This sub-section
covers all sites which offer
market data and information
from daily closing prices
to weekly, monthly and yearly
market reports. They differ
by the information, data-banks
and reports provided at
each Internet site, by their
sources of information,
by the regions covered or
by commodities. This Market
Reports sub-section has
five areas: (1) USDA market
wire service, agricultural
marketing service, and economics
and statistics system, (2)
international and world
markets, (3) Africa, (4)
within the United States
of America, and (5) specific
commodities such as grains
(including rice), soybeans,
fruits and vegetables, hogs,
cattle and livestock (including
forages), seafood, cotton,
nuts and fertilizer market
information.
USDA
Market Wire Service, Agricultural
Marketing Service, and Economics
and Statistics System
The
USDA AMS Market News Service.
For current U.S. price and
sales information, start
your search here. One of
the best sources for daily
to weekly reports for all
kinds of commodity prices,
bids, imports and exports
in the U.S., from dairy,
feedstuffs, fruit and vegetables,
futures, grains, hay, livestock,
meat, poultry, tobacco.
Reports cover both domestic
and international markets.
Other reports include information
on volume, quality, condition,
and other market data on
farm products in specific
markets and marketing areas.
You can reach them at: http://www.ams.usda.gov
USDA reports and Ag. Market
Information - The complete
set of reports. Updated
daily. This information
for grain and other commodities
is organized by state and
nationally by the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln's Institute
of Agriculture and Natural
Resources' web site at:
http://ianrwww.unl.edu
The
Mann Library has set up
historic data series, and
indexes on U.S. prices received
by commodity. Published
by N.A.S.S., the indexes
of prices received by farmers
includes monthly and annual
prices, most for 1908-92.
Click on the Connect button.
To
obtain market information
reports and data-sets from
the Economic Research Service
(ERS), the National Agricultural
Statistics Service (NASS)
and the World Agriculture
Outlook Board (WAOB), go
to the Albert R. Mann Library
at Cornell University. Set
up in collaboration with
the USDA Economics and Statistics
System, their web site can
be reached at: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu
With
Switchbanks you can find
data on subjects such as
worldwide textile fiber
production, farm production
expenses, European Community
wheat supply, milk and dairy
product sales, food spending
in American households,
U.S. meat supply and consumption,
fertilizer use, ozone records
for the Northeast, and so
on. Searching the system,
you can find reports about
U.S. agricultural income
and finance, farm production
expenses, dairy production,
industrial uses of agricultural
materials, agricultural
trade update, livestock
inventory, and also world
agricultural supply and
demand estimates and outlook
reports.
Looking
at wheat for example, monthly
update and outlook reports
can be found on supply,
disappearance, tariffs,
quotas, area, price, stocks,
inspections, trade and cash
prices for leading classes
of wheat at U.S. markets.
Many annual reports are
also available.
For
those interested in world
agricultural supply and
demand estimates, full-text
monthly reports provide
the most current USDA forecasts
of U.S. and world supply-use
balances of major grains,
soybeans and products, cotton,
and much more. All of these
reports may also be emailed
directly to you free of
charge. More information
on this service can be found
in section 2.4.
Another
good web site is the Market
Information System (MIS)
developed by the University
of Florida. It provides
agricultural market information
received from the USDA Agricultural
Marketing Service (AMS).
It covers many commodities
such as grain, and data
is given by city.
International
and World Markets
The Foreign Agricultural
Service (FAS) offers regularly
many current commodity analysis
reports on world markets
and trade for different
commodities such as grains
and tropical fruit. The
site is worth visiting from
time to time to see what
is newly available. It may
be found at: http://www.fas.usda.gov/commodity.html
You may also search through
their market research page,
where you can find country
reports prepared by FAS
attaches covering nearly
130 countries (see attache
reports). You may also look
through their "Trade
Leads" section reported
daily, and read their food
market overviews which provide
valuable information about
some of the United States'
most important export markets.
You can also find out how
to subscribe to the "Foreign
Buyers List" compiled
by FAS overseas staff, or
review their market-specific
reports providing detailed
information on marketing
certain products in specific
countries. These web pages
can be found at: http://www.fas.usda.gov
Another interesting tool
at the FAS web site is the
U.S. import and export statistics
for bulk, intermediate and
consumer-oriented foods
and beverages (BICO). You
may search by specific commodity
or by country. Their web
page can be found at: http://www.fas.usda.gov
The
Food and Agricultural Organization
(FAO) of the United Nations
has also a very good web
site. Available through
the site are many great
features and related information
sources. For example, follow
their Global Watch series
of pages, and in one you
will find global information
on early warning systems
for sub-Saharan Africa:
food outlook, food shortages,
food crops and supplies,
crop prospects and situations,
as well as Sahel weather
and special alerts. Also,
world food outlook reports
on cereals come out every
two months. Be sure to look
up their web pages on the
World Food Summit held in
Rome in November 1996.
Another
great web page at the FAO
site is the FAOSTAT Agriculture
Statistics Database which
contains time-series data
(starting from 1961) for
over 210 countries and 1500
items on the production
and trade of primary and
derived crops and livestock
products; agricultural machinery;
fertilizer, pesticides and
insecticides (trade only);
land use, population and
food aid. For example, if
you wanted to compare FAO
statistics for wheat production
over the last five years
between the U.S., Canada,
Argentina and Australia,
you can simply request this
information from their database
and within a minute(s),
the application gives the
comparison between production,
area harvested, yield, and
so on, of those countries
in the order selected. You
can then download a copy
in worksheet form!
Finally,
among other related sources
and links, the FAO has started
setting up web pages on
agricultural marketing,
food outlook and yearly
commodity market reviews.
The Agricultural Support
Systems Division of FAO
(AGS) carries out work in
agricultural marketing,
agricultural machinery,
tools and equipment, agricultural
processing, farming systems
and farm management, post-harvest
management and rural finance.
For example, they helped
set up the web site on market
information in Zambia. In
the food outlook section
you will find quarterly
information on the world
cereal situation, supply
and demand, current production
and prospects, trade, carryover
stock, fertilizer data,
export prices and freight
weights. And in the commodity
market review section, you
can access economic data
from the past few years
with reasons for the variations
and changes as well as some
forecasting. These web pages
cover many commodities such
as beverages, sugar, bananas
and citrus, cereals and
cassava, oilseeds, oils
and oilmeals, livestock
and milk products, agricultural
raw materials such as for
cotton, fishery products
and forestry products.
For
the page on agricultural
marketing go to: http://www.fao.org/
English, French and Spanish
available.
The
people at the Commodities
and Trade Division have
set up a wonderful web page
to get weekly prices (and
monthly and yearly averages)
of most major export commodities
- from 1989 to 2006.
For
the GIEWS quarterly food
go to the above.
In
addition, all the GIEWS
publications, including
Foodcrops and Shortages,
Food supply situation and
crop prospects in sub-Saharan
Africa, the Sahel weather
and crop situation and Special
Reports and Alerts are available
at: http://www.fao.org/giews/english/giewse.htm
The
last three sites can be
found starting with the
FAO's Economic and Social
Department at: http://www.fao.org/For
the Global Watch archive
web pages go to: http://www.fao.org/
And
for the World Food Summit
web pages, go to: http://www.fao.org/wfs/homepage.htm
Statistics: Looking for
statistics on a certain
country? The FAO's Agricultural
Statistics Information Links
(ASIL) web page is a good
start: select the region
and country and they will
link you to the statistical
division or department of
that country.
Pink Sheet.
The
World Bank offers some commodity
price data in their data,
analysis and forecasts section,
in what is known as the
"Pink Sheet."
These monthly reports offer
only a few data on food
and represent annual averages
over the last three years.
Of interest, you may also
find some interesting data
on global economies, social
indicators, balance of payments,
and so on. http://www.worldbank.org/prospects/pinksheets/
Also
from the World Bank, the
Global Commodity Markets
section provides coverage
of major primary commodities,
including price forecasts,
regional price indices,
transportation costs, and
access to the World Bank's
Macroeconomic Outlook.
It
replaces Commodity Markets
and the Developing Countries,
which was discontinued as
of December 1998. It is
published four times per
year (January, April, July,
and October). Each 80-page
issue, which will be available
in both print and electronic
form, will contain price
forecasts for 46 primary
commodities (for the next
three years, and for 2005
and 2010), detailed market
reviews for 27 major commodities,
and newly expanded sections
covering global and regional
price indexes. Although
subscription is necessary
for full copy (highly recommended!),
you can view the summary
and the featured article
for free. The link is: http://www.worldbank.org/
From
agricultural commodities
to metals and energy, get
the latest market news and
analysis from the Financial
Times.
For
the latest information on
Commodity, Energy and Financial
Futures, go to the Reuters
web site.
Visit
the International Grains
Council's Monthly Grain
Market Report Summary.
Although
in French, the Centre de
coopération internationale
en recherche agronomique
pour le développement
or CIRAD, produces statistical
sheets with price trends
in international markets
annually for several (hard
to find on the net) tropical
agricultural commodities.
A good resource, well presented,
the link is: http://www.cirad.fr/
Another
web site contains baseline
projections produced by
the Food and Agricultural
Policy Research Institute
(FAPRI) for the U.S. agricultural
sector and international
commodity markets. Their
agricultural outlook reports
cover many commodities in
U.S. and world trade.
Inside
the U.S.
For the United States,
many web sites exist that
offer local state information
for different commodities
through university extension
services, exchanges and
boards of trade.
Outlook:
These pages provide information
on the likely price distributions
of key commodities over
the coming year. Such information
helps farmers and traders
make decisions on when and
in what ways to market their
grain (e.g., whether to
sell at harvest, store on-farm
in anticipation of higher
prices later in the season,
lock in a price at harvest
via the futures market,
buy or sell options). When
combined with enterprise
budget data, the information
can also be used in deciding
which crops to produce in
the coming year.
U.S.
Agricultural Outlook Forums:
WAOB - 1997 to 2000 Forums.
The ERS monthly Agricultural
Outlook and Agricultural
Outlook Archives
Weekly Outlook Report from
a joint project of the University
of Illinois and Purdue University
Cooperative Extension Services,
brings marketing analyses
to agricultural producers
and other interested parties
throughout the Midwest.
Or you might want to read
up on Illinois and Purdue's
Weekly Outlook Newsletter,
or Grain and Livestock Price
Outlook Newsletter at: http://web.aces.uiuc.edu/farm.doc/marketing/newsletters.html
The
rest of the web site is
quite appealing and also
includes links to daily
and weekly reports, plus
a selection of prices and
quotes.
Follow Atinet's Agnews web
page for daily, weekly and
monthly reports on California
and elsewhere.
For the dairy sector, connect
to the California Department
of Food and Agriculture's
monthly Price Letter.
View also the California
Agricultural Statistical
Service's monthly outlook
web pages, which includes
annual bulletin summaries
and more.
And click here for the links
to ALL the other State statistical
offices across the U.S.:
it's all here!
For grain, a very good site
is the Minneapolis Grain
Exchange's web page on links
to cash market reports,
with data from the Minneapolis,
Portland and St. Joseph,
MO, AMS Offices as well
as a link to all AMS Grain
Market Reports. This site
can be found at: http://www.mgex.com/
General
The North American Agricultural
Marketing Officials (NAAMO)
try to promote education,
communication and cooperation
and enhance worldwide market
opportunities for North
American agricultural products.
The NAAMO Discussion Area
has been created for use
by state (U.S.) and province
(Canada) agricultural marketing
officials as a means of
communication through the
Internet. It is intended
to be a forum to post questions,
views, problems, comments,
and advice. Their site can
be found at: http://www.naamo.org/
Canada
The Market Analysis
Division of Agriculture
Canada, provides timely
market information, analysis
and forecasting of supply,
demand, trade and prices
for the domestic and international
grains and oilseeds sectors
to industry and governments.
Its Bi-weekly Bulletin provides
market information and in-depth
analysis on specific issues
covering domestic and international
grains and oilseeds markets.
The publication discusses
a wide range of topics including
country profiles and commodity
outlooks with an emphasis
on Canadian competitiveness,
market development, diversification
and value added.
Also
available through email,
this subscription is free.
Markets reports: British
Columbia | Alberta | Saskatchewan
| Manitoba | Ontario (Statistics)
| Québec (French,
Statistiques) | New Brunswick
| Prince Edward Island |
Nova Scotia | Newfoundland
& Labrador
Pool Commodity Trading Service
- market comments, western
Canada | Manitoba Pork Marketing
| Alberta Pork | Ontario
Cattle |
Latin
America
Chile. For those
interested in South American
countries, the Chilean Ministry
of Agriculture has a great
site. Although in Spanish,
you will find prices and
time-series data for various
commodities such as grains,
fruits and vegetables, and
for various fertilizers
as well. Also available
at their site are general
macroeconomic data on Chile,
agricultural outlook reports
as well as a few grain prices
for Argentina. Select one
of the choices on the left:
Cifras de la Agricultura
but all the links are interesting.
Perú. The Peruvian
Ministry of Agriculture
has set up excellent market
information web pages. You
will find monthly prices
for various regions in Perú
for grains, different types
of potatoes, fruits, vegetables,
several meats, eggs, milk
and coffee. Production,
yield, price of fertilizers,
trade, weather and cost
of production statistics
are also available.
Start
your search under Estadística
agraria and select daily,
monthly to yearly statistics.
Argentina. A much improved
web site, the Ministry of
Agriculture has made available
much market information
and outlook reports. Select
from the list on the left,
you will find many statistics
and prices for various agricultural
commodities, on soils, trade,
costs of production and
much more.
The
Agriculture Series offers
daily to yearly and time
series market information.
Although mostly in Spanish,
a good part of the site
is available in English,
just click on the English
Version link at the top-right.
For example, you will find
well presented documents
in English on mad cow disease
and on Argentina Wheat.
