World Perspectives
feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Index Funds Are Still Here

The last two or three years have been tough on commodity index funds. Most have lost money. However, rightly or wrongly, index funds are promoted as long-term investments in commodities for which demand will surely grow.All of us probably remember the so-called bubble in commodity prices in 2007 and 2008. Those were challenging times for producers and users of a wide variety of commodities including but not limited to gold, crude oil, grains, oilseeds, industrial metals and soft commodities. The severity of the challenges probably was best illustrated by the price action of the corresponding futures markets at the time. Futures prices for many commodities had begun to slowly edge higher in 2004 and 2005. They soared in 2007 and early 2008,...

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feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: CBOT Ends Mixed on Planting Pace, Weather, South American Outlook

The CBOT ended mixed on Tuesday as traders parsed through a slew of different data points. Perhaps the most influential news for the day was private crop analysts’ upward revisions to the Brazilian and Argentine corn crops, which combined with a strong start to planting the U.S. 2025 crop...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 25 Corn closed at $4.7575/bushel, down $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.5025/bushel, down $0.02 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Soybeans closed at $10.35/bushel, up $0.055 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Soymeal closed at $299.5/short ton, down $0.8 fr...

livestock

HPAI Waning This Spring

In 2022 and 2023, most HPAI cases affected producers during the spring and fall. The years 2024 and 2025 were different, however. The bulk of cases occurred during the winter months. Between December 2024 and February 2025, approximately 53.7 million egg layers, turkeys, and broilers were culle...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Market Commentary: CBOT Ends Mixed on Planting Pace, Weather, South American Outlook

The CBOT ended mixed on Tuesday as traders parsed through a slew of different data points. Perhaps the most influential news for the day was private crop analysts’ upward revisions to the Brazilian and Argentine corn crops, which combined with a strong start to planting the U.S. 2025 crop...

feed-grains soy-oilseeds wheat

Summary of Futures

May 25 Corn closed at $4.7575/bushel, down $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Wheat closed at $5.5025/bushel, down $0.02 from yesterday's close.  May 25 Soybeans closed at $10.35/bushel, up $0.055 from yesterday's close.  Jul 25 Soymeal closed at $299.5/short ton, down $0.8 fr...

livestock

HPAI Waning This Spring

In 2022 and 2023, most HPAI cases affected producers during the spring and fall. The years 2024 and 2025 were different, however. The bulk of cases occurred during the winter months. Between December 2024 and February 2025, approximately 53.7 million egg layers, turkeys, and broilers were culle...

The Future of the U.S. – China Trade War

The Washington International Trade Association held a conference today entitled, Phase 2: The Art of the Deal with China. Experts included former USTR officials, the former head of the U.S.-China Business Council, a former Obama Administration trade official, and the illustrious Asia expert Wen...

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From WPI Consulting

Accountability and a comprehensive approach to export programming

WPI’s team helped construct a strategic approach to develop, implement, and track promotional activities in 8 key regions across the globe for an agricultural export association. With continued progress measurement and strategic advisory services from WPI, the association has seen its ROI from investments in promotional programming increase by 44 percent over the past 5 years. Not only does this type of holistic approach to organizational strategy provide measurable results to track and analyze, it fosters top-down and bottom-up organizational accountability.

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