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Policy & Law

Farmer Perceptions of AI Benefits in the United States and Argentina

Farmers in the United States and Argentina see different benefits from artificial intelligence and data-driven tools. A comparison of recent producer surveys highlights differences in perceptions of production, labor, risk management, and the practical value of AI on the farm.

The August 2026 CPI and PPI Reports: The Late-July Energy Spike Arrives, and the Food Pipeline Still Holds

Energy costs surged across both reports this month — diesel fuel up 24.1 percent, gasoline up 3.9 percent — in a single month. At the same time, food inflation sat almost exactly where it sat in July, and the most upstream producer-price stage swung through a wider range than the stage nearest the consumer has moved in three months combined. A real, measurable energy shock landing squarely in the data, alongside a food pipeline that barely moved, is the sharpest evidence yet for the thesis this series has been building since spring.

Why Are Argentine Farmers More Optimistic Than U.S. Farmers?

The August 2026 Beef Import Waiver: A Narrow Tool Aimed at a Narrow Problem

This is a targeted policy aimed at a narrow slice of the beef market — imported product for ground beef, much of which is lean processing beef — rather than a broad intervention in the fed-cattle market. It was announced in response to historically tight cattle supplies and unusually high beef prices. Within that narrow lane, the most plausible effect is some additional availability of lower-cost processing beef and some downward pressure on ground-beef prices.

The June 2026 CPI and PPI Reports: The Pipeline Cools Across Every Stage

June’s CPI and PPI both cooled, and the cooling reaches all the way back to Stage 1 — consistent with a genuine, if possibly temporary, easing of the energy shock rather than a one-month statistical blip. But most of the movement inside the food basket this month — dairy’s reversal, the citrus and lettuce climate stories, the tomato tariff baseline, Brazil’s coffee cycle, and the beef–pork divergence — traces to category-specific supply and policy dynamics that would be happening with or without the conflict.

El Niño 2026: Converging Pressures on Vegetable Oil Markets

A potential record El Niño is now forecast with high model consensus; the spring predictability barrier has been crossed; and we are within the critical agricultural windows for the most exposed crop systems.

Will Brazil’s Corn and Soybean Production Continue to Grow in 2027?

Brazil’s corn and soybean production has continued expanding despite challenging market conditions. But with rising input costs, tighter credit, lower margins, and weather uncertainty ahead, will 2027 mark a turning point—or will Brazil’s growth trend continue?

The May 2026 CPI and PPI Reports: The Food Price Pipeline Is Loading at Record Rates

The May 2026 CPI and PPI data, read together, tell a coherent and analytically arresting story: quiet at the shelf, loading at record rates upstream.

How U.S. and Brazilian Corn Production Costs Compare

U.S. corn production costs remain structurally higher than Brazil’s, driven largely by higher land expenses. Meanwhile, Brazil’s second-crop system allows producers to spread fixed costs across soybeans and corn, reinforcing its competitive position in global markets. Using standardized economic data from the agribenchmark network, we compare corn production costs and returns in Iowa and Mato Grosso from 2020 to 2024.

The April 2026 CPI and PPI Reports: The Food Price Pipeline Is Opening Purchasing Power Under Pressure for Second Consecutive Month

The conflict’s direct impact on farm profitability in the 2026 crop year is likely to be modest and uneven. A more significant farm-level reckoning is coming in 2027 if Strait of Hormuz restrictions persist into the fall 2026 input purchasing and spring 2027 planting cycles.