Southern Crop Production Association
P.O. Box 7000, Dawson GA 39842
  Phone (229) 995-2125  Fax (229) 995-4000
           southcrop@earthlink.net
 

On Guard                         

     

January 20, 2012

 

Thumbnail summaries prepared for Busy Executives of underreported events and information recently noted by SCPA.  The views expressed in these articles are not necessarily the views of SCPA but the articles were felt to be worthy of your attention. 

 
Farmers Produced Less in 2011, USDA Reports
Hindered by unfavorable planting and growing conditions during 2011, U.S. farmers produced a smaller crop than the previous year according to the Crop Production 2011 Summary released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

Depending on location, producers in the United States battled everything from drought and above normal temperatures to heavy rains and lowland flooding which led to decreased production of corn, soybeans, cotton and wheat – the first time such a year-to-year decrease has occurred in all four commodities since the 2002 crop year.

Corn production totaled 12.4 billion bushels, down 1 percent from 2010. Corn yield in 2011 is estimated at 147.2 bushels per acre, 5.6 bushels below last year’s average yield. Area harvested, at 84.0 million acres, is up 3 percent from 2010.

Soybean production for 2011 totaled 3.06 billion bushels, down 8 percent 2010. The average soybean yield is estimated at 41.5 bushels per acre, 2.0 bushels below last year’s yield. Harvested area for soybeans in 2011, at 73.6 million acres, is down 4 percent from 2010.

For 2011, all cotton production is down 13 percent from 2010, at 15.7 million 480-pound bales. The U.S. yield is estimated at 772 pounds per acre, down 40 pounds from last year’s yield. Harvested area, at 9.75 million acres, is down 9 percent from last year.

NASS estimates the 2011 all wheat production at 2.00 billion bushels, down 9 percent from 2010. The all wheat yield is estimated at 43.7 bushels per acre, down 2.6 bushels from last year. Harvested area, at 45.7 million acres, is down 4 percent from the 2010 crop.

Sorghum grain production in 2011 is estimated at 214 million bushels, 38 percent down from 2010. Sorghum average yield was 54.6 bushels per acre, down 17.2 bushel from last year. Area planted for sorghum, at 5.48 million acres, is up 1 percent from last year. Harvested area, at 3.93 million acres, is down 18 percent from 2010.
USDA News Release, January 12, 2012

Budget
The Wall Street Journal on January 13th reported that “The White House notified Congress on Thursday that the government was near its $15.194 trillion borrowing limit, ushering in the debut of procedural theater in which the debt limit will ultimately be raised even in Congress votes against it.  Formal notification by the administration gives Congress 15 days to disapprove of an increase, or the debt ceiling would automatically adjust up an addition $1.2 trillion.  But under procedures resulting from last August’s budget agreement that sought to avoid a government default, President Obama could issue a veto and the ceiling would rise even if Congress moves to block it.  The government likely wouldn’t need to raise the debt ceiling again until late 2012 or early 2013.  As of Tuesday, U.S. debt was just $25 million below the debt ceiling.  The Treasury Department already had begun emergency measures to delay hitting the debt limit while it waited for Congress to return from its holiday break for a vote.  Congress keeps increasing the debt ceiling because the U.S. government spends more money than it brings in through tax receipts.  The government ran a $1.3 trillion deficit in each of the past two fiscal years, though the deficit is expected shrink slightly this year as the economy improves.”
FarmPolicy, Jan. 13, 2012 

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