The US Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s influential monthly report update will include the first new crop projections of the year.

Just one year ago, U.S. wheat prices hovered near record highs. The geopolitical ramifications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine stoked supply concerns and fears of spiraling food price inflation, and India had just banned wheat exports, further fueling wheat supply fears. Flash forward to the week of May 2, 2023, Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat (SRW) futures traded at their lowest level since March of 2021 at $5.95/bushel, earning that class the elusive honor of being the cheapest wheat on the world market.

Last week, the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) released its 2022 U.S. Agricultural Export Yearbook, a statistical summary of U.S. agricultural commodity exports. Today’s update includes highlights from the report, with a focus on corn, soybeans and wheat. While discussing wheat exports, FAS pointed out that, “In 2022, the value of U.S. wheat exports to the world reached $8.5 billion, up 18 percent from 2021 due to higher unit values. The top three markets, accounting for 40 percent of sales, were Mexico at $1.6 billion, the Philippines at $920 million, and Japan at $914 million.

Russia has effectively stopped the Black sea grain deal by refusing to register incoming vessels, Ukraine's reconstruction ministry said on Monday. Ukrainian Black Sea ports were blockaded after Russia's invasion last year, but access to three of them was cleared last July under a deal between Moscow and Kyiv that was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.

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.

The European Commission has announced restrictions on the imports of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria until June 5. The move led to Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria lifting unilateral import bans they had imposed citing the need to protect their farmers. Romania had not banned imports. Ukraine mainly exported agricultural products through ports in the Black Sea until they were blocked by Russia last year.

Nutrient stratification commonly refers to a distribution of nutrients that are non-uniform with soil depth, and especially to situations with higher concentrations of nutrients (such as phosphorus or potassium) near the soil surface.