World Perspectives
feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Common Thread: Grading the Crystal Ball

Back on 5 January 2012 we found our crystal ball that we had misplaced tucked in the back of a closet. We dusted it off, and looked to see what it had to say about the future during the year of 2012. As we are nearing the end of the year, it is appropriate that we look to see how accurate those predictions turned out to be. Herewith is a summary of early predictions for 2012 measured by what actually happened and how we grade them.

We forecast that the South American drought, then in its early stages, would continue through at least February and that soybean and corn production in Brazil and Argentina would be hurt. This would cause an increase in demand from the U.S. We said that "futures prices will rally, but will not come close to...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

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Transportation and Export Report - 13 February 2026

U.S. grain transportation markets are slowly recovering from the shocks of bitter cold weather and low water levels on the Mississippi River System and from the surge in export demand. The latter is also causing strong rallies in ocean freight markets, particularly in the Atlantic basin. With g...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

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livestock

Livestock Round Up: Cattle Margins and Distribution

The recent February World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report forecast beef production to increase in 2026 due to greater slaughter of steers and heifers, increased cow slaughter, and heavier dressed weights, all of which will provide some relief to the beef market. Also, th...

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From WPI Consulting

Infrastructure investment due diligence

On behalf of a Canadian oilseed processer WPI's team provided market analysis, econometric modeling and financial due diligence in support of a $24 million-dollar investment in a Ukrainian crush plant. Consistent with WPI's findings, local production to supply the plant and the facility's output have expanded exponentially since the investment. WPI has conducted parallel work on behalf of U.S., South American and European clients, both private and public, in the agri-food space.

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