Could an Early Frost Damage the US Corn Crop?  

Greetings from Buffalo, New York, home of the Ag Media Summit – the largest gathering of crop and livestock media professionals in the US.

A bit of news that I’ve heard from several here at AMS is the concern that frost will need to be delayed three to four weeks to get the corn crop to full maturation due to several weeks of cool temps across the Midwest.

Many said an early frost is more likely given the cool weather we’ve seen recently, with temperatures already dipping down as low as 40ºF in the evenings. No doubt growing degree days (GDDs) are ahead of schedule in some parts of the country, but several northern tier areas are 10 to 20 GDD behind, putting the corn crop off pace. This is one to watch.

In other news, a new report discredits the commonly accepted notion that demand from China is driving global commodity prices.

“There is a common assumption that China’s rapid economic growth has resulted in its having an increased demand for and consumption of world commodities, and that China’s increased consumption has driven up global commodity prices,” according to Kel Kelly, Growmark economic and market research manager. “Our analysis shows the inverse is true.”

The Growmark report shows analyses demonstrating China’s lack of influence on commodity prices over the past decade. Rather, Wall Street investors are responsible for the rise in commodity prices.

The report indicates that China’s rapid growth comes from its rapidly increasing production of goods, with the result that China now produces and supplies more commodities than most other countries.

China consumes mostly its own supply of commodities, not the remaining world supply. It is, in fact, a net contributor to world commodity supply, not a net taker. As a result, it has thus contributed to lower, not higher, world commodity prices.

Click here to read the full story and/or the report.

My family will be joining me after the conference, and we are headed to Niagara Falls! If all works out, we’ll view the US and Canadian sides to get the full experience.

Have a great week!