Evening Report | December 7, 2022

Check our advice monitor on ProFarmer.com for updates to our marketing plan.

Modest changes expected in December crop reports... USDA’s December Supply & Demand Report on Friday is expected to feature modest changes to U.S. and global ending stocks. USDA will update its cotton crop estimate, though traders don’t expect much change to that figure either. USDA will not update its U.S. corn and soybean crop estimates this month. The following pre-report estimates are from Reuters; cotton figures are from Bloomberg.

SovEcon raises Russian wheat export forecast... SovEcon raised its 2022-23 Russian wheat export forecast by 200,000 MT to 43.9 MMT as the pace of shipments has increased in the final quarter of 2022. SovEcon expects Russia to export 12.7 MMT of wheat during the current quarter, up 33% from the same period last year.

The firm expects Russian wheat exports to slow “substantially” in early 2023 as wintry weather is likely to slow activity in the Black Sea and river navigation within the country. A lack of grain cars and stronger competition from Ukraine and Australia are also expected to slow Russian wheat shipments during the first half of next year.

Wyden Not Open to EV Tax Credit Changes... Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) says he’s not “reopening the text” of the electric vehicle (EV) tax credit in the Inflation Reduction Act. Wyden’s remarks come amid lobbying by foreign automakers and countries to make changes to the incentive, the latest which happened during meetings this week with U.S. and European Union officials that “moved the needle in order to get closer to a solution” to issues the bloc has with the law, said Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust chief.

Western Senators Want Aid ‘Parity’ for Their States’ Farmers, Ranchers... USDA should allocate $20 billion in funding for conservation programs equally across the country “to reflect the contribution of every region, including the West,” wrote 15 senators, led by Colorado Democrat Michael Bennet, in a Dec. 7 letter to Secretary Tom Vilsack. The group, which included Utah Republicans Mitt Romney and Mike Lee, said “parity” includes using existing authorities to support projects that help Western farmers and ranchers conserve water amid a mega-drought and improve their water infrastructure as well as offer technical assistance for growers.

Proposed rule on voluntary Product of USA label at OMB for review... USDA has forwarded its proposed rule on how the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) proposes to amend its regulation “to define the conditions under which the labeling of product labels can bear voluntary statements indicating the product is of United States (U.S.) origin,” according to a summary of the action. This would apply to labeling such as Product of USA or Made in the USA. The summary of the plan specifies the regulatory proposal refers to voluntary labeling and not mandatory labeling efforts, something which would put the U.S. at odds with a WTO ruling that forced the removal of U.S. country of origin labeling efforts on pork and beef.

Argentine soy dollar yields surge in soybean sales…as producers sold 556,000 tonnes in the week of Nov. 24-30, the highest weekly figure in months, according to the agriculture secretariat. Sales soared last week after officials reinstated a temporary preferential exchange rate, coined the “soy dollar.” The uptick in soybean sales puts the current harvest at 74.2% sold, however sales still trail last year’s pace of 76.9% during the same period.