The U.S. produced a record amount of soybeans in 2015. The USDA reports the bean crop topped 3.930 billion bushels with an average yield of 48.0 bushels per acre. Planted area was 82.650 million acres with harvested area of 81.849 million. The USDA says record yields were recorded in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, and… Read more »

Agricultural shippers are seeing some improvement in rail service. Mike Steenhoek, Executive Director of the Soy Transportation Coalition says a severe winter and competition from crude oil were factors influencing this year’s ratings. “The key areas that are important to customers, like on time performance, customer service, to what extent do you have access to… Read more »

Soybeans were higher on commercial and technical buying. 2015 U.S. soybean production was a new record, but down from USDA’s November estimate. Quarterly stocks were up on the year, while ending stocks were a little tighter. Soybean meal was higher and bean oil was lower on the adjustment of product spreads. Unknown destinations bought 140,000… Read more »

Across the Corn Belt, temperatures are rebounding to above-normal levels across the upper Midwest, although most locations retain a shallow to moderately deep snow cover. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, is reporting a current snow depth of 4 inches. Meanwhile, cold weather lingers across the eastern Corn Belt, where Tuesday morning’s low temperatures generally ranged from 0… Read more »

It’s estimated that Illinois added more than $50 million in 2015 economic activity through livestock.  The Illinois