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A continuing decline in crop and livestock prices will pull down U.S. farm income for the third year in a row, but this year’s decline will be a modest 2% or 3%, said a USDA forecast, far milder than the combined 31% plunge of the past two years. Large crop-support payments, estimated at $9.5 billion for ARC, PLC, and LDPs, would buffer a 4% drop in livestock receipts and a 1% fall in crop receipts.

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article.  At Kiev’s Boryspil airport, Igor, a 28-year-old Russian returning from what he calls an “excellent” trip to the Ukrainian capital, grumbles about the overnight journey he faces home. “I don’t see why I have to fly back to Moscow via Minsk” he complains.

Wheat saw a pick-up in price action last week, with another drop to test major supports that quickly reversed back up - then followed by a strong day that then saw prices erode back to unchanged. Plenty of action but not much direction. World wheat prices continue to erode, with prices slogging down to the summer’s lows.

Beans ended a wild week of trading on a positive note as dryness issues in Brazil and follow through buying from yesterday’s reversal propelled the market higher. The center/north areas in Brazil, Mato Grosso and Goias, have seen drier than normal conditions since planting but the news wires were talking it up in a big way this week. These two states account for 42% of Brazil's soybean production.