The CBOT was mostly higher for the day with the strength originating from the soybean market and spilling over into corn and soybeans. The soybean market derived its strength from new forecasts of hot, dry weather for the U.S. Midwest as the soybean crop approaches pollination and pod filling. The late July/early August heat is exactly what the futures market didn’t want to see as it pertains to supply implications, and funds were forced to cover their newly acquired record short position in soybeans. Corn, while it will be less impacted by the expected heat, also saw short covering as traders are more nervous about the heat shaving off bushels from the national average yield. Wheat futures were higher as well, though mostly because o...
What You Need to Know Today: The surprises from the USDA’s Acreage report were a sharp reduction in winter wheat area from the March Prospective Plantings estimates and a larger-than-expected increase in corn area. The Grain Stocks report offered relatively few surprises, but quarterly d...
On Monday, the Trump Administration suspended the countervailing duties (CVDs) on phosphate fertilizer imports from Morocco via Executive Order. The CVDs were imposed in 2021 by the Biden Administration and were subject to a routine five-year sunset review. According to the Agricultural and Foo...
Key Takeaways: High oleic soybeans produce oil containing 70–80 percent oleic acid, improving stability and eliminating the need for partial hydrogenation, which eliminates trans fats. There are three primary varieties of high oleic soybeans available commercially: Plenish, Vistive Gold,...
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.