World Perspectives
feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

How Big is Big?

One might say that grain and soy futures markets are a function of relative sizes.  Fundamentally, their prices are moved by how big or small crop production may be, by how large or how limited demand may be and by the size of each year’s ending stocks. Said another way, the fundamental supply and demand factors that set up futures market price movement and direction each crop cycle are ultimately measured by size.  Of course, there are a myriad of different elements that work to determine the size of each crop, the amount of demand for crops, ending stocks and the like. The sizes involved are seldom viewed as absolutes. More often they are compared to the past history of the same set of sizes. By itself a 16 billion bu U.S...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Mixed to Lower on Safety Ahead of the Long Weekend

There was both a lot and not much going on this Friday the 13th in November. The fundamentals are unchanged, but some riskier positions were neutralized and some profits taken ahead of the long weekend, with the federal holiday closing down futures markets on Monday. Volume was generally lower,...

President's Day

In observance of Presidents’ Day, both the CME/CBOT and our offices will be closed on Monday, 16 February. The next edition of Ag Perspectives will be published on Tuesday, 17 February...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Mar 26 Corn closed at $4.3175/bushel, up $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Wheat closed at $5.4875/bushel, down $0.0375 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Soybeans closed at $11.33/bushel, down $0.0425 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Soymeal closed at $309.2/short ton, up $1.3...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: Mixed to Lower on Safety Ahead of the Long Weekend

There was both a lot and not much going on this Friday the 13th in November. The fundamentals are unchanged, but some riskier positions were neutralized and some profits taken ahead of the long weekend, with the federal holiday closing down futures markets on Monday. Volume was generally lower,...

President's Day

In observance of Presidents’ Day, both the CME/CBOT and our offices will be closed on Monday, 16 February. The next edition of Ag Perspectives will be published on Tuesday, 17 February...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

Mar 26 Corn closed at $4.3175/bushel, up $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Wheat closed at $5.4875/bushel, down $0.0375 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Soybeans closed at $11.33/bushel, down $0.0425 from yesterday's close.  Mar 26 Soymeal closed at $309.2/short ton, up $1.3...

Who is Paying for U.S. Tariffs?

Over the course of 2025, the average tariff rate on U.S. imports increased from 2.6 percent at the beginning of the year to 13 percent by year-end. It then spiked in April and May, when tariffs on Chinese goods were raised by 125 percentage points, before being reversed by 115 percentage points...

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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.

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