Canadian spring wheat growers can expect stiff competition from south of the border this year. Scouts on the Wheat Quality Council’s 2024 Hard Spring and Durum Wheat Tour believe a bumper crop is on the way in the United States. They are forecasting an average yield of 54.5 bushels per acre in North Dakota based on stops at 237 fields during a three-day tour that wrapped up July 25. That is a 15 per cent increase over last year and the highest tour estimate since 1992. However, it is slightly below the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s July 12 forecast of 56 bu. per acre, which would be a record for the state. The tour’s average durum yield was pegged at 45.3 bu. per acre, a slight improvement from the 2023 projection of 43.9, according to a U.S. Wheat Associates blog. “I don’t ever remember the crops being this uniformly good all over the state,” said Dave Green, the council’s executive vice-president. The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service said 74 per cent of the country’s spring wheat was rated good to excellent as of July 28, up from 42 per cent a year ago.

On 25 July 2024, following 25 uninterrupted years of manufacture, the 100,000th Fendt 700 Vario rolled off the production line in Marktoberdorf- The Fendt 700 Vario has become a reference tractor for farmers, contractors and operators outside the agricultural sector. A small turning circle and high performance coupled with low fuel consumption has seen the 724 Vario become Germany’s longest-standing top model. Since its conception in 1999 it has received 33 awards in nine categories from nine countries. “The 700 series is a true allrounder. It has evolved over the last 25 years to provide more power, improved fuel economy and better manoeuvrability whilst being the epitome of comfort,” says Ed Dennett, Retail Market Manager, Northwest Europe. Launched on 30 August 1998, Fendt presented the Favorit 700 Vario series with its stepless transmission and range of four-valve engines. Fendt was the first manufacturer to introduce machine operation via joystick and terminal in the 115 to 160 hp power class. 10,000 of the first model were manufactured and the series won the “Tractor of the Year 1999” award.

Farm Europe welcome the imposition of anti-dumping duties to biodiesel imports from China, recently decided by the European Commission following a complaint by the EBB. Biodiesel imports from China have more than doubled since 2020 to reach close to 2 million tonnes, severely undercutting European prices and harming European producers. We encourage the Commission not to exclude any type of biodiesel from the application of the final duties in order not to create loopholes in the application of the measure.

World Farming Agriculture and Commodity news - Short update - 5th week of July 2024

In his Budget vote speech, the new Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, reassured the agricultural sector that his department will remain guided by the objectives of the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan (AAMP). The AAMP focuses on developing robust value chains for key commodities and the promotion of sustainable agricultural practices to enhance climate resilience and increase yields. Furthermore, the Minister emphasised the importance of the maintenance of traditional export markets which have contributed to the steady growth of agricultural export volumes. He also stated that South Africa will continue to expand the horizons for its agricultural exports by expanding and leveraging these existing markets, but efforts will also be made to open new markets. The Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) released its preliminary estimates of the winter crop area planted for the 2024/25 production season. The total planted area is estimated at 794 650 hectares (ha), down by 3.1% year-on-year (y/y). The wheat area is estimated at 502 000 ha, down by 6.7% y/y, making it the lowest hectarage in seven years. The barley area is estimated at 102 050 ha, lower by 5.2% y/y, while the canola area is estimated at 146 200 ha, up by 11.4% y/y.

Corn and soybean prices finally made a turnaround on Friday, but for a week straight, it seemed prices were in a free-fall. New crop corn prices fell below $4.Even with a few daily export sales, the markets seemed unfazed by the news. Mike North of ever.ag says the main reason for the price pressure is the amount of grain still in farmers' hands."I think you don't have to look much further back than the quarterly grain stocks report," says North. "The reality is on farm stocks are massive. We're getting to that time of the year when ultimately guys are preparing for the coming crop. They're cleaning bins out. And we just had a little rally in this market, that incentivized movement, and so a lot of grain came to town."He says farmer selling combined with rain coming through parts of the Corn Belt, were enough to push prices even lower. The silver lining is the fact lower prices have sparked more export interest. On Friday, USDA reported a daily sale of 202,000 metric tons, or 7.42 million bushels, of soybeans to China. Gold and North discuss the recent export news in the U.S. Farm Report marketing roundtables this weekend.