LivestockUS feedlot placements fall to lowest September total on record
USDA counted 11.372 million cattle on feed on 1 October and 1.777 million placements in September, well below trade estimates, with little sign yet of herd rebuilding.
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Livestock
CropsA third of Southwest US cotton to go unharvested as drought cuts yields, USDA says
USDA projects Southwest upland cotton abandonment at 34%, up from about 24% last season, with regional output down 23% and yields the lowest since 2003/04.
CropsUS soybean oil use for biofuel hits a monthly record in July
USDA's Economic Research Service says 1.687 billion pounds of soybean oil went into US biofuel production in July 2026, 8.4% above the record set in June.
CropsUAE biorefinery plans to buy at least 39 million bushels of US corn a year
BioPower Energy signed a memorandum with the U.S. Grains & BioProducts Council to source half to all of its feedstock from US suppliers, with a floor of 1 million tonnes of corn a year.
AgribusinessUS tractor sales fall 16 percent in September as farmers hold back on big purchases
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers reports US farm tractor sales down 16.4 percent and combine sales down 10.9 percent in September from a year earlier, with every tractor size class lower and Canada's combine sales down 37.6 percent.
VegetablesUS potato processors used 5% more of the 2025 crop as frozen fries grew
USDA figures show US potato processing reached 286 million hundredweight in 2025, with frozen products up 6%, even as the average grower price fell 90 cents to $10.80 per hundredweight.
Agribusiness
US farm loan repayment still weaker than a year ago, but stress eased in the third quarter
The Kansas City Fed's farm loan repayment index reached 82 in the third quarter, still below 100 but better than the quarter before, as higher corn and soybean prices helped row-crop producers.
LivestockCorn's share of Chinese compound feed falls from 47% to 29% as cheaper grains replace it
USDA's Beijing office says Chinese feed mills are swapping corn for wheat, barley and sorghum as hog losses push buyers toward cheaper rations.
LivestockUS shoppers would pay more for beef in September even as household finances worsened
Kansas State University's Meat Demand Monitor found willingness to pay for ribeye rose to $20.71 a pound and ground beef to $12.11, while 37% of consumers said their finances were worse than a year ago.
EnvironmentShrinking Ogallala Aquifer pushes High Plains farmers towards costlier choices
Irrigation in Hockley County, Texas, peaked decades ago, and weakening wells threaten to turn drip systems costing about $1,500 an acre into stranded assets, says adviser John Duff.
LivestockNegotiated grid sales earn fed cattle sellers $2 to $3 more than formula deals
Tighter slaughter supplies are giving feedyards more leverage, and cattle sold on negotiated grids have lately fetched $2 to $3 per hundredweight more than formula sales, The Cattle Report says.
AgribusinessTariff costs push apparel orders around Asia, with knock-on effects for cotton demand
Trade analyst Robert Antoshak says US importers are pressing overseas factories for lower prices and moving orders among Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia rather than back to US plants.
AgribusinessUS order lets farmers and truckers use untaxed dyed diesel on highways until year-end
An executive order asks the IRS to suspend penalties for highway use of dyed farm diesel from 5 October to 31 December and Treasury to consider deferring diesel excise taxes, with details still to come.