Posts Tagged ‘farming’

What is Aquaculture?

Saturday, January 17th, 2009

NOAA — Aquaculture – often referred to as fish farming or shellfish farming – is the art, science, and business of cultivating aquatic animals in fresh or marine waters for consumption and to supplement commercial and recreational fisheries. About 70 percent of the aquaculture in the U.S. is fresh water farming of catfish and trout. Marine aquaculture is just 20 percent of the entire U.S. industry. Most marine aquaculture is shellfish farming, such as oysters, clams, and mussels. Only a few U.S. farms grow marine finfish, including salmon, cod, cobia, Hawaiian yellowtail, and Pacific threadfin (moi).

Similar to farms on land, fish and shellfish farms come in various sizes and types – from small, family-owned commercial farms to large companies. Local, state and federal agencies, research institutions, and tribes run aquaculture facilities that produce the eggs used to farm many freshwater and marine species.

Currently, more than 80 percent of the seafood Americans eat is imported, and half of that comes from aquaculture. It is vital that the United States further develop its own sustainable aquaculture industry, both to reduce its annual $9 billion seafood import deficit and to keep pace with the growing demand for seafood.

NOAA’s Aquaculture Program is dedicated to fostering safe, sustainable aquaculture in collaboration with other NOAA offices including NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and NOAA’s National Ocean Service.

Chicago Board of Trade Options and Futures

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

WHEAT - CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE Code-001602
OPTION AND FUTURES COMBINED POSITIONS AS OF 01/06/09 |
————————————————————–| NONREPORTABLE
NON-COMMERCIAL | COMMERCIAL | TOTAL | POSITIONS
————————–|—————–|—————–|—————–
Long | Short |Spreads | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | Short
——————————————————————————–
(CONTRACTS OF 5,000 BUSHELS) OPEN INTEREST: 345,164
COMMITMENTS
61,797 49,139 97,886 157,866 151,452 317,549 298,478 27,614 46,686

CHANGES FROM 12/30/08 (CHANGE IN OPEN INTEREST: 23,368)
3,195 -632 11,134 6,320 10,825 20,648 21,327 2,720 2,041

PERCENT OF OPEN INTEREST FOR EACH CATEGORY OF TRADER
17.9 14.2 28.4 45.7 43.9 92.0 86.5 8.0 13.5

NUMBER OF TRADERS IN EACH CATEGORY (TOTAL TRADERS: 297)
84 94 118 81 99 239 251

CORN - CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE Code-002602
OPTION AND FUTURES COMBINED POSITIONS AS OF 01/06/09 |
————————————————————–| NONREPORTABLE
NON-COMMERCIAL | COMMERCIAL | TOTAL | POSITIONS
————————–|—————–|—————–|—————–
Long | Short |Spreads | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | Short
——————————————————————————–
(CONTRACTS OF 5,000 BUSHELS) OPEN INTEREST: 1,269,024
COMMITMENTS
128,032 88,425 435,483 556,291 539,255 1119806 1063163 149,218 205,861

CHANGES FROM 12/30/08 (CHANGE IN OPEN INTEREST: 29,977)
4,576 -5,183 19,529 -2,175 7,413 21,930 21,759 8,046 8,218

PERCENT OF OPEN INTEREST FOR EACH CATEGORY OF TRADER
10.1 7.0 34.3 43.8 42.5 88.2 83.8 11.8 16.2

NUMBER OF TRADERS IN EACH CATEGORY (TOTAL TRADERS: 605)
137 146 223 236 270 499 538

OATS - CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE Code-004603
OPTION AND FUTURES COMBINED POSITIONS AS OF 01/06/09 |
————————————————————–| NONREPORTABLE
NON-COMMERCIAL | COMMERCIAL | TOTAL | POSITIONS
————————–|—————–|—————–|—————–
Long | Short |Spreads | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | Short
——————————————————————————–
(CONTRACTS OF 5,000 BUSHELS) OPEN INTEREST: 17,865
COMMITMENTS
666 1,654 1,173 13,845 12,553 15,684 15,380 2,180 2,485

CHANGES FROM 12/30/08 (CHANGE IN OPEN INTEREST: -196)
-61 -42 -28 -124 -32 -212 -102 16 -94

PERCENT OF OPEN INTEREST FOR EACH CATEGORY OF TRADER
3.7 9.3 6.6 77.5 70.3 87.8 86.1 12.2 13.9

NUMBER OF TRADERS IN EACH CATEGORY (TOTAL TRADERS: 43)
5 12 7 23 16 34 30

SOYBEANS - CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE Code-005602
OPTION AND FUTURES COMBINED POSITIONS AS OF 01/06/09 |
————————————————————–| NONREPORTABLE
NON-COMMERCIAL | COMMERCIAL | TOTAL | POSITIONS
————————–|—————–|—————–|—————–
Long | Short |Spreads | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | Short
——————————————————————————–
(CONTRACTS OF 5,000 BUSHELS) OPEN INTEREST: 395,931
COMMITMENTS
55,635 19,351 128,049 163,322 184,753 347,006 332,153 48,925 63,778

CHANGES FROM 12/30/08 (CHANGE IN OPEN INTEREST: 16,879)
3,519 241 8,376 2,423 7,478 14,318 16,095 2,561 783

PERCENT OF OPEN INTEREST FOR EACH CATEGORY OF TRADER
14.1 4.9 32.3 41.3 46.7 87.6 83.9 12.4 16.1

NUMBER OF TRADERS IN EACH CATEGORY (TOTAL TRADERS: 303)
94 70 120 99 111 255 257

SOYBEAN OIL - CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE Code-007601
OPTION AND FUTURES COMBINED POSITIONS AS OF 01/06/09 |
————————————————————–| NONREPORTABLE
NON-COMMERCIAL | COMMERCIAL | TOTAL | POSITIONS
————————–|—————–|—————–|—————–
Long | Short |Spreads | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | Short
——————————————————————————–
(CONTRACTS OF 60,000 POUNDS) OPEN INTEREST: 236,752
COMMITMENTS
17,680 28,369 61,982 131,756 125,854 211,418 216,206 25,334 20,546

CHANGES FROM 12/30/08 (CHANGE IN OPEN INTEREST: -8,418)
2,257 -4,874 -4,921 -8,276 -461 -10,940 -10,255 2,521 1,837

PERCENT OF OPEN INTEREST FOR EACH CATEGORY OF TRADER
7.5 12.0 26.2 55.7 53.2 89.3 91.3 10.7 8.7

NUMBER OF TRADERS IN EACH CATEGORY (TOTAL TRADERS: 186)
31 56 70 64 60 151 150

U.S. TREASURY BONDS - CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE Code-020601
OPTION AND FUTURES COMBINED POSITIONS AS OF 01/06/09 |
————————————————————–| NONREPORTABLE
NON-COMMERCIAL | COMMERCIAL | TOTAL | POSITIONS
————————–|—————–|—————–|—————–
Long | Short |Spreads | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | Short
——————————————————————————–
(CONTRACTS OF $100,000 FACE VALUE) OPEN INTEREST: 828,610
COMMITMENTS
57,160 156,985 53,381 580,901 458,993 691,442 669,359 137,167 159,250

CHANGES FROM 12/30/08 (CHANGE IN OPEN INTEREST: -12,255)
1,239 -22,564 7,996 -31,614 -862 -22,380 -15,430 10,124 3,175

PERCENT OF OPEN INTEREST FOR EACH CATEGORY OF TRADER
6.9 18.9 6.4 70.1 55.4 83.4 80.8 16.6 19.2

NUMBER OF TRADERS IN EACH CATEGORY (TOTAL TRADERS: 144)
23 36 30 59 73 101 120

SOYBEAN MEAL - CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE Code-026603
OPTION AND FUTURES COMBINED POSITIONS AS OF 01/06/09 |
————————————————————–| NONREPORTABLE
NON-COMMERCIAL | COMMERCIAL | TOTAL | POSITIONS
————————–|—————–|—————–|—————–
Long | Short |Spreads | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | Short
——————————————————————————–
(CONTRACTS OF 100 TONS) OPEN INTEREST: 135,183
COMMITMENTS
20,959 8,020 28,640 59,681 78,864 109,279 115,523 25,903 19,659

CHANGES FROM 12/30/08 (CHANGE IN OPEN INTEREST: 2,517)
1,576 674 -58 -1,545 1,350 -27 1,965 2,544 552

PERCENT OF OPEN INTEREST FOR EACH CATEGORY OF TRADER
15.5 5.9 21.2 44.1 58.3 80.8 85.5 19.2 14.5

NUMBER OF TRADERS IN EACH CATEGORY (TOTAL TRADERS: 148)
36 24 39 58 53 122 100

ROUGH RICE - CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE Code-039601
OPTION AND FUTURES COMBINED POSITIONS AS OF 01/06/09 |
————————————————————–| NONREPORTABLE
NON-COMMERCIAL | COMMERCIAL | TOTAL | POSITIONS
————————–|—————–|—————–|—————–
Long | Short |Spreads | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | Short
——————————————————————————–
(CONTRACTS OF 200,000 POUNDS) OPEN INTEREST: 6,552
COMMITMENTS
1,125 548 448 4,037 4,234 5,610 5,230 943 1,323

CHANGES FROM 12/30/08 (CHANGE IN OPEN INTEREST: -276)
0 96 -10 -214 -145 -224 -60 -52 -216

PERCENT OF OPEN INTEREST FOR EACH CATEGORY OF TRADER
17.2 8.4 6.8 61.6 64.6 85.6 79.8 14.4 20.2

NUMBER OF TRADERS IN EACH CATEGORY (TOTAL TRADERS: 45)
8 9 5 17 15 27 27

2-YEAR U.S. TREASURY NOTES - CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE Code-042601
OPTION AND FUTURES COMBINED POSITIONS AS OF 01/06/09 |
————————————————————–| NONREPORTABLE
NON-COMMERCIAL | COMMERCIAL | TOTAL | POSITIONS
————————–|—————–|—————–|—————–
Long | Short |Spreads | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | Short
——————————————————————————–
(CONTRACTS OF $200,000 FACE VALUE) OPEN INTEREST: 524,308
COMMITMENTS
64,391 87,111 11,076 378,920 354,999 454,387 453,186 69,921 71,122

CHANGES FROM 12/30/08 (CHANGE IN OPEN INTEREST: -16,605)
5,259 5,748 -1,348 -7,288 -12,501 -3,377 -8,101 -13,228 -8,504

PERCENT OF OPEN INTEREST FOR EACH CATEGORY OF TRADER
12.3 16.6 2.1 72.3 67.7 86.7 86.4 13.3 13.6

NUMBER OF TRADERS IN EACH CATEGORY (TOTAL TRADERS: 150)
24 29 13 70 73 101 108

10-YEAR U.S. TREASURY NOTES - CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE Code-043602
OPTION AND FUTURES COMBINED POSITIONS AS OF 01/06/09 |
————————————————————–| NONREPORTABLE
NON-COMMERCIAL | COMMERCIAL | TOTAL | POSITIONS
————————–|—————–|—————–|—————–
Long | Short |Spreads | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | Short
——————————————————————————–
(CONTRACTS OF $100,000 FACE VALUE) OPEN INTEREST: 1,328,603
COMMITMENTS
157,445 134,951 145,309 813,725 771,931 1116479 1052192 212,123 276,411

CHANGES FROM 12/30/08 (CHANGE IN OPEN INTEREST: 22,309)
8,912 21,171 4,822 -4,627 -27,978 9,107 -1,985 13,201 24,294

PERCENT OF OPEN INTEREST FOR EACH CATEGORY OF TRADER
11.9 10.2 10.9 61.2 58.1 84.0 79.2 16.0 20.8

NUMBER OF TRADERS IN EACH CATEGORY (TOTAL TRADERS: 188)
36 42 49 84 92 147 156

5-YEAR U.S. TREASURY NOTES - CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE Code-044601
OPTION AND FUTURES COMBINED POSITIONS AS OF 01/06/09 |
————————————————————–| NONREPORTABLE
NON-COMMERCIAL | COMMERCIAL | TOTAL | POSITIONS
————————–|—————–|—————–|—————–
Long | Short |Spreads | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | Short
——————————————————————————–
(CONTRACTS OF $100,000 FACE VALUE) OPEN INTEREST: 1,090,823
COMMITMENTS
105,424 146,807 51,135 750,636 707,519 907,196 905,462 183,627 185,361

CHANGES FROM 12/30/08 (CHANGE IN OPEN INTEREST: -58,205)
-46,154 232 -1,099 -9,641 -65,388 -56,894 -66,255 -1,312 8,050

PERCENT OF OPEN INTEREST FOR EACH CATEGORY OF TRADER
9.7 13.5 4.7 68.8 64.9 83.2 83.0 16.8 17.0

NUMBER OF TRADERS IN EACH CATEGORY (TOTAL TRADERS: 140)
21 36 29 69 63 108 110

30-DAY FEDERAL FUNDS - CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE Code-045601
OPTION AND FUTURES COMBINED POSITIONS AS OF 01/06/09 |
————————————————————–| NONREPORTABLE
NON-COMMERCIAL | COMMERCIAL | TOTAL | POSITIONS
————————–|—————–|—————–|—————–
Long | Short |Spreads | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | Short
——————————————————————————–
(CONTRACTS OF $5,000,000) OPEN INTEREST: 700,792
COMMITMENTS
159,048 14,552 334,526 174,584 315,793 668,159 664,872 32,633 35,920

CHANGES FROM 12/30/08 (CHANGE IN OPEN INTEREST: -194,017)
-3,615 515 -113,968 -77,105 -84,341 -194,688 -197,793 671 3,777

PERCENT OF OPEN INTEREST FOR EACH CATEGORY OF TRADER
22.7 2.1 47.7 24.9 45.1 95.3 94.9 4.7 5.1

NUMBER OF TRADERS IN EACH CATEGORY (TOTAL TRADERS: 71)
24 12 31 32 25 67 59

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE - CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE Code-124601
OPTION AND FUTURES COMBINED POSITIONS AS OF 01/06/09 |
————————————————————–| NONREPORTABLE
NON-COMMERCIAL | COMMERCIAL | TOTAL | POSITIONS
————————–|—————–|—————–|—————–
Long | Short |Spreads | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | Short
——————————————————————————–
($10 X DJIA INDEX) OPEN INTEREST: 10,432
COMMITMENTS
2,952 3,713 12 5,694 2,258 8,657 5,983 1,775 4,449

CHANGES FROM 12/30/08 (CHANGE IN OPEN INTEREST: 478)
-128 -566 -15 2,033 -197 1,890 -778 -1,412 1,255

PERCENT OF OPEN INTEREST FOR EACH CATEGORY OF TRADER
28.3 35.6 0.1 54.6 21.6 83.0 57.4 17.0 42.6

NUMBER OF TRADERS IN EACH CATEGORY (TOTAL TRADERS: 27)
5 7 1 12 5 17 13

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVG- x $5 - CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE Code-124603
OPTION AND FUTURES COMBINED POSITIONS AS OF 01/06/09 |
————————————————————–| NONREPORTABLE
NON-COMMERCIAL | COMMERCIAL | TOTAL | POSITIONS
————————–|—————–|—————–|—————–
Long | Short |Spreads | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | Short
——————————————————————————–
($5 X DJIA INDEX) OPEN INTEREST: 69,087
COMMITMENTS
20,790 10,291 523 37,351 42,130 58,664 52,944 10,424 16,143

CHANGES FROM 12/30/08 (CHANGE IN OPEN INTEREST: 6,566)
-1,157 1,066 -214 7,563 1,346 6,191 2,198 375 4,368

PERCENT OF OPEN INTEREST FOR EACH CATEGORY OF TRADER
30.1 14.9 0.8 54.1 61.0 84.9 76.6 15.1 23.4

NUMBER OF TRADERS IN EACH CATEGORY (TOTAL TRADERS: 81)
27 13 4 27 24 55 40

INTEREST RATE SWAPS 10YR - CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE Code-246602
OPTION AND FUTURES COMBINED POSITIONS AS OF 01/06/09 |
————————————————————–| NONREPORTABLE
NON-COMMERCIAL | COMMERCIAL | TOTAL | POSITIONS
————————–|—————–|—————–|—————–
Long | Short |Spreads | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | Short
——————————————————————————–
(CONTRACTS OF $100,000) OPEN INTEREST: 31,020
COMMITMENTS
17,697 7,094 187 12,911 23,608 30,795 30,889 225 131

CHANGES FROM 12/30/08 (CHANGE IN OPEN INTEREST: 2,307)
2,082 -7 74 156 2,238 2,312 2,305 -5 2

PERCENT OF OPEN INTEREST FOR EACH CATEGORY OF TRADER
57.1 22.9 0.6 41.6 76.1 99.3 99.6 0.7 0.4

NUMBER OF TRADERS IN EACH CATEGORY (TOTAL TRADERS: 41)
12 10 4 12 14 26 26

INTEREST RATE SWAPS 5YR - CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE Code-247602
OPTION AND FUTURES COMBINED POSITIONS AS OF 01/06/09 |
————————————————————–| NONREPORTABLE
NON-COMMERCIAL | COMMERCIAL | TOTAL | POSITIONS
————————–|—————–|—————–|—————–
Long | Short |Spreads | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | Short
——————————————————————————–
(CONTRACTS OF $100,000) OPEN INTEREST: 50,166
COMMITMENTS
31,429 1,144 1,663 16,706 47,328 49,798 50,135 368 31

CHANGES FROM 12/30/08 (CHANGE IN OPEN INTEREST: -241)
-279 107 12 -53 -338 -320 -219 79 -22

PERCENT OF OPEN INTEREST FOR EACH CATEGORY OF TRADER
62.7 2.3 3.3 33.3 94.3 99.3 99.9 0.7 0.1

NUMBER OF TRADERS IN EACH CATEGORY (TOTAL TRADERS: 34)
11 8 3 11 8 23 18

——————————————————————————–

Updated January 9, 2009

Commodity Forecast World Supply and Demand

Monday, January 12th, 2009

The World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report provides USDA’s comprehensive forecasts of supply and demand for major U.S. and global crops and U.S. livestock. The report gathers information from a number of statistical reports published by USDA and other government agencies, and provides a framework for additional USDA reports.

Latest WASDE Report

The latest WASDE report is available in TXT and PDF.

2009 WASDE Release Dates:

* January 12, February 10, March 11, April 9, May 12, June 10, July 10, August 12, September 11, October 9, November 10, and December 10

Cotton Estimates
NOTE: A special EXCEL table for upland and extra long staple (ELS) cotton estimates will be posted by noon EST on WASDE report release days.

Meat Estimates
NOTE: Meat trade estimates for the May 2008 WASDE are adjusted to reflect revisions by USDA’s Economic Research Service.
See: http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/meattrade/revisions.htm.

Global warming could starve half the world by century-end

Monday, January 12th, 2009

Sydney, Jan 12 : Global warming will severely damage crop output in tropical regions and deprive half the world of food by the century-end, according to a study.

The population of the equatorial belt will bear the brunt of unprecedented shortages, home to the poorest on earth.

Currently three billion people live in the tropics and subtropics, and their number is expected to nearly double by the end of the century. The area stretches from the southern US to northern Argentina and southern Brazil, from northern India and southern China to southern Australia and all of Africa.

In the tropics, the higher temperatures can be expected to cut yields of the primary food crops, maize and rice, by 20 to 40 percent, the researchers said. But rising temperatures also are likely to play havoc with soil moisture, cutting yields even further.

“The stresses on global food production from temperature alone are going to be huge, and that doesn’t take into account water supplies stressed by the higher temperatures,” said David Battisti, University of Washington atmospheric sciences professor, co-author of the study.

He collaborated with Rosamond Naylor, director of Stanford University’s Programme on Food Security and the Environment, to examine the impact of climate change on the world’s food security.

By combining direct observations with data from 23 global climate models that contributed to Nobel prize-winning research in 2007, Battisti and Naylor determined there is greater than a 90 percent probability that by 2100 the lowest growing-season temperatures in the tropics and subtropics will be higher than any temperatures recorded there to date.

They used the data as a filter to view historic instances of severe food insecurity, and concluded such instances are likely to become more commonplace.

Those include severe episodes in France in 2003 and Ukraine in 1972. In the case of Ukraine, a near-record heat wave reduced wheat yields and contributed to disruptions in the global cereal market that lasted two years.

The serious climate issues won’t be limited to the tropics, the scientists conclude. As an example, they cite record temperatures that struck Western Europe in June, July and August of 2003, killing an estimated 52,000 people.

The summer-long heat wave in France and Italy cut wheat yields and fodder production by one-third. In France alone, temperatures were nearly 6.5 degrees Fahrenheit
above the long-term mean, and the scientists say such temperatures could be normal for France by 2100, said a Washington release.

“This is a compelling reason for us to invest in adaptation, because it is clear that this is the direction we are going in terms of temperature and it will take decades to develop new food crop varieties that can better withstand a warmer climate,” Naylor said.

— IANS