SCOTUS Gives Mixed Signals on WOTUS Deliberations

Report: White House rules out banning natural gas exports | U.S. equities continue rally

The Supreme Court on Monday weighed whether to limit the scope of the country’s clean water regulations — WOTUS. And as our update shows below, both sides claimed victory, which means the case is still murky.

The Supreme Court today will take up a case that will determine tech companies’ degree of legal liability for content that creators publish on platforms. At the heart of the matter is to what extent tech companies can be held legally liable for the content that gets published on its platforms. A ruling will set the stage for future cases down the line, including a similar one brought by Twitter over similar content.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his nation’s forces continued to reclaim territory from fleeing Russian troops, saying “more and more losses are being inflicted on the enemy army.” He also said that several new Russian conscripts, whom Vladimir Putin called up in recent weeks, are already dying in battle.

Russia is smuggling Ukrainian grain to help pay for Putin’s war. Did you expect anything less?

The United Nations issues a warning: The world is on the verge of a recession that will likely hurt developing nations more than others. If it happens, it will largely be due to continued interest rate hikes in developed nations, such as the United States, the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development said in a report issued Monday. “Interest rate hikes by advanced economies are hitting the most vulnerable hardest,” the report said.

U.S. is seeking to further restrict cutting-edge chip exports to China. The White House action aimed at preventing China from making high-end semiconductors, according to reports.

The White House will not seek to restrict is exports of natural gas. So says a Reuters report. Details in Energy section.

JBS to shutter U.S. plant-based foods business (details in Food industry section).

North Korea flew a missile over Japan for the first time since 2017, Seoul and Tokyo officials said, a significant escalation that led Japan to issue warnings for citizens to take shelter.

Election Day 2022 is 35 days away. Election Day 2024 is 763 days away.

Equities today: Global stock markets were mostly firmer overnight. Markets in China and Hong Kong were closed for a holiday. U.S. Dow is now over 600 points higher. European equities are also solidly higher while bond yields continue to pullback with the dollar amid renewed hopes of a “less-hawkish pivot.” But New York Fed President John Williams noted on Monday that while tighter monetary policy has begun to cool demand and reduce inflationary pressures, the central bank’s job “is not yet done.” In Asia, Japan +2.96%. Hong Kong closed. China closed. India +2.20%. In Europe, at midday, London +1.75%. Paris +2.66%. Frankfurt +2.98%.

U.S. equities yesterday: The Dow gained 765.38 points, 2.66%, at 29,490.89. The Nasdaq rose 239.82 points, 2.27%, at 10,815.43. The S&P 500 gained 92.81 points, 2.59%, at 3,678.43. What some call a relief rally was the best day since June 24 for the Dow, and the S&P 500′s best day since July 27. The ISM Purchasing Managers Index showed manufacturing activity growing at its slowest pace in 30 months as new orders headed into contractionary territory. Yields fell on the news, with investors hoping that price pressures are abating and that the Fed has reached peak hawkishness.

Wall Street is more than six months into a bear market that has taken stocks down about 25%, raising the question of whether this is an inflection point. The Goldman Sachs’ Sentiment Indicator came in negative for a near-record 31st-straight week, with strategists saying that points to the end of the There Is No Alternative, or TINA, trade.

Agriculture markets yesterday:

• Corn: December corn rose 3 1/4 cents to $6.80 3/4, the contract’s highest close since Sept. 22.
• Soy complex: November soybeans rose 9 1/4 cents to $13.74, after dropping earlier to an eight-week low of $13.61 1/4. December soymeal rose $2.30 to $405.30. December soyoil rose 178 points to 63.34 cents.
• Wheat: December SRW wheat fell 9 1/2 cents to $9.12. December HRW wheat dipped 2 3/4 cents to $9.88 3/4. December spring wheat fell 2 cents to $9.80.
• Cotton: December cotton fell 114 points to 84.20 cents, the contract’s lowest close since July 14.
• Cattle: December live cattle rose 97.5 cents to $148.025, the contract’s highest closing price since Sept.23. November feeder cattle rose $1.425 to $176.05.
• Hogs: December lean hogs rose $1.50 at $77.725. The CME lean hog index fell 23 cents to $94.91, the lowest since mid-February. Today’s projected index is down another 58 cents at $94.33.
  

Ag markets today: Soybeans and wheat are pulling support from outside markets, while corn is mildly favoring the downside. As of 7:30 a.m. ET, corn futures were trading steady to a penny lower, soybeans were mostly 3 to 5 cents higher, SRW wheat was 1 to 2 cents higher, HRW wheat was 6 to 8 cents higher and HRS wheat was 5 to 9 cents higher. Front-month crude oil futures were around 50 cents higher and the U.S. dollar index was more than 500 points lower.

Technical viewpoints from Jim Wyckoff:

On tap today:

• U.S. job openings are expected to fall to 11 million in August from 11.2 million one month earlier. (10 a.m. ET)
• U.S. factory orders for August are expected to be unchanged from the prior month. (10 a.m. ET)
• Federal Reserve speakers: Governor Philip Jefferson on technology’s impact on the postpandemic economy at 11:45 a.m. ET (webcast) and San Francisco’s Mary Daly at the Council on Foreign Relations at 1 p.m. ET.

Growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector eased in September to its slowest pace in more than two years, continuing a downward trend as slowing demand for goods weakens factory activity. The Institute for Supply Management on Monday said its U.S. manufacturing index fell to 50.9 in September from 52.8 in August, the lowest level since May 2020, when the economy was at a standstill as the first wave of Covid-19 hit. Readings above 50 signal expansion in activity, below 50 contraction. Of note, measures for new orders, exports and employment all slipped into contraction.

In another sign that global hawkishness is potentially peaking, Australia’s central bank hiked interest rates by a smaller-than-expected 25 basis points Tuesday after inflation eased to 6.8% in August. Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe said the bank expects to increase interest rates further, but also expressed concern over the state of the global economy.

U.N. calls on central banks to halt interest-rate increases. The Federal Reserve and other central banks risk pushing the global economy into recession followed by prolonged stagnation if they keep raising interest rates, a United Nations agency said Monday (link). The warning comes amid growing unease about the haste with which the Fed and its counterparts are raising borrowing costs to contain surging inflation. In its annual report on the global economic outlook, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimated that a percentage point rise in the Fed’s key interest rate lowers economic output in other rich countries by 0.5%, and economic output in poor countries by 0.8% over the subsequent three years. UNCTAD estimated that the Fed’s rate increases so far this year would reduce poor countries’ economic output by $360 billion over three years, and further policy tightening would do additional harm. The U.N. agency called the Fed’s actions an “imprudent gamble” with the lives of those less fortunate. If central banks don’t “course correct,” the U.N. agency said, emerging countries could tumble into a series of debt crises and health and climate emergencies.

Eurozone producer price inflation hits new peak. The producer price inflation in the eurozone hit a fresh record high of 43.3% year-on-year in August 2022, up from a revised 38.0%. in July and slightly above market expectations of 43.1%, mainly boosted by soaring energy prices. The reading increases pressure on the ECB to continue raising interest rates. Energy cost was up 116.8% from a year earlier (vs 97.6% in July) and non-durable consumer goods prices increased 14.4% (vs 13.7% in July). Meanwhile, inflation slowed for intermediate goods (19.9% vs 21.5%), and was unchanged for both capital goods (at 7.8%) and durable consumer goods (at 9.8%). Without energy, producer prices rose 14.5% year-on-year in August, decelerating from 15.1% the month before.

Hoping for a big raise this year? Prepare for disappointment. Recent surveys show companies are only planning to raise salaries by 4% — despite 8.3% inflation.

Market perspectives:

• Outside markets: The dollar index retreated for a third day to near two-week lows of just above 111 on Tuesday on bets the Fed may slow the pace of future rate hikes, after fresh ISM Manufacturing PMI figures showed an unexpected slowdown in U.S. factory growth. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note is falling and presently fetching 3.586%. Crude oil is trading higher with attention focused on the coming OPEC+ meeting. U.S. crude is just over $85 per barrel and Brent almost $91 per barrel. Gold and silver prices are showing good follow-through strength from Monday’s solid advances. Spot silver rose further to $21 per ounce, the highest in three months and following a 9.2% jump in the previous session, propelled by safe-haven bids as bond yields fell and the dollar weakened.

• IEA: global gas markets to remain tight through 2023. The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted (link) global gas markets will remain tight next year as Russian piped gas supplies dwindle despite gas demand falling in Europe in response to high prices and energy saving measures. According to the agency, global natural gas markets have been tightening since 2021 despite global gas consumption declining by 0.8% this year because of a record 10% contraction in Europe and flat demand in the Asia Pacific region. However, global gas consumption is forecast to inch up by 0.4% next year. The IEA has predicted EU gas storage would be less than 20% full in February if LNG supply remains robust if Russian supply to Europe completely stops from Nov. 1, but could go as low as 5% full by February if LNG supply dwindles.

• Gas price hits record high $6.466 in Los Angeles; soars past June high. Gas prices hit a record high in Los Angeles County of $6.466 per gallon on Monday morning, soaring past the previous record set during the nationwide price surge this past spring.

• Rice hits 5-week low. Rice futures were trading below $17 cwt, the lowest since August 18, on expectations of higher supply and a slowdown in global demand as global economic growth is abating. Vietnam’s rice exports in the January-September period are estimated to have risen by about 19.3% from a year earlier to 5.4 million tonnes. Meanwhile, monsoon rains, which were delayed in parts of India’s northern and eastern rice-producing regions, have improved, boosting crop prospects in the world’s largest rice supplier. Still, concerns over tightening supplies remain.

• Sugar nears one-year low. Sugar futures on ICE plunged to the 17.5 cents per pound level, dropping more than 5% on Monday and approaching the one-year low of 17.4 cents hit in late July as investors digested results from the first round of presidential elections in top producer and exporter Brazil.

• Ag trade: South Korea purchased 65,000 MT of Australian feed wheat. Japan is seeking 97,343 MT of milling wheat in its weekly tender. Algeria tendered to buy a nominal 50,000 MT of durum wheat from unspecified origins.

• Just 18.5% of Florida’s nearly 10 million homes have flood insurance, according to data from the National Flood Insurance Program — which will make it incredibly financially challenging for some to rebuild. Though FEMA does provide emergency response and disaster assistance, it typically does not cover the cost of rebuilding. “Ian could financially ruin thousands of families in Florida. There’s no better way to say it,” the Insurance Information Institute’s Mark Friedlander told Politico. People without flood insurance “could be devastated,” he said.

• Florida’s strengthened electric grid mostly withstood Hurricane Ian, but storm surge and winds still wreaked havoc on power delivery.

• NWS weather: Rainy, breezy, and cool conditions persist from the Mid-Atlantic to southern New England... ...Showers and thunderstorms over the West shift into the Southern Rockies and High Plains... ...Shower and thunderstorm chances move eastward from the Plains into the Midwest before a strong cold front begins pushing southward late Wednesday.

Items in Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today include:

• Beans and wheat firmer, corn mildly weaker
• Annexations will add ‘at least’ 5 MMT to Russia’s grain production
• Mexican food producers, retailers sign onto anti-inflation plan
• Ukraine wheat seeding well behind year-ago (details in Russia/Ukraine section)
• Indonesia plans extension of palm oil export levy waiver to year-end
• Positive cattle/beef markets to open the week
• Cash hog index continues modest price decline

— Summary: Ukrainian forces advanced in the southern Kherson region and expanded their rapid offensive in the country’s east, retaking areas that Moscow now claims as part of Russia. They secured a corner of the only Russian foothold on the western bank of the Dnipro River, having already made it increasingly difficult for the Russians to resupply their large contingent there. Despite battlefield setbacks and a lack of control over the regions they voted to incorporate, Russian lawmakers approved bringing Luhansk and areas of Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia under Moscow’s jurisdiction.

• On Friday, Putin claimed America had set a “precedent” by dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For the most part, President Biden’s administration has responded by warning Putin of “catastrophic” (but unspecified) consequences if he uses nuclear weapons, while saying the United States has not detected a shift in Russian posture that might be a prelude to the first nuclear bombing in 77 years. But Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin added a wrinkle on Sunday to the public analysis of how far Putin may be willing to go. “There are no checks on Mr. Putin. Just as he made the irresponsible decision to invade Ukraine, you know, he could make another decision,” Austin said on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS. (“To be clear, the guy who makes that decision, I mean, it’s one man,” Austin said. “But I don’t see anything right now that would lead me to believe that he has made such a decision.”)
• A group of Russian lawyers said that they were overwhelmed with requests from men trying to avoid being drafted to fight in Ukraine. Since President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization on September 21st hundreds of thousands have also fled to neighboring countries.
• Russia smuggling Ukrainian grain to help pay for Putin’s war. An investigation by the Associated Press and the PBS series Frontline has found the Laodicea, [a bulk cargo ship] owned by Syria, is part of a sophisticated Russian-run smuggling operation that has used falsified manifests and seaborne subterfuge to steal Ukrainian grain worth at least $530 million — cash that has helped feed President Vladimir Putin’s war machine,” the AP reports (link).
• Ukraine wheat seeding well behind year-ago. Ukrainian farmers had seeded 1.1 million hectares of winter wheat as of Oct. 3, according to the country’s ag ministry, down from 3.1 million hectares on the same date last year. Local officials and analysts said rains across most of the country and a lack of funds are the main reasons for the delay. The ag ministry did not provide a forecast of the 2023 winter wheat area, although Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky told Reuters in August planted area could fall to 3.8 million hectares from 4.6 million a year earlier because of Russia’s invasion. Farmers had also sown 96,000 hectares of winter barley and 35,000 hectares of rye, 14% and 41% of expected plantings, respectively.
  

— Another slight rise in ERP payouts. Payments under the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) rose to $6.99 billion as of Oct. 2, up from $6.91 billion the prior week, with non-specialty crop payments now over $6 billion at $6.01 billion ($5.94 billion prior). Specialty crop payments moved up to $984.1 million ($961.5 million prior).

— SCOTUS WOTUS update. Lawyers yesterday tried to challenge the scope of the Clean Water Act, which could limit how much the EPA can protect U.S. waterways. Several justices appeared ready to reject a key argument put forward by an Idaho couple behind the lawsuit. And the court’s liberals sought a compromise that would retain the government’s authority to regulate wetlands adjacent to lakes, rivers and other waterways. The case stems from a 2007 property dispute, in which Idaho landowners Michael and Chantell Sackett were told they needed a federal permit to build a home on land they owned because it supposedly contained regulated wetlands.

If the court sides with the Idaho property owners, environmental advocates say about half of all wetlands and roughly 60% of streams would no longer be federally protected. “This case is going to be important for wetlands throughout the country, and we have to get it right,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh said during the nearly two-hour argument on the opening day of the court’s term. SCOTUS last term restricted the EPA’s authority to curb emissions from power plants.

Justices Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito Jr. expressed the most skepticism about how broadly the government defines wetlands subject to regulation, offering targeted questions for the government’s lawyer, Brian H. Fletcher. Gorsuch asked, “How does any reasonable person know … whether or not their land” is covered? Is the property subject to regulation if it is located three miles or two miles from waters subject to federal jurisdiction. Fletcher responded that there are not “bright-line rules,” but limits and government manuals that explain the process. Gorsuch then asked, “So, if the federal government doesn’t know, how is a person subject to criminal time in federal prison supposed to know?”

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson pushed back against suggestions that the regulations were unfair to the Sacketts or would likely result in criminal liability. “Shouldn’t they have gathered information about the property prior to purchasing?” Jackson asked the Sacketts’ attorney. “You say the question is which wetlands are covered, which I agree with,” she said. “But I guess my question is, why would Congress draw the coverage line between abutting wetlands and neighboring wetlands when the objective of the statute is to ensure the chemical physical and biological integrity of the nation’s waters?”

A key question in the case, Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, is how to determine how far from the water’s edge the Clean Water Act applies. The court failed to reach consensus in a 2006 case, Rapanos v. United States. The 9th Circuit relied on the test put forward by Justice Anthony Kennedy, who provided the deciding vote in that case and said the wetland must have a “significant nexus” to regulated waters. Kennedy, now retired, watched the argument from the front row of the courtroom on Monday, the Washington Post reported.

The Sacketts’ attorney Damien M. Schiff asked the court to embrace the narrow interpretation proposed by Justice Antonin Scalia, the late conservative. Scalia’s definition limits regulation to wetlands with a direct “continuous surface connection” to “navigable waters.” Schiff said a wetland can be regulated only “to the extent that it blends into and thus becomes indistinguishable from an abutting water” and that the physical connection is essential. “I’m not sure that’s right,” Roberts said. “You would readily say that a train station is adjacent to the tracks even though it’s not touching the tracks.” Kavanaugh noted that presidents in both political parties had consistently interpreted the law to give the government jurisdiction over wetlands separated from water by dunes, berms and other barriers. “Why did seven straight administrations not agree with you?” he asked Schiff.

Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor pressed lawyers on both sides about the possibility of a new test for figuring out which wetlands are covered. “As you can probably tell, some of my colleagues are dubious that this is a precise enough definition of adjacency to survive,” Sotomayor told the government’s lawyer. “Is there another test that could be more precise and less open-ended?”

By the end of the year, the Biden administration is expected to issue new rules that Fletcher told the court will “provide greater clarity to the regulated public on all parts of the test.”

Bottom line: While the court did not signal a clear outcome during its questioning, the current court has a history of looking skeptically at the federal government’s claim of regulatory authority over the environment when its powers are not clearly defined by law. The three most conservative justices seemed to want to pare back the government’s environmental authority, while the court’s three more liberal members appeared to favor an expansive view. Some of the other justices sent mixed signals.

Here’s what one ag industry lawyer told Pro Farmer: “The Supreme Court will rule against EPA and for the plaintiffs. The case reminds me of Rapanos. In that case, with similar facts, Scalia, Thomas, Alito, and Roberts ruled that such an attenuated connection to a navigable interstate water was insufficient to be covered by the Clean Water Act. It was due to Kennedy’s concurring opinion that we got the confused mess. He wrote about EPA being able to demonstrate a significant nexus between some remote water and a water clearly within the reach of the CWA. Hence the Obama and Biden administrations have sought to implement regs that meet that test, a test by the way that most appellate courts adopted because there was no clear annunciation from the high court. I believe six of the current justice will want to finally provide clarity and stick to what the law allows. Navigable and interstate waters and immediately adjacent wetlands.

— China is reselling U.S. LNG to Europe for hefty profits. Chinese companies that have signed long-term contracts to buy U.S. liquefied natural gas have been selling their excess inventories to Europe and reaping big profits from the sales due to weak demand in China, the Wall Street Journal reports (link), echoing what others have been saying for several months. WSJ reports that just 19 LNG vessels from the U.S. docked in China in the first eight months of the year, versus 133 recorded for last year’s comparable period. China’s key buyers are located in Europe, Japan and South Korea.

— Kissinger: Xi may ‘recalibrate’ after miscalculation of siding with Russia. China leader Xi Jingping wants to avoid seeing a wall of Western opposition against China develop in the way it has against Russia, according to the former U.S. secretary of State. Link to more via the South China Morning Post.

— White House will restrict Chinese tech firms’ access to some chips. In the coming days, the Biden Administration is expected to announce new measures that would limit the ability of AI and supercomputing firms in China to access American high-tech equipment and software. The move expands upon a similar Trump-era rule.

— Reuters: White House rules out banning natural gas exports. The White House has now ruled out putting any limits on exports of natural gas in a bid to help alleviate energy shortages in Europe, Reuters reported, based on statements from White House officials. An analysis conducted in the White House on potentially limiting energy exports to ease consumer prices found such an action would be too extreme and could negatively affect key relationships with European countries that are grappling with replacing energy supplies from Russia. The apparent decision follows reports that the Biden administration floated the idea of potentially restricting gasoline exports in a meeting with refiners in a bid to build domestic supplies and lower prices.

— Australia could grab 20% of world’s lithium refining by 2027. Australia is poised to grab a fifth of the world’s lithium hydroxide refining capacity within five years as demand grows for battery metals that bypass China, Canberra said in a report. Link to more via Bloomberg.

— JBS to shutter U.S. plant-based foods business. JBS announced it would be closing Planterra Foods, its U.S. plant-based foods business, but will continue its efforts in other markets relative to plant-based foods. “JBS USA has made the decision to discontinue operations in its U.S.-based Planterra business unit,” JBS USA said in a statement. “We continue to believe in the potential of plant-based options for consumers and remain committed to the alternative-protein market.” The company launched its Ozo brand in 2020, but sales have failed to live up to expectations. “JBS will focus its efforts on its plant-based operations in Brazil and Europe, which continue to gain market share and expand their respective customer bases,” the firm said.

— Europe reports biggest bird flu epidemic. Bird flu cases have been reported from the Arctic islands of northern Norway to southern Portugal this year in the largest epidemic yet seen in Europe of the disease, said the EU food safety agency on Monday. The virus that causes highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was unusually persistent during the summer and the risk of disease among flocks would increase with autumn migratory season, it said.

— Pakistan’s looming food crisis. An estimated 5.7 million people in Pakistan will experience an acute food crisis over the next three months, the United Nations has warned, as the country grapples with the aftermath of months of heavy flooding. According to Pakistani officials, the deluge has impacted 33 million people and killed nearly 1,700. Hundreds of thousands more have been displaced.

— Summary:

• Global Covid-19 cases at 618,597,193 with 6,548,772 deaths.
• U.S. case count is at 96,438,735 with 1,059,866 deaths.
• Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center says there have been 619,765,972 doses administered, 268,373,101 have received at least one vaccine, or 81.45% of the U.S. population.

— CDC drops tracking of travel advisories. With fewer international destinations testing for or reporting Covid-19 cases, the CDC has announced it will no longer maintain a country-by-country list of travel advisories related to the virus. Instead, the agency will only post a notice for a country if there is a concerning variant or situation that would change its travel recommendations.

— Gallup survey has upbeat news for the GOP. Republicans have a 44% favorable rating and Democrats have a 39% favorable rating. The GOP favorable rating is identical to where it was before the 2010 midterms, in which Republicans took control of the House. Democrats had a 44% favorable rating in 2010. 51% of respondents say the GOP will do a better job at keeping America prosperous. 41% said Democrats would do a better job. Link for details.

— Nate Cohn: Republicans gain in the Senate. “Two weeks ago, we noted early signs that Republicans were making gains in the race for the Senate. Now it’s clear the race has shifted toward Republicans in important ways,” political analyst Nate Cohn writes in the New York Times. Democrats might still lead enough races to hold the chamber, but their position is starting to look quite vulnerable. On average, Republicans have gained three points across 19 post-Labor Day polls of the key Senate battleground states, compared with pre-Labor Day polls of the same states by the same pollsters.” Link for more via the NYT.

— A new poll in North Carolina shows a virtual tie in the race for retiring Sen. Richard Burr’s (R-N.C.) seat. A new WRAL poll (link) has Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) beating Democrat Cheri Beasley 43%-42%.

— Japan urged residents to take shelter after North Korea fired a ballistic missile without warning over the country for the first time in five years. Experts say the act by the Kim Jong Un regime represents a major escalation in its weapons testing program. The missile traveled over northern Japan and is believed to have landed in the Pacific Ocean. While no damage was reported, the unannounced missile launch triggered a rare J-alert, a system designed to inform the public of emergencies and threats. In such emergencies, alerts are sent out via sirens, through radio stations and to individual smartphone users. This is North Korea’s 23rd missile test this year. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the launch and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol warned of a “resolute response.” The test represented the longest-range weapon fired by North Korea since May.

— Iran blames U.S. for unrest. After remaining silent over the defiant protests that have swept Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has blamed the United States and Israel for inciting the unrest to destabilize the country. “These riots and insecurities were designed by America and the Zionist regime, and their employees,” he said.

— Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols hit his 703rd home run last night, breaking a tie with Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time RBI list. The two-run shot gave Pujols a career tally of 2,216 RBI, with Hank Aaron still holding the top spot at 2,297.

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 | Election predictions: Split-ticket | Congress to-do list |