TURF INDUSTRY NEWS
Fertilizer Markets Boom on Mixed Fundamentals International fertilizer markets are experiencing an unseasonal boost in prices and demand, with some prices hitting historical highs. While some markets are exclusively impacted by production cuts, rising feedstock costs, sanction cuts, and rising freight rates, a major driver giving the market confidence is record crop prices. Te above statement comes from an article by Julia Meehan, Managing Editor, Fertilizers at ICIS (Independent Commodity Intelligence Services). Te article examines if current levels will be sustained and what availability will look like moving through the second half of 2021. It provides details on forecasts for each of the major fertilizers including Ammonia, Urea and Nitrates, Phosphates and Sulphur, and Potash. Te complete article can be found at:
https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2021/06/11/10651285/ insight-fertilizer-markets-boom-on-mixed-fundamentals. ICIS covers the Chemicals, Energy, and Fertilizer markets and provides data covering a range of information besides pricing. ICIS has offices throughout the world. More information at
icis.com.
EPA Wants Roundup Redo Te following is from an online article in Progressive Farmer posted on May 19 by Staff Reporter, Emily Unglesbee. Te Biden EPA has asked a federal court for a chance to review and possibly revise parts of the agency's 2020 interim decision to re-register glyphosate (Roundup) while leaving the herbicide on the market. EPA's request was filed Tuesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, where it is facing a combined lawsuit from a coalition of farmworker and environmental groups, who are asking the court to vacate the registration of glyphosate entirely. Specifically, EPA wants to reconsider its analysis of glyphosate's ecological risks and other costs of the herbicide and re-weigh them against the herbicide's benefits. However, EPA was clear in the filing that the agency will not reconsider its analysis of glyphosate's human health risks—the source of several successful lawsuits against glyphosate's primary registrant, Bayer. Te agency says it is standing by its conclusions that, as registered, glyphosate doesn't pose major risks to human health and "believes that this component of its analysis should be sustained by this Court." Te complete article can be found at:
https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/crops/article/2021/05/19/ biden-epa-asks-court-chance-decision?
Ag Economy Barometer Declines Sharply; Producers Remain Bullish on Farmland Values Te Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer saw a significant decline in May, down 20 points to a reading of 158. Tis marks the lowest reading for the survey since September. Producers were less optimistic about both current conditions and the future of the agricultural economy. Te Index of Current Conditions dropped 17 points to a reading of 178, and the Index of Future Expectations fell 20 points to a reading of 149. Te Ag Economy Barometer is calculated each month from 400 U.S. agricultural producers’ responses to a telephone survey. Tis month’s survey was conducted May 10-14. “Te potential for changing tax rules and rising input costs
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appeared to be on producers’ minds this month and were the primary drivers for the Ag Barometer’s decline,” said James Mintert, the barometer’s principal investigator and director of Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture. Producers expressed less optimism about their farm’s financial performance this month. Te Farm Financial Performance Index declined to 126 from a record high 138 in April. Although May’s index was 12 points lower than a month earlier, it was still the second highest reading since the financial performance question was first posed in spring 2018, suggesting strong crop prices continue to support farm incomes.
In May, more producers said they expect to reduce their machinery purchases and construction plans in the next year. Te Farm Capital Investment Index declined 10 points in May to a reading of 65. Tis month’s survey included a new question focused on producers’ plans to construct new buildings or grain bins. Fifty-nine percent of respondents said their construction plans for the upcoming year are lower compared with a year ago, and just 28 percent said their construction plans were about the same as a year ago.
Read the full Ag Economy Barometer Report at the link that follows.
https://ag.purdue.edu/commercialag/ageconomybarometer/ “Rising construction costs are likely a contributing factor to weaker construction plans,” Mintert said.
Producers remain very concerned about possible changes to U.S. tax policy. In a series of questions first posed last month, 78 percent of survey respondents said they are very concerned that the changes in tax policy being considered will make passing their farm on to the next generation more difficult. Additionally, 83 percent of producers expect capital gains tax rates to rise over the next five years; 71 percent are very concerned about a possible loss of the step-up in cost basis for inherited estates; and 66 percent say they are very concerned about a possible reduction in the estate tax exemption for inherited estates.
After declining last month, the Long-Run Farmland Value Expectations Index rose 10 points to a record high reading of 158, with two-thirds of producers in the survey saying they expect farmland values to rise over the next five years. Te Short-Run Farmland Value Expectation Index remained near its all-time high, falling just 2 points below the record high set in April of this year.
Te site also offers additional resources—such as past reports, charts and survey methodology—and a form to sign up for monthly barometer email updates and webinars.
Each month, the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture provides a short video analysis of the barometer results. You du
can access it at the link that follows.
https://ag.purdue.edu/ commercialag/home/resource-type/podcast/
TPI Turf News July/August 2021
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