-and-paid-for surrogates, and dark money political groups… It is a sad day for our country and our democracy when dominant industries, with assistance from unlimited dark money, get to choose their regulators,” she said. Republicans on the Senate Commerce Committee had blocked her nomination on the grounds she was too partisan. Sometimes centrist Sen. Joe Manchin, (D-W.Va.) said Tuesday that he would vote against her.

— In other personnel news:

• Senators today will vote on the confirmation of Daniel Werfel to be commissioner of the IRS.
• State Department spokesman Ned Price is stepping down from his job as the daily face of U.S. foreign policy.
• Pressure continues on President Joe Biden among Senate Democrats to fill a vacancy at the Federal Reserve with a Latino. Sens. Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Jack Reed (R.I.) and Raphael Warnock (Ga.) on Tuesday joined Robert Menendez (N.J.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), who have previously asked the Biden administration to appoint a Latino as Fed vice chair to improve diversity. The senators voiced their backing during Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s semi-annual testimony before the chamber’s banking committee. In its 109-year history, the Fed has never had a Latino in a top leadership position. Menendez and most of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus last month sent a letter to Biden urging him to fill the open spot with a Latino. The White House is taking calls for more diversity “very seriously,” Biden economic adviser Bharat Ramamurti said yesterday. The administration is also looking for a nominee “who truly believes in the Feds dual mandate, somebody who believes in the president’s economic vision,” Ramamurti said on Bloomberg Television.

— The Chinese embassy in Germany said it was “strongly dissatisfied” following reports that German officials were considering banning Huawei and ZTE from the country’s 5G networks. U.S. and Britain have already imposed bans on the two Chinese telecoms firms believing they pose a threat to national security. China says such policies “violate principles of fair competition.”

— China is cracking down on the practice of paying wedding dowries to the bride’s family, as it attempts to boost its flagging birth rate. The “bride price” in some cases amounts to tens of thousands of dollars, a multiple of the annual income of the groom’s family. The increasing unaffordability of marriage is seen as one key reason why fewer people are getting married and having children. Link for more via Bloomberg.

— House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) confirmed plans to meet with Taiwan’s president in the U.S. this year but stressed that meeting doesn’t preclude a trip to Taiwan later.

— China unveiled plans for a sweeping central government reorganization at its annual parliament session, including the formation of a financial regulatory body and national data bureau and a revamp of its science and technology ministry. Link to the main changes and what they mean via Reuters.

— The end of the shale era is coming. The boom in U.S. oil production over the last decade is waning. Frackers are hitting fewer gushers and existing wells are producing less, the Wall Street Journal reports (link). That could eventually raise oil prices as drillers are forced to rely on lower quality wells that would be more expensive to pump.

— Gasoline sales may have peaked. EV sales have helped. So says a Barron’s item. It says peak gasoline sales may have already passed thanks to growing sales of electric and hybrid cars, rising fuel economy standards for new vehicles, and the continuing trend of working from home cutting commuting. Their reasoning:

• In 2022, Americans used 8.8 million barrels of gasoline a day, down from 9.3 million in 2019, according to the Energy Information Administration. In 2023, demand has continued to fall, dropping 1% from last year’s levels over the past four-week period.
• About 6% of passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. last year were electric and about 1% of vehicles on the road are now electric. Fuel economy standards are set to rise to 49 miles a gallon by 2026. That means fewer stops for gasoline.
• Global gasoline demand is still growing. Refineries shipped a record 887,000 barrels of gasoline a day outside the U.S. in 2022, according to the EIA. But electric vehicle sales abroad are also growing, about 14% of market share for light-duty vehicles worldwide in 2022, according to Raymond James.
• Cities and states are rolling back requirements that new developments include parking, the New York Times reported. Last year, California banned minimum parking requirements for new housing developments near mass transit. New York lawmakers are considering a bill preventing exclusionary zoning such as parking minimums.
• What’s next, according to Barron’s: Furthering the electric-vehicles revolution, General Motors will equip its electric Cadillac Celestiq with its highest-level driver-assistance technology called Ultra Cruise, which takes aim at Tesla’s driver-assistance strategy. The Celestiq is expected out by 2024.

— Lawmakers press EPA on small refinery exemptions (SREs). A group of 10 Republican Senators urged the Department of Energy (DOE) to shift their scoring of petitions filed for SREs under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), citing a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report outlining “shortcomings” in the decision process. The lawmakers noted that EPA has signaled it would no longer seek DOE guidance on the SREs given that the DOE scoring matrix does not account for tje system used by EPA on Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) — the RIN pass-through theory. That theory, the lawmakers said, was used by EPA to reject 69 SREs as it is based on the view that all refineries face the same costs to acquire RINs and small refiners therefore do not face disproportionate hardship, the criteria under law that SREs can be requested by small refiners.

Refiners in the states the lawmakers represent “have been significantly impacted by both the DOE and EPA’s ad hoc approach to determining disproportionate economic hardship under the RFS,” the legislators wrote.

The lawmakers want answers from DOE on (1) How they will work with EPA on SREs, (2) Will the agency update a study done in 2011 that GAO questioned, and (3) Whether those applying for SREs will be provided with information on the procedures in place for the requests.

The outlook as usual with most things regarding the RFS is murky. About the only thing not uncertain is the likely legal challenges to force changes in EPA/DOE procedures on SREs.

— Volkswagen reportedly favors building a new battery plant in the U.S. over Eastern Europe, as it believes it can get roughly $10 billion in Inflation Reduction Act subsidies and loans, the Financial Times reports (link).

— The first carbon market auction in Washington state generated around $300 million, selling all of its almost 6.2 million allowances at a settlement price of $48.50 per ton of carbon, more than double the starting price of $22.20, the state Department of Ecology announced. The state legislature plans to use the funding for other programs that aim to reduce emissions. Link to details via the Seattle Times.

— Yellen issues a warning. During the first meeting with the Climate-related Financial Risk Advisory Committee, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that a “delayed and disorderly transition to a net-zero economy” could shock the financial system, while the intensification of climate change can lead to asset value declines. The impacts “are already playing out,” she said, adding that some insurers are boosting rates and pulling back from high-risk areas to avoid more losses, which could be devastating for homeowners and their property values. Link for details via CNBC.

— Monkey business. HelloFresh, a German firm that delivers meal ingredients, said it would stop sourcing its coconut milk from Thailand, over fears that farmers there are using monkeys as forced labor. The firm has come under pressure from PETA, an animal-rights group, which says monkeys are often chained to trees and whipped, and forced to spend long hours picking the drupes (a fruit with a hard stony covering enclosing the seed, like a peach or olive, and comes from the word drupe, meaning overripe olive).

— Supreme Court rejects R-CALF petition. Without comment, the Supreme Court rejected a petition, case 22-270, by R-CALF USA that argued the USDA improperly created an advisory committee that supported use of electronic ear tags for adult cattle shipped across state lines. Link for details.

— Summary:

• Global Covid-19 cases at 676,232,338 with 6,878,777 deaths.
• U.S. case count is at 103,682,158 with 1,122,624 deaths.
• Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center says there have been 676,076,105 doses administered, 260,554,116 have received at least one vaccine, or 81.81% of the U.S. population.

— U.S. to ease Covid testing on travelers from China. The decision to lift testing requirements Friday on those traveling to the U.S. from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau comes amid tense relations between the world’s two major powers.

— President Joe Biden’s public approval rating edged up to 42%, its highest level since June, as inflation has eased in the U.S. and job growth has stayed strong, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll showed (link).

— The White House endorsed a bipartisan bill that could give President Joe Biden authority to ban or force the sale of TikTok. The bill would give the president the ability to force the sale of foreign-owned technologies, applications, software or e-commerce platforms if they present a national security threat to U.S. users.

— The Senate is expected to scrap a crime bill passed by Washington, DC’s council. It would be the first time in three decades that Congress has rejected a local law in the U.S. capital. A vote to overturn the bill would undo revisions to the district’s criminal code that reduce maximum penalties for certain crimes, like carjackings and burglaries, and expand the right to a trial by jury for most misdemeanors. The House of Representatives already voted to scrap it, with 31 Democrats joining the Republican majority. President Joe Biden has said that he would not veto Republican attempts to overturn the bill, should they pass the Senate. Some Democrats were dismayed. Many observers say Biden may be looking ahead to the presidential election in 2024 — when a reputation for being soft on crime might not serve him well.

— Oklahoma voters reject recreational marijuana. Roughly 62% of voters said “no” to State Question 820, according to the Oklahoma State Election Board’s unofficial results (link). The measure would have allowed adults over 21 to legally possess up to an ounce of marijuana and grow up to six mature cannabis plants. SQ820 would have also allowed those convicted of low-level marijuana offenses to have their records expunged. Oklahoma voters join those in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota in recently rejecting similar legislative efforts. There are 21 states that have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Voters in Maryland and Missouri approved measures in 2022.

Voters in three more states could consider legalizing marijuana after the latest effort failed in Oklahoma. Backers are working on potential pot initiatives in Florida, Nebraska, and Ohio.

— Protests erupted in Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, after the country’s parliament began the process to pass a law that could limit press freedom and suppress civil society. The bill, which the U.S. described as “Kremlin-inspired,” requires NGOs and media outfits that receive funding from abroad to classify themselves as “foreign agents.” Critics worry it will hurt Georgia’s chances of joining the EU.

WASDE | Crop Production | USDA weekly reports | Crop Progress | Food prices | Farm income | Export Sales weekly | ERP dashboard | California phase-out of gas-powered vehicles | RFS | IRA: Biofuels | IRA: Ag | Student loan forgiveness | Russia/Ukraine war, lessons learned | Russia/Ukraine war timeline | Election predictions: Split-ticket | Congress to-do list | SCOTUS on WOTUS | SCOTUS on Prop 12 | New farm bill primer | China outlook | Omnibus spending package | Gov’t payments to farmers by program | Farmer working capital | USDA ag outlook forum |