The average choice retail beef price for February was
reported at $10.12 per pound, 20 cents higher than January, and a new
all-time high. The all-fresh beef price came in at $9.63 per pound, up
17 cents from January, and also a new all-time high. The average retail
pork price for February fell 4 cents from the previous month to $4.90
per pound. The average composite broiler price was quoted at $2.38 per
pound, down nearly 3 cents from January, and the lowest broiler price
since March 2022.
Nearly 3,800 workers at the JBS plant in Greeley,
Colorado plan to walk off the job March 16th after eight months of
contract negotiations reached an impasse on March 6th. The JBS
employees have been working on an extension of the expired contract
since July. The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 bargaining
committee voted to end the extension clearing the way for the workers
to strike. The disagreements are over wages and reimbursement of
protective gear. JBS proposed to raise wages by 60 cents an hour in the
first year and 30 cents annually for the next two years, which is
similar to a national agreement JBS made with other unions in other
states last year. The last meat packer strike in the US was in 1985,
when workers walked out on Hormel Food Corporation in Minnesota.
JBS broke ground on a $150 million expansion project of
it beef facility in Catus, Texas. The project includes construction of
a new fabrication floor and an expanded ground beef room. The project
is expected to be completed by early 2027.
The USDA and US Army Corps of Engineers announced a
construction contract with Mortenson Construction to build a new
sterile fly production facility at Moore Air Base in Edinburgh, Texas.
A sterile fly production facility is a specialized bio secure complex
where New World Screwworm flies are raised and sterilized using
irradiation, and then released into targeted areas. Female flies only
mate once in their lives, so if they mate with a sterile male, they lay
unfertilized eggs that don't hatch. USDA currently produces about 100
million sterile flies per week at the COPEG facility in Panama. USDA
invested $21 million to support Mexico's fly facility in Metapa, which
will begin production this summer. The new facility in Texas is
expected to reach its goal of 100 million sterile flies a week by
November 2027.
Grains
The spring crop insurance prices have now been set.
Corn is set at $4.62 per bushel, down 8 cents from a year ago. The
soybean projected price came in at $11.09, up 55 cents from last year.
The spring projected revenue prices are computed using the daily close
of the December corn and November soybean futures contracts during
February.
On the USDA March Crop Production and Supply/Demand
report issued Tuesday, March 10th, US corn ending stocks were reported
at 2.127 billion bushels, steady with a month ago, and 576 million
bushels larger than the previous year. The soybean carryout was left
unchanged from last month at 350 million bushels, as was the US wheat
carryout at 931 million bushels. The world carryout of corn was
projected at 292.3 million metric tons, an increase of 3.8 million
metric tons from February. Most of the increase in world stocks came
from Brazil and Ukraine.
The House Agriculture Committee advanced the Farm, Food
and National Security Act of 2026 out of committee on a 34-17 vote.
While committee passage is an important first step toward concluding
this overdue Farm Bill cycle, the legislation still must be voted on by
the full House, and then considered by the Senate ahead of the midterm
election.
Fertilizer prices have soared the past two weeks due to
the Iran war. The timing could not be worse as US farmers are gearing
up for spring planting. Fertilizer prices were higher than last year to
start with before the war. In 2025, the US imported about 25 million
metric tons of fertilizer, with one-fourth of that in the months of
March and April. The Strait of Hormuz is a critical shipping lane for
several fertilizers, as well as petroleum and national gas. The
Fertilizer Institute said disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz could
disrupt 30% of global anhydrous ammonia, 50% of urea shipping, and 30%
of diammonium phosphate (DAP), the most widely used phosphorus
fertilizer. In the meantime, the Department of Justice is investigating
fertilizer companies over their pricing schemes. Bloomberg reported the
investigation is looking at CF Industries, Koch Inc., Mosaic, Nutrien,
and Yara International. Reports indicate the antitrust investigation is
being run out of DOJ's Chicago office.