$30-billion purchase from China and More Corn-Less Soy
From the Ag Information Network, I'm Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.
**China is proposing it could buy an additional $30 billion a year of U.S. agricultural products including soybeans, corn and wheat as part of a possible trade deal being negotiated by the two countries.
Insiders tell agweb.com, the offer to buy the extra farm produce would be part of the memoranda of understanding under discussion by U.S. and Chinese negotiators.
The purchases would be on top of pre-trade war levels and continue for the period covered by the memoranda.
https://www.agweb.com/article/chinaoffers-to-buy30-billion-moreus-agimports-a-year/
**USDA predicts U.S. farmers will plant 92 million acres of corn this year, which is a 3.3% jump from last year.
USDA Chief Economist Robert Johansson says alternately, farmers will plant 85 million acres of soybeans, down 4.7% from last year.
According to agweb.com, corn is expected to be the primary beneficiary of the decline in soybean acres. At 92 million, corn acres are the largest since the 2016 planting season.
https://www.agweb.com/article/usda-corn-to-be-king-again-in-2019/
**Potatoes topped the list as the most popular vegetable in the Fresh Trends 2018 survey, and was the No. 3 item overall consumers say they purchased.
But, the likelihood of a potato purchase fell eight percentage points from last year, the largest decline of any item in the survey.
Red potatoes inched up in the rankings, with 19 percent of shoppers saying they preferred reds, but russets were the variety of choice, at 35 percent.
Basic whites were next, followed by Yukon varieties.
https://www.potatogrower.com/2019/02/report-shows-potatoes-still-a
