The CBOT was generally weaker to start the week with heavy overnight trade pushing wheat and soybeans higher while corn was lower. Today was the last trading day before first notice day on the 30 November and traders were actively exiting December positions. Given the general length in the CBOT, that led to pressure on spot futures, though spreads were surprisingly firm through the day. Grains and oilseeds ended lower, however, as a stronger U.S. dollar and concerns about energy demand and pricing led to weak buying interest across commodity markets. Concerns about the Omicron COVID-19 variant persist but the messaging is now mixed, versus Friday’s bearish-only news. South African authorities are noting the Omicron variant pres...
What You Need to Know Today: There has already been a strong run of flash soybean sales announcements in recent weeks, but more than 1.4 MMT reported this morning is an exceptionally large single-day total with major implications for the market. If the sales to China and unknown destinations w...
On Friday, at 6:57 AM, President Donald Trump announced, via a social media post, a 90-day window during which up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef could be imported outside of tariff-rate quotas—a move aimed at bringing down costs for American consumers. This is the secon...
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.