At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, live cattle were mixed watching direct business, feeders were up on the lower move in corn.  August live cattle closed $.32 lower at $188.57 and October live cattle closed $.05 lower at $188.55.  August feeders closed $1.07 higher at $259.70 and September feeders closed $1.70 higher at $259.60.  There was […] The post Live cattle mixed watching direct business appeared first on Brownfield Ag News.

Temperatures will be heating up in the Corn Belt heading into August and affecting some of the crops, but ag meteorologist Drew Lerner says “it’s going to be really hard to pull yields down nationwide to the point where we have a raging bull (grain) market or anything like that.” Lerner says the plains states […] The post Exceptionally warm weather is coming to Corn Belt appeared first on Brownfield Ag News.

Members of the U.S. House have been dismissed for the August recess a week early without passing 12 annual funding bills including USDA’s budget or taking further action on the farm bill. House Ag Committee Ranking Member David Scott says Chairman Thompson wanted the House to pass the farm bill in September after the appropriations […] The post House on early recess with crucial work unfinished appeared first on Brownfield Ag News.

House Ag Committee leaders heard strong support for reauthorization of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as part of a subcommittee hearing Thursday. Walter Lukken is a former CFTC Commissioner and President and CEO of the Futures Industry Association. “Our markets have grown significantly,” he says. “Total trading volume on CFTC regulated exchanges in the U.S. […] The post Congress asked to reauthorize CFTC appeared first on Brownfield Ag News.

The latest Rural Mainstreet Index has declined for an eleventh consecutive month. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says weak agriculture commodity prices and declining exports contributed to weakness in the economy. “China for example, their economy’s just moving sideways to down and of course that means they’re buying less of our soybean imports,” he says. […] The post Survey shows continued decline in rural economy appeared first on Brownfield Ag News.

The president of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives says recent changes in the upcoming presidential election and other politics have Congress in observation mode instead of completing a new farm bill. “…It is crazy. I’ve been at this a very long time and have never witnessed anything that even comes close to this.” Chuck […] The post Congress in observation, not action mode appeared first on Brownfield Ag News.