Several important agricultural reports will be released today (Friday) that will impact producers in Iowa. USDA Outlook Board Chairman Gerry Bange says the final production numbers report for 2012 will be issued at 11 a.m. Those numbers will be crunched to make new grain and livestock forecasts for supplies and prices. Bange says the reports include information gathered from around the globe.

“We’ll look very closely at the situation in Argentina, where people know there have been excessive rains there,” Bange said. “We’ll also look what’s going on in Brazil, Australia and South Africa. We’ll be looking at some of the final numbers coming out of China with regard to cotton production or whatever the issues are, we’ll be looking at all of those things.”

(Karla James/Radio Iowa)