News

Terry Griffin talks about a new farm management decision tool from K-State that's built around historic farmland values in Kansas and across the continental U.S. He says this can be useful in an assortment of ways, including determining the stepped-up basis value of farmland for land transaction purposes.

Livestock economist Derrell Peel of Oklahoma State University is featured on this week's cattle market segment:  he discusses the positive moves in both the fed cattle and boxed beef trades last week...and he takes a closer look at the serious drought conditions shaping up in the western U.S., which are now building up as well in the central plains, and the possible implications for the markets as well as individual producers' management decisions.

Agricultural law professor Roger McEowen of the Washburn University School of Law, covers three topics in his regular series of agricultural law updates... including a case in which neighbors were in dispute over alleged livestock nuisance.

The senior economist with the IGP Institute at K-State, Guy Allen, offers his monthly perspectives on the international grain market scene, following the USDA's latest world grain supply-and-demand report...he talks about the general tightness in global corn and soybean stocks, the growing demand for wheat as a feedgrain, and the latest take on China's grain demand.

K-State farm management economist Gregg Ibendhal covers his brand-new analysis of Kansas grain farm expenses trends. He used 42 years of Kansas Farm Management Association Data to identify trends in machinery, seed, fertilizer and herbicide, interest payments, and other expense categories. He says this is a good indicator of where producers should concentrate their cost management.

K-State livestock economist Glynn Tonsor tells of a brand-new study he co-authored, which investigated the impact of plant-based protein products on consumer demand for beef in the U.S. This was done by way of a national survey, and it measured the preferences of traditional meat consumers and alternative diet consumers In general, beef scores very well in the majority of the findings.

Guy Allen takes a deep dive into the USDA's latest world grain supply-and-demand report released this week. He talks about tightening wheat, soybean and corn stocks in the U.S. and globally, and the expected impact of South American new-crop supplies coming onto the market, and lends his perspective on China's demand for grain imports, largely fueled by its expanding livestock production sector, and how long that demand might be sustained.

K-State farm management economist Gregg Ibendahl offers his outlook on oil price trends in 2021, and the ensuing impact on the gasoline and diesel prices that farmers will be dealing with...he says that the rate that those prices increase will depend on how quickly the oil industry recovers from the market damage caused by the pandemic.