It was all about trade today at the CBOT. The weekend news of a U.S.-Japan trade deal was quickly and eagerly digested by the hog and cattle markets while grains largely shrugged off the news. The trade deal, to be signed in September, will create opportunities for an additional $7 billion of U.S. agricultural trade to Japan, including corn, beef, pork, wheat, wine, and ethanol, in addition to the existing $14 billion in trade. Japan’s corn consumption has (in this analyst’s research) limited capacity to expand but comments that the country could become a re-exporter of U.S. corn are certainly enticing. However, with FOB Gulf corn at a $15-20/MT premium to South American supplies, the immediate export impacts are likely t...
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.