Federal Reserve: Observations on the Ag Economy- October ’17

The Federal Reserve Board released its October 2017 Beige Book update, a summary of commentary on current economic conditions by Federal Reserve District. The report included several observations pertaining to the U.S. agricultural economy. “On balance, crop conditions worsened in late August and September as drought conditions spread in the District. In addition, suboptimal weather conditions earlier in the year meant crops were less mature than normal and that the harvest started later than usual. Corn prices moved down (but were still higher than a year ago), while soybean prices were little changed (and slightly lower than a year ago).Eighth District- St. Louis– “District agriculture conditions improved modestly from the previous reporting period. Reports from farmers indicated that they have been impressed by their harvest numbers so far. Production and yield forecasts improved from August to September for corn, cotton, and soybeans. For rice expected yields ticked up from August to September, while expected productionticked down after downward revisions to rice acreage estimates. Relative to 2016, District cotton and soybean production levels were projected to be higher, while those for corn and rice were projected to be lower.”