Research Guides: Commodities: A Resource Guide: Agricultural Sector (2024)
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The agricultural, orsoft commodities sector, is composed of grains and oilseeds; livestock, primarily cattle and hogs; sugar; cocoa; coffee; cotton; and orange juice. Ethanol for fuel, but produced from corn, sugar cane, or other crop has become an increasingly important agricultural product. Grains and oilseeds include wheat, corn, soybeans and also barley, sorghum grain, oats, flaxseed and rye. Normally grains are stored or sold to a country elevator where they are weighed, sampled, classified, and graded. Next, they are moved directly to a processor or sold as feed, or they are sold to a specialized terminal or river elevator where grains are aggregated for bulk movement into domestic processing or export channels. The exchange markets have designated elevators for grains traded on their markets.
Unlike the demand for grains, livestock demand is primarily domestic. Cattle producers and/or feedlots sell market-ready cows at auction or directly to a packing operation. Hog producers sell their market-ready hogs directly to packers or though auctions and buying stations. There are a number of competing exchange-traded futures contracts as well as OTC swaps contracts and various options. Primary drivers of agricultural commodity prices are supply, demand, seasonality, carry-over, and the stocks-to-use ratio.
The World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB), within the office of the Chief Economist, serves as USDA’s focal point for economic intelligence and the commodity outlook for U.S. and world agriculture. It coordinates, reviews, and approves the monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, as well as the Department’s annual, ten-year agricultural commodity market projections. The WAOB also releases annual projections covering agricultural commodities, trade, and aggregate indicators of the sector for the next decade. The monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates Reportprovides annual projections whilethe long-run projections are available in itsBaseline Projections. In addition, in February each year, USDA Chief Economist releases preliminary projections for domestic supply and demand of agricultural commodities at USDA’s Agricultural Outlook Forum. The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is a major source of data on crops and livestock.
The following materials link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to digital content are provided when available.
The agricultural, or soft commodities sector, is composed of grains and oilseeds; livestock, primarily cattle and hogs; sugar; cocoa; coffee; cotton; and orange juice. Ethanol for fuel, but produced from corn, sugar cane, or other crop has become an increasingly important agricultural product.
The 10 largest sources of cash receipts from the sale of U.S.-produced farm commodities in calendar year 2022 are (in descending order): corn, cattle/calves, soybeans, dairy products/milk, broilers, hogs, miscellaneous crops, chicken eggs, wheat, and hay.
There are three major types of commodities; agriculture, energy, and metals. These three are differentiated in the means of accessing them. The means of accessing them is based on whether they are hard or soft.
Sectors related to agriculture include food and beverage manufacturing; food and beverage stores; food services and eating/drinking places; textiles, apparel, and leather products; and forestry and fishing.
Of particular interest for the commodities researcher are the materials and energy sectors and some sub-industries (e.g. Agricultural Products within the Consumer Staples sector). Exchange-traded commodities are more simply categorized as belonging to one of three sectors: agriculture, energy, or metals.
A commodity: a predict or service readily available from multiple sources, and is sourced generally base on a competitive quote. A resource: a core item required by the operation of a business; price is never the basic concern, availability, and supplier relationship are the key ingredients.
Commodities include agricultural products such as wheat and cattle, energy products such as oil and natural gas, and metals such as gold, silver and aluminum. There are also “soft” commodities, or those that cannot be stored forlong periods of time, which include sugar, cotton, cocoa and coffee.
The commodity or product must meet the definition of “agricultural commodity” found in 7 U.S.C. 5602: “The term “agricultural commodity” means any agricultural commodity, food, feed, fiber, or livestock (including livestock as it is defined in section 602(s) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C.
An agricultural commodity chain includes raw materials, processing and/or manufacturing, distribution, retailers, and consumers. This is often a complex network requiring large numbers of inputs and resources (time, money, technology, human labor).
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