The United Nations food agency's world price index fell in June to its lowest level in more than two years, pushed down by a drop in the cost of sugar, vegetable oils, cereals and dairy products. The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) price index, which tracks the most globally-traded food commodities, averaged 122.3 points in June against a revised 124.0 for the previous month, the agency said on Friday...FAO said the higher forecast was almost entirely driven by better prospects for global wheat production, with the forecast lifted by 0.9% to 783.3 million tonnes.

In today's DTN Early Word Grains, DTN Lead Analyst Todd Hultman pointed out that the September European milling wheat contract trading on the Euronext Exchange has traded under the contract's 100-day moving average for eight consecutive months, while despite the challenges Ukraine has faced moving grain out of the country and the uncertainty surrounding the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.‍

Food security is top of mind for grain storage and handling companies across the world, as political instability and trade restrictions cause global supply chain disruptions and shortages. For equipment manufacturers and suppliers, that means demand is increasing for greenfield facilities, said those who responded to a survey by World Grain.

Join NAWG’s advocacy campaign to engage with legislators on increasing Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) programs authorized in the Farm Bill. MAP’s authorized funding has not changed since 2006 and FMD funding has remained the same since 2002. Inflation and sequestration have significantly eroded our ability to compete with other countries who are steadily investing more in their agricultural export promotion efforts. Please visit NAWG’s website to participate in the grassroots efforts to make your voice heard.

Moscow seems intent on letting the Black Sea Grain Initiative expire next Monday, but the United Nations is equally resolved to preserve the deal and prevent food prices from rising in some of the poorest nations. Without the UN-led deal that allows Ukraine to export commodities such as wheat, corn, barley and sunflower meal, global food prices will spike, and people in the poorest countries that depend on cheap commodities will suffer the most.

The Idaho Wheat Commission (IWC) takes a wheat variety survey twice a year, spring and winter, to gather data on variety usage. Please take a few minutes to fill out the survey. Your responses are anonymous and aggregated across multi-county reporting districts.

Farmers from eight states in the southern half of the nation recently toured agricultural production and processing operations in Idaho as part of the National Cotton Council’s Multi-Commodity Education Program (MCEP). Launched in 2006, the program is coordinated by NCC’s Member Services, and commodity association leadership. It is supported by The Cotton Foundation with a grant from John Deere.