Good afternoon and Happy New Year! It’s been a generally upbeat day on both Wall Street and West Jackson street in Chicago with U.S. equities and ag commodities higher. Currently, the Dow is up 58.5 points and the S&P is similarly higher by 17.25 points. The dollar index continues to head lower and is now 33.5 points lower and just under 92. The CBOE VIX index is 117 points lower at 9.88. Crude oil prices are essentially steady but still tinged with red as resolution to the Libyan pipeline eases supply concerns. Now, of course, the protest situation in Iran is raising bullish flags but is not sufficiently developed to encourage the market to add a risk premium. Corn March corn futures ended slightly higher today (u...
What You Need to Know Today: The corn and soybean markets closed slightly higher in low-volume trade. The wheat market was mixed, with HRW continuing its downward trek on improved moisture. As expected, the bearish cattle on feed report drove down cattle prices and pulled hogs down with it. Mi...
Monday, 25 May is a U.S. holiday, and both the markets and our office will be closed. Please note that the next issue of Ag Perspectives will be published on Tuesday, 26 May. The WPI staff wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend...
USDA’s monthly cattle on feed report was released today. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity amounted to 11.6 million head, 102 percent of last year. Source: USDA, WPI Placements were up, but part of that is attributable to persistent drought c...
From WPI Consulting
Forecasting developments in production agriculture
On behalf of a private U.S. agricultural technology provider, WPI’s team generated an econometric model to forecast the movement of concentrated corn production north and west from the traditional U.S. Corn Belt. WPI’s model has subsequently provided quantitative support to a multi-million-dollar investment into short-season corn variety development. WPI’s methodology included a series of interviews with regional grain elevators and seed consultants. Emphasizing outreach and communication with stakeholders who possess intimate sectoral knowledge – on-the-ground insights – is a regular component of WPI’s methodologies, made possible by WPI’s ever-growing network of industry contacts.