Organic Avacado Demand Up and Soybeans Take Another Hit
From the Ag Information Network, I'm Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.**As demand for avocados has risen, so has the demand for organic avocados.
The California Avocado Commission reports organic fruit represents about 10% of this current year's avocado harvest, but that proportion has been increasing.
Most organic avocados have been transitioned from conventional production, which is a process that takes about three years before the fruit can be certified and then sold as organic.
**A leading trade group for the petroleum industry warned President Trump to ditch his plan to boost ethanol production, saying it would be a "disastrous political decision."
American Petroleum Institute vice president, Frank Macchiarola tells agrimarketing.com Mr. Trump would be hurting consumers and refineries to satisfy rising complaints from farmers about lost demand for biofuels.
Macchiarola says the petroleum industry would "vigorously challenge this misguided policy" if the White House makes any move to raise requirements for ethanol production.
https://www.agrimarketing.com/s/126004
**The trade war between the U.S. and China is a big reason U.S. farm exports are taking another hit as the USDA slashes its estimates for shipments of soybeans and corn this year.
According to agweb.com, USDA is saying total ag exports will decline 6.2 percent from last year to $134.5 billion. If those numbers hold, it would be the lowest since 2016.
The decline in ag exports is forecast to put the U-S ag trade surplus at $5.2 billion, the smallest since 2006.
https://www.agweb.com/article/usda-slashes-us-corn-soybean-export-estimates-china?mkt/