The Van Trump Report

USDA

How U.S. Ag Exports Must Evolve to Meet China’s Changing Consumer

China has risen from a severely impoverished nation just a little more than 40 years ago to the second-largest economy in the world today. With the world’s largest population, it is also the world’s largest consumer of agricultural products. The country’s agricultural imports surpassed both the U.S. and the EU last year, topping more than …

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How Currency Depreciation Contributes to Brazil’s Increasing Competitiveness

A new report from the USDA’s Economic Research Service takes a deep dive into the role of Brazil’s macroeconomic policies in its emergence as one of the world’s top agricultural products exporter. In particular, the study focuses on the currency depreciation those policies have driven and the potential impact the COVID-19 pandemic might have on …

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CRISPR-Engineered Produce Getting Closer to Grocery Aisles

Food startup Pairwise is hoping to have some of its CRISPR-edited produce items in grocery store aisles as soon as 2022. In August, the USDA gave Pairwise the green light to proceed with commercialization of its new varieties of Brassica juncea, a leafy green most of us know as mustard greens. What’s more, they say …

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Coronavirus and Crude Oil Casting Dark Clouds Over Farm Income in 2020

I’ve been on a ton of calls this week and many in the ag space are rightfully worried. If prices remain at these levels or perhaps even lower, many farm families will find themselves in dire financial circumstances. The complications of coronavirus along with the fallout in crude oil has created a dangerous one-two punch …

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Life is Good!

I constantly hear my friends and others talking about how bad things have become. They talk about more shootings, more violent crimes, less religion, etc…, but these arguments are not backed by facts or figures. They are mostly just strong hunches and hearsay. Believe it or not, violent crimes are much lower than in years past. Faith is continual on the rise as 84% …

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Is $10 Corn a Possibility??

I see at minimum -10 million unplanted corn acres and perhaps much more. I also have a very hard time fully grasping potential yield loss on all of the re-plant and late-planted acres. Recently on the June WASDE, the U.S. planted acreage estimate was lowered by -3 million to 89.8 million. The U.S. average yield …

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New Reality in the Global Soybean Market

For the better part of a year, African Swine Fever has been roiling the global soybean complex. Now we have new data from China’s Ministry of Ag and Rural Affairs reporting that the pig herd has declined by -20% since ASF was first reported in early August 2018, and China’s feed demand and soybean imports …

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The Secret To Improving Your Grain Marketing… and Everything Else!

The Secret To Improving Your Grain Marketing… and Everything Else! As I travel around the country speaking to producers and ag professionals, I’m constantly being asked by individuals how they can improve their overall marketing skills? I’ve thought about this question for years and my conclusion remains the same… Simply think of the successes of …

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Crazy Bit of History… The Day the Mississippi River Ran in Reverse

Crazy Bit of History… The Day the Mississippi River Ran in Reverse It was on this day in 1812 that a series of violent earthquakes near Missouri causes a tsunami of sorts in the Mississippi River, actually making the river run backward for several hours. The series of tremors and earthquakes, which took place between …

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