Poll shows Covid-19 is taking a heavy toll on farmers’ mental health

https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/blogs/ag-policy-blog/blog-post/2021/01/06/poll-shows-covid-19-taking-heavy?fbclid=IwAR1zX0oO6TYwu5nYndeA6RyWWUyqQ33NBit_VQtPDuEvZBHuJmxA_Y_uXNI

• Last week, the American Farm Bureau Federation released results from a poll of 2,000 farmers concerning how Covid-19 has affected their mental health.
  • The survey also revealed how the pandemic has affected rural communities.
• When it comes to rural adults overall, those polled were split; 53 percent say the pandemic has affected their mental health in some way and 44 percent say it has not affected their mental health.
  • Younger rural adults were more likely than older adults to say the pandemic has affected their mental health.
• Poll results show that the pandemic has affected two in three farmers’ mental health.
• Since April 2019, the negative affect of social isolation has increased by 22 percent among farmers and farmworkers.

CattleFax; South American crop concerns.

• S. corn and soybean markets continue to gain strength over concerns of tighter U.S. corn and soybean supplies in the near future. Additionally, South America continues to see dry conditions negatively impacting their crops.
  • Brazil’s corn and soybean crops are experiencing the driest conditions since at least 1989.
• On Tuesday, USDA will be releasing its monthly supply/demand report, which will consist of updated estimates of U.S. and South American crop production and usage.
  • This report has the potential to tighten the U.S. stocks-to-use for both corn and soybeans.
• Reduced U.S. stocks-to-use and the lack of crop potential in South America has moved the market to the highest levels since 2014.
• Continued concerns over dry weather for much of the U.S. into the spring and summer are also playing a big role in the grain markets.

Beef exports spike, pork sets record

https://www.drovers.com/news/industry/beef-exports-spike-pork-sets-record

• According to data released by USDA and assembled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation, November was one of the best months on record for beef exports.
  • November U.S. beef exports increased by 6 percent year-over-year, the largest since July 2019.
    • Export value climbed 8 percent year-over-year to $707.5 million.
  • USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom said that demand for U.S. beef in the global retail sector has been outstanding and this trend is expected to continue into 2021.
  • November exports to China and Guatemala set new monthly records, and shipments to Mexico were the largest since 2016.
  • S. pork exports for January through November set new annual records in both volume and value.
    • Volume increased to 2.72 million metric tons, up 14 percent from last year’s export pace, and value increased by 13 percent to $7.03 billion.

2020 beef imports

https://beef2live.com/story-united-states-beef-imports-0-107547?fbclid=IwAR0wut02h8c_gKQD98NV0Awm9U6nVu6oF777obr1pSb9M8DZ-YECfNmFfPA

• The U.S. imported 2.9 billion pounds of beef in 2020, up 12.1 percent from 2019.
• Top beef imports came from Canada, then Mexico and finally Australia.
  • The U.S. imported beef from 21 different countries in 2020.

Boxed beef prices

www.nationalbeefwire.com

• Choice boxed beef: $206.80 (+0.99)
• Select boxed beef: $196.69 (+0.10)