Back in August we wrote about new-crop sales of soybeans, corn, sorghum and cotton to China. In the six weeks since then sales of those crops have continued to turn heads. Large sales combined with decreased production estimates in the September World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report have put upward pressure on futures prices and increased grower optimism. It’s time to look again at 2020-2021 crop sales to China in relation to previous years. Here we compare new-crop outstanding sales plus accumulated exports for the 2020-2021 marketing year to the same period from the past five years.

OPINION  The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1473 along with the Wisconsin Farmers Union are jointly calling on federal, state and local governments to take stronger steps to better protect from adverse impacts of COVID-19 the health, safety and livelihoods of the farmers and workers who put food on our tables. The groups also call for new economic-development strategies that empower workers to bargain collectively for better wages and safer worker conditions, and that empower farmers to receive a fairer share of the food dollar.