Farm Snapshot

Farm Snapshot. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

Once a quarter the folks at Northwest Farm Credit Services do a snapshot of the ag industry here in the Pacific Northwest. Snapshots provide industry specific measures of production, supply demand and prices, as well as updates surrounding recent marketplace events. According to Michael Stolp, Vice President of Market Research and Development, it’s both a rearview and a windshield view of how things are going.

STOLP: Cattle markets are bullish with historic prices. Those historic prices are driven by a declining beef cow herd as well as strong export demand. In fact exports are above 2003 ESE levels. Prices are historic both for feeder and fed cattle. In the dairy market we saw 2011 begin with a strong start but now milk prices have softened. That said, we’ve seen some resilience in prices in Washington and Oregon and ray of hope with new demand in southern Idaho in the Chobani Greek Yogurt plant.

Stolp says the hay markets have been very tight.

STOLP: In fact, super tight. We see most of the alfalfa hay that’s available has wither been purchased and paid for and for producers that still don’t have the hay they need we’re seeing a smaller gap between lower quality and higher hay quality prices. In wheat markets producers should have ended the year with a strong balance sheet that was driven by strong early prices as well as strong yields in the northwest. Looking forward we see wheat prices that have decreased and that decrease is largely due to world wheat production and supplies.

Next, Stolp looks at the potato market.

STOLP: In the potato market we see year over year potato production in the northwest was up 12%, hence demand is strong. That’s resulted in strong potato prices both for fresh and contract potatoes. Sugar beet markets are also strong in the row crop industry. Strong world sugar prices continue to support strong prices in that particular industry. Looking forward sugar prices on the world markets are expected to fall slightly.

Tomorrow Stolp takes a look at tree fruit and more in the snapshot report. Northwest Farm Credit Services, is a cooperatively owned lending association specializing in financing farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses, commercial fishermen, timber producers, and country home owners in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska.

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.