Look for coverage of the United States Department of Agriculture’s planted acreage report here.The report was scheduled for release on June 30, after the newspaper’s deadline, so we’ll cover it in the daily news section of our website. It was expected to show a larger corn and soybean area than was forecast in the planting intentions report in March. Not only will acres increase, but some analysts believe the U.S. could see record-breaking corn and soybean yields.We’ll also include information on the USDA report in our daily canola market report on Producermobile.com, our website optimized for viewing on smartphones.We provide crop futures market coverage on our websites: daily updates of factors influencing prices, price quotes, charts of price movements and tools to do technical market analysis of those charts.Markets reporter Ed White maintains a blog at producer.com and producermobile.com.As he researches and interviews sources for stories that will appear in the paper, he often blogs about the information he’s finding out, giving readers a jump on factors shaping market trends.One trend that captured market watchers’ interest in the last couple of years was the Baltic Dry Index (BDI).The BDI tracks the cost of hiring ocean-going ships that carry bulk goods like iron ore, coal, copper, grain, fertilizer and other commodities.People watch the index because it reflects global economic activity. When it rises, it means raw products are moving to be processed, factories are getting busier, more people are working and have the money to buy things. When it falls, it usually means economic activity is slowing.For farmers, a strong BDI and world economy should signal increased demand for food, which supports grain and meat prices.The BDI fell each day through June, its longest losing streak in 14 months.As of June 28, it stood at 2,482, its lowest point since October last year and a far cry from its peak of 11,793 points set May 20, 2008 when it was floating on the frothy waves of the commodity boom.It then sank in the second half of that year as banking turmoil and the credit crunch torpedoed global trade.It partly bounced back by November 2009 and then dropped again through the winter, before staging the recent rally in April and May.The downward trend in the last month reflects what we already know. Europe’s fiscal problems are slowing economic recovery. U.S. job growth is slow, reflecting weakness in its economy.China’s booming steel industry has recently slowed, limiting demand for iron ore and coal. China’s decision to allow its currency to float, which many observers believe will result in the yuan rising, could further slow the Asian giant’s export pace. On the other hand, a stronger yuan would make grain and oilseed imports more attractive.But the decline in BDI is not totally the result of weaker demand. Vessel supply has increased. Ships ordered during the commodity frenzy of 2007-08 are entering the market and some believe there will be a surplus of the largest ships called Capesize.Grain moves on smaller ships and the International Grains Council maintains a grain freight index. It has fallen, but not as much as the BDI.The IGC says grain moving to South Korea from the U.S. Pacific Northwest has fallen to $31 US per tonne, down from $38 a month ago.While problems on the Prairies with unseeded acres and moisture damage will reduce Canadian crops and create price-supporting shortages of the grains that prairie production dominate, like oats, flax and special crops, the overall grain market context is one of large global crops and demand growth that is weaker than what was expected a few months ago.
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