Despite a rainy start to the planting season, the outlook for the U.S. agriculture sector will still be better than last year when the Midwest was hit by a severe drought, according to a new report by BMO Economics.
Much of the Midwest has seen extensive rainfall since the beginning of May, delaying spring planting. Meanwhile, the outlook north of the border remains positive, with Canadian farmers still enjoying higher than normal prices for a number of crops.
In the United States, the planting process came to a late close, as wet conditions delayed progress this spring. Northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin and Nebraska are in better shape than other parts of the Corn Belt, according to the BMO report.
“The general consensus for the U.S. agriculture industry in 2013 was that, coming off of the drought, we’d see a big crop this year; this, in turn, would lead to lower feed costs, as well as other food prices coming down,” said Sam Miller, managing director and head of agriculture at Chicago-based BMO Harris Bank. “While we’re not getting the start we wanted – the heavy rainfall over the past 45 days has put some plantings behind schedule – the prospects are still there for a good year.”
The United States Department of Agriculture recently noted that farmers in the United States. are on track for a record year of agricultural exports. The 2013 outlook is currently projecting $139.5 billion in exports this fiscal year.
“While grain farmers seek improved crop yields, livestock producers and other grain buyers anticipate these higher yields will lead to lower feed and grain prices, as well as improvement for stressed margins,” Miller said. “The challenging start to this year will again make it a just-in-time year – adequate growing conditions, appropriate moisture as the summer progresses and a later first freeze will all likely have a hand in how the year turns out.”
