Yesterday’s Crop Conditions report featured worse-than-expected declines and sparked an overnight and early morning rally in CBOT futures Tuesday. Corn, wheat, and soybeans all jumped out to strong gains early in the day, but those gains faded through the afternoon for corn and wheat, with the latter commodity ending mostly lower for the day. Funds are still not interested in chasing rallies after having just exited a massive long position and with the general trend of world grain markets being that of moving towards more ample supplies. Production and yield risks certainly exist here in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere, but the situation is nowhere near as tight as it once was. Consequently, funds and commercials seem to be content st...
What You Need to Know Today: U.S. launches naval escort operations in the Strait of Hormuz as Iran attacks UAE oil infrastructure, escalating geopolitical risk and supporting energy and broader commodity markets Biofuel demand entering uncharted territory, with soyoil valuation increasingly di...
The Middle East is said to be undergoing a transformation as economic priorities transcend security concerns. This is evidenced by diversification away from oil and the UAE’s departure from OPEC. Meanwhile, the Palestine issue has been deprioritized, and Iran has emerged as more destabili...
All eyes are shifting to the Senate following the House passage of a farm bill last Thursday. Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman (R-Arkansas) is targeting the end of May or early June for a bill markup. According to Boozman, the House “going ahead and passing something was re...
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.