USDA Reopens All FSA Offices on Thursday
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday it will reopen all Farm Service Agency offices on Thursday to offer services to farmers and ranchers during the partial government shutdown. Some Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices had been providing limited services since Jan. 17, but the move means all of the agency's offices will be open and will provide more services.
More than 9,700 FSA employees will be temporarily called back to work to keep offices open. For the first two weeks of the plan, the FSA offices will be open on Mondays through Fridays. After that, the agency's offices will be open three days a week, from Tuesday to Thursday. In addition, the deadline for farmers to apply for relief against tariffs has been extended to Feb. 14 from Jan. 15, the USDA said in a statement.
What Does This Mean for U.S. Farmers? Clearly the USDA reopening all of the local FSA offices is a positive step to normalizing business. Please contact your local FSA office for additional information.
U.S. Soybean Exports Reach 10-Month High
U.S. exporters last week loaded six soybean vessels bound for China, the most in any week since the start of the tariff war between Washington and Beijing. The shipments are among the first to load and depart for China since state-owned companies booked an estimated 5 MMT of U.S. soy over the past month and a half as the world's two largest economies try to
resolve their trade conflict.
What Does This Mean for U.S. Farmers? The volumes are not a surprise and the U.S. soy producer should not be fooled by these types of headlines. With soybean prices hovering near decade lows and U.S. stockpiles of the oilseed at historic highs, U.S. exporters have a narrow window to sell and ship beans to China ahead of the Brazilian and Argentina harvest.
The risk of trading futures, hedging, and speculating can be substantial. FBN BR LLC (NFA ID: 0508695)
