World Perspectives
farm-inputs

Fertilizer: No Room for Error

There are a lot of uncertainties in the market and ranging from the political like the war, to the mundane such as weather. One variable front and center is fertilizer. It is both essential to crop production, and an environmental externality. The goal of reducing its use has come squarely confronted by its essentialness as prices have risen. The price of nitrogen and wheat yields are highly correlated. However, the relationship of various fertilizers and output are highly variable over time. This is due to improvements in uptake efficiency, plus weather and soil variability. The complexities of its use and efficaciousness should give pause to any meat handed policy approach toward regulating it.  ...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Jul 25 Corn closed at $4.545/bushel, up $0.07 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.46/bushel, up $0.17 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Soybeans closed at $10.53/bushel, up $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Soymeal closed at $292.6/short ton, up $1.5 from yeste...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Wheat, Corn Rally on Weather Worries; Cattle Consolidate but Beef Rallies

The CBOT turned higher on Tuesday with wheat leading the way. Wheat turned higher overnight and started the broader CBOT rally as traders are increasingly concerned about the Black Sea weather, and, to a lesser extent, the EU and U.S. forecasts as well. Too, wheat saw more action as it is where...

Crunch Time; Miscellaneous

Crunch Time The “Big Beautiful Bill” providing the tax cut extensions sought by President Trump is supposed to be passed by the U.S. House by Memorial Day. The President told House Republicans today that they should not cut Medicaid, and they should not raise the cap on deducting st...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Jul 25 Corn closed at $4.545/bushel, up $0.07 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.46/bushel, up $0.17 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Soybeans closed at $10.53/bushel, up $0.0225 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Soymeal closed at $292.6/short ton, up $1.5 from yeste...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Wheat, Corn Rally on Weather Worries; Cattle Consolidate but Beef Rallies

The CBOT turned higher on Tuesday with wheat leading the way. Wheat turned higher overnight and started the broader CBOT rally as traders are increasingly concerned about the Black Sea weather, and, to a lesser extent, the EU and U.S. forecasts as well. Too, wheat saw more action as it is where...

Crunch Time; Miscellaneous

Crunch Time The “Big Beautiful Bill” providing the tax cut extensions sought by President Trump is supposed to be passed by the U.S. House by Memorial Day. The President told House Republicans today that they should not cut Medicaid, and they should not raise the cap on deducting st...

livestock

Red Meat Exports

In Q1, U.S. pork exports to Mexico grew by 11 percent year-over-year according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). That’s despite U.S. exports hitting a record $2.6 billion in 2024. According to USMEF, pork consumption in the country has increased more than 50 percent over the las...

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From WPI Consulting

Illuminating the value of technical research

On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.

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