Grain Indemnity Fund Vote Approaching—A referendum on the statewide establishment of a grain indemnity fund held by the Texas Grain Producers Indemnity Board will take place Dec. 5 through Dec. 9. Anyone who has produced corn, sorghum, soybeans or wheat within the last 36 months is eligible to vote. Ballots are available at all Texas A&M AgriLife Extension county offices during regular business hours. Additional information about the Texas Grain Producer Indemnity Fund can be found on their website, www.texasgrainindemnity.org/.
Export Exchange Results in $460 Million in Grain and Co-Product Sales—The Export Exchange conference hosted this fall by the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) and Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is already paying dividends, according to new surveys of overseas grain buyers who attended – to the tune of nearly a half billion dollars’ worth of grain and ethanol co-product sales. Buyers and end-users were asked after the conference if they made purchase agreements with sellers and how much volume was purchased. In total, attendees reported sales of approximately 2.6 million metric tons of grains and co-products worth $460 million traded either at the conference or immediately before or after. The top grain traded during the two-day conference was corn, with 924,500 metric tons collectively exchanged, followed by distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), with 875,000 metric tons exchanged. This means buyers at the conference struck deals to purchase an amount of DDGS equivalent to roughly 8 percent of last year’s total U.S. DDGS exports. According to the survey, 428,000 metric tons of sorghum was also traded during the event. Export Exchange 2016 offered attendees a unique opportunity to meet and build relationships with domestic suppliers of corn, DDGS, sorghum, barley and other commodities. More than 200 international buyers and end-users of coarse grains and co-products from more than 35 countries were in Detroit for the conference, held Oct. 24 to 26, and for related tours of U.S. farms, ethanol plans and export infrastructure as part of Council trade teams.
Market Perspectives—Sorghum: Net sales of 227,000 MT were down 22 percent from the previous week and 34 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were reported for China (162,500 MT, including 56,000 MT switched from unknown destinations) and unknown destinations (64,500 MT). Exports of 59,200 MT were down 48 percent from the previous week and 6 percent from the prior 4-week average. The destinations were China (56,500 MT), Nigeria (1,800 MT), and Mexico (900 MT).
Attend Commodity Classic—Registration and housing for the 2017 Commodity Classic will open Wednesday, Dec. 7 at commodityclassic.com. Participants can log on to register at 10 a.m. The 2017 Commodity Classic will be March 2-4, 2017, in San Antonio, Texas.