Trader’s pre-Christmas exit from the markets was notable today as grains and oilseed futures traded lazily in low volume. One analyst remarked on twitter “I just realized grain markets had been open again for 5 minutes. Price changes were not an indicator.” Indeed, there is no bullish or bearish story to encourage much trading or position taking in the grains complex. At the grain market close, crude oil is higher for the second straight day, with WTI up 20 cents and Brent 26 cents higher. Both the Dow and S&P 500 indexes are higher today but are not challenging their lifetime highs before the holidays. The CBOE VIX index is, of course, lower and under psychologically important value of 10. The dollar is essenti...
What You Need to Know Today: USDA reports are delayed until Tuesday due to the federal holiday on Monday. Over the weekend, President Trump announced a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. Russia warmly welcomed and confirmed this ceasefire by conducting more strikes against Ukraine. Specific...
On Saturday, 10 October, at a campaign rally in Clarksville, Tennessee, President Trump said that the U.S. and Mexico would come to terms on a new trade deal, and he said Canada does not need to be part of the deal. Trump called the coming agreement with Mexico “great” but gave no d...
Key Takeaways: The United States has steadily lost global wheat export market share since the 1970s, falling from the world's leading exporter to a projected fifth place in 2026/27. The rapid expansion of Black Sea wheat exports, driven by improved productivity and export infrastructure, has r...
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.