World Perspectives
biofuel farm-inputs

High-Cost Energy/Ag Inputs Forecast

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its winter fuels outlook last week, forecasting rising prices for several key agricultural inputs.    First, natural gas will continue pushing up nitrogen fertilizer prices. While there are a number of factors at play in fertilizer prices including supply and delivery, crop prices, trade investigations (as WPI covered here), and natural gas, with the latter leading the way higher.  EIA is basing its forecast on colder than expected weather this winter and predicts natural gas prices will continue to climb.  The front-month natural gas futures contract for delivery at the Henry Hub averaged $5.11/MMBtu during September and was $5.68/MMBtu to close last week.&nb...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Export Sales

Export Sales and Shipments for August 15-21, 2025  Wheat: Net sales of 579,800 metric tons (MT) for 2025/2026 were up 12 percent from the previous week, but down 10 percent from the prior 4-week average. Export shipments of 1,005,600 MT--a marketing-year high--were up noticeably from the p...

livestock

U.S. and Canadian Livestock Inventories

Yesterday, NASS and Statistics Canada released the 1 July cattle inventory in the two countries. Combined, the inventory was 106.1 million head, which was down to 99 percent of 2023 (the USDA suspended the July inventory report in 2024 due to budget constraints) and down to 92.4 percent of 2020...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.1/bushel, up $0.04 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Wheat closed at $5.29/bushel, up $0.0475 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.48/bushel, up $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Soymeal closed at $287.3/short ton, down $0.9 from yest...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Export Sales

Export Sales and Shipments for August 15-21, 2025  Wheat: Net sales of 579,800 metric tons (MT) for 2025/2026 were up 12 percent from the previous week, but down 10 percent from the prior 4-week average. Export shipments of 1,005,600 MT--a marketing-year high--were up noticeably from the p...

livestock

U.S. and Canadian Livestock Inventories

Yesterday, NASS and Statistics Canada released the 1 July cattle inventory in the two countries. Combined, the inventory was 106.1 million head, which was down to 99 percent of 2023 (the USDA suspended the July inventory report in 2024 due to budget constraints) and down to 92.4 percent of 2020...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Dec 25 Corn closed at $4.1/bushel, up $0.04 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Wheat closed at $5.29/bushel, up $0.0475 from yesterday's close.  Nov 25 Soybeans closed at $10.48/bushel, up $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Dec 25 Soymeal closed at $287.3/short ton, down $0.9 from yest...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Bears Control Grains while Bulls Dominate Livestock, but will the Trends Hold?

Trade in ag futures was a tale of two cities, with grains sinking into the red while the livestock markets rallied to fresh highs. Grains and oilseeds saw pressure from lackluster technical conditions and, for corn and wheat, expectations of ample domestic and global supplies. Soybeans saw weak...

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From WPI Consulting

Weighing in on strategic realignment

WPI’s team was retained by the governing board of a U.S. industry organization to review a decision, reached by vote, to invest significant assets into the development and management of an export trading company. WPI’s team conducted a formal review of this decision and concluded that the current level of market saturation would limit the benefits of the investment. Based on WPI’s analysis and recommended actions, the board subsequently reversed its decision and undertook a strategic planning effort to identify more impactful investments. On behalf of numerous clients, WPI has not only assisted in identifying strategic paths but also advised their implementation.

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