Check our advice monitor at ProFarmer.com for updates to our marketing plan.
USDA announced Wednesday that President Donald Trump appointed country music star John Rich to the post of “special envoy for American landowners.”
In a news release, USDA said Rich “will serve as a leading advocate for America’s farmers, ranchers, and private landowners, helping ensure their concerns are heard and their rights are protected. He will engage directly with landowners across the country and work to address challenges posed by government overreach, activist pressure campaigns, and outside interests that threaten private property rights and the long-term viability of rural communities.”
USDA said a key focus of Rich’s work will be advocating for landowners facing pressure related to “large-scale solar and wind development that may impact productive farmland, ranchland, and rural livelihoods.”
In 2025, Rich led successful grassroots opposition to a proposed Tennessee Valley Authority power plant in Cheatham County, Tennessee. Earlier this year, Rich was credited with helping to defeat a TVA plan to run a pole-and-wire corridor through a historic farm in Sumner County, Tennessee.
Read: No Consent: Tennessee Farmer Defeats TVA Energy Giant in Property Rights Battle
Rich, who formed the duo Big & Rich with William Alpin, known as “Big Kenny,” in 1993, said in a social media post earlier this week that he looked forward to “representing and advocating for landowners’ rights against any entity that chooses to harass or intimidate them in an effort to achieve goals contrary to those of the President. I look forward to defending our farmers and ranchers.”
June WASDE report on deck: Thursday will bring the release of the June World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates from USDA at 11 a.m. CDT. The WASDE report is expected to include modest changes to the old-crop balance sheet as well as any changes to expectations for new-crop demand. Pro Farmer Economist Lane Akre says that while there is precedent for USDA to adjust production in the June report, it is uncommon and given the lack of challenges the crop has seen so far this year, an adjustment to production is unlikely. U.S. export data for wheat indicated shipments slowed in the final month of the marketing year, encouraging analysts to lift their ending stock forecasts for old crop. USDA could lower the soybean export estimate as well due to relatively weak shipments and sales with just a couple months left in the marketing year. Corn exports are unlikely to see much change as recent data indicates USDA’s previous estimate is reasonable.
- “Our estimate for U.S. winter wheat production is in line with the average estimate from the survey of analysts. USDA was aggressive in cutting production in the May report. Analysis of conditions paired with production indicate a modest decline is to be expected in the June Crop Production report,” said Akre. “Markets have shifted significantly since the May reports despite little change on the fundamental side of the market. A catalyst in the grain markets, however small it may be, could be what the market needs. How prices respond to end the week will be telling to see if the downside is overdone,” he said. Click here for the full story.
Tariff refunds: The US Treasury refunded nearly $22 billion in tariff revenue collected from importers in May, the first swath of such repayments since the Supreme Court struck down a major component of President Donald Trump’s trade policy, according to Bloomberg. The amount of customs duties refunded surged from $2 billion in April. Revenue from tariffs peaked in October, the report said. In May, the amount of tariff refunds was roughly equal to customs duties taken in, meaning that one essentially canceled the other out,
Port damage risks Ukraine export collapse: Ukraine’s largest farmers union is warning that Russian attacks on the country’s Black Sea ports have caused serious damage to export terminals, threatening a significant reduction in shipments, including key agricultural exports, Reuters reported. All iron ore and more than 90% of Ukraine’s agricultural exports are shipped through the three ports of the Odesa hub, with farm export revenues accounting for the bulk of export earnings for wartime Ukraine, the report noted. Russia has stepped up attacks on port infrastructure, hitting grain terminals as well as facilities used to store and export sunflower oil.
Wage squeeze: The consumer price index rose in line with expectations, up 0.5% in May and 4.2% year over year. The 12-month rate was the highest in three years. Core inflation, which strips out food and energy costs, was up 0.2% versus forecasts for 0.3%, and rose 2.9% year over year. A separate report that combines the inflation figures with recent wage data showed that real average hourly earnings fell 0.7% from a year earlier, the biggest drop in more than three years, Bloomberg noted, marking a squeeze on consumer incomes.
Read: Beef prices see May decline as overall inflation runs hot. Screwworm complicates the outlook.
Energy squeeze on farmers: A Reuters report details how high energy costs are putting a squeeze on grain and soybean growers across the U.S. farm belt as the Iran war chokes off fuel supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. The conflict drove diesel prices in several states across the Midwes to new all-time highs in May, just as farmers ramped up plantings and other spring fieldwork, the report noted. Wisconsin diesel hit $5.873 per gallon, while Indiana reached $6.167, and Illinois rose to $6.14 in mid-May. Ohio and Michigan also posted records, according to data from the motorists association AAA. Prior to the war, fuel-related expenses accounted for about 3% to 4% of an average Illinois row-crop farmer’s input costs, or roughly $16 to $23 per acre, said Ben Klieve, analyst at the Benchmark Company, referencing estimates from the University of Illinois.
- If diesel prices stay at their current level, fuel-related costs could rise to 5% to 6% of total input costs, or from a $20 per acre midpoint to $30 acre for row-crop farmers, Klieve said.
Bayer speeds up biofuel feedstock plan: Bayer announced Wednesday that it aims to speed up a plan to facilitate North American production of biofuel feedstocks like camelina in the wake of the Iran war, Reuters reported. Camelina is an intermediate crop that can be grown between main planting seasons or on underutilized land. “We are targeting a couple of million acres of camelina production in North America, and we’re in the process of evaluating expansion in other geographies,” Bayer’s global head of cereals, cotton and canola Peter Muller told Reuters on the sidelines of the International Grains Council conference in London.