World Perspectives

Food versus Populism; Food in Perspective; Beauty of the Algorithm; Tariffs as Panacea

Food versus PopulismPresident-elect Donald Trump’s selection of RFK, Jr. to oversee a food system that he wants to remake without chemicals and ultra-processing, or mega farms, or seed oils, is going to be both fun and excruciating to watch. The sheer mass of the food-sector battleship should be understood when considering such a course change. Cynics simplify food costs into corporate greed. Einstein liked making it simple but warned against simpler. There is no elegant solution for what is being suggested. The system is built to have millions of people make daily deliveries of over a trillion calories of safe food at the price points demanded, regardless of geographic location, and in various forms (shelf-stable, refrigerated, frozen...

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Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.5375/bushel, down $0.0675 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $6.0325/bushel, down $0.135 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.9625/bushel, down $0.045 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $313.5/short ton, down...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Crude Oil Rally and Crash Drives Whipsaw CBOT Action

The massive rally in energy markets remains the primary story underpinning ag markets. Front-month crude oil futures ripped higher overnight and traded above $100/brl for the first time since July 2022 before scoring an overnight high just shy of $120/brl. That strength pulled ag markets &ndash...

Process Standards as NTBs; Nazi Food

Process Standards as NTBs California’s Prop 12, which a House Agriculture Committee-passed farm bill is supposed to override, restricts the sale of pork and eggs in the state if not produced according to its restrictive standards. Such processing restrictions have long been used as nontar...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 26 Corn closed at $4.5375/bushel, down $0.0675 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Wheat closed at $6.0325/bushel, down $0.135 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soybeans closed at $11.9625/bushel, down $0.045 from yesterday's close.  May 26 Soymeal closed at $313.5/short ton, down...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Crude Oil Rally and Crash Drives Whipsaw CBOT Action

The massive rally in energy markets remains the primary story underpinning ag markets. Front-month crude oil futures ripped higher overnight and traded above $100/brl for the first time since July 2022 before scoring an overnight high just shy of $120/brl. That strength pulled ag markets &ndash...

Process Standards as NTBs; Nazi Food

Process Standards as NTBs California’s Prop 12, which a House Agriculture Committee-passed farm bill is supposed to override, restricts the sale of pork and eggs in the state if not produced according to its restrictive standards. Such processing restrictions have long been used as nontar...

energy

Iran War Hits Fertilizer Supply and Disrupts SMP Trade

Today the war in Iran has hit its 10th day. Iranian forces have sustained their retaliatory strikes on US military assets and other key infrastructure in Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The latest Iranian attacks on Bahrain have damaged a water desalination plant. Further, more than a...

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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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