The CBOT rallied sharply Tuesday with news that the Biden Administration will allow E15 ethanol use, news which buoyed corn futures. The Biden Administration broke with the Democrats’ typical ambivalence or distain towards ethanol and announced it will allow higher ethanol blend rates into gasoline to help fight rising fuel costs. The directive will permit E15 (15 percent blended ethanol) sales across the U.S. in time for the seasonal summer driving increase. Funds remained net buyers for the day with brokers estimating managed money traders added 6,000 contracts to their wheat positions and bought 10,000 contracts of corn. Funds were more cautious in soybeans and yesterday’s open interest data suggests short positioning...
What You Need to Know Today: The corn and soybean markets closed slightly higher in low-volume trade. The wheat market was mixed, with HRW continuing its downward trek on improved moisture. As expected, the bearish cattle on feed report drove down cattle prices and pulled hogs down with it. Mi...
Monday, 25 May is a U.S. holiday, and both the markets and our office will be closed. Please note that the next issue of Ag Perspectives will be published on Tuesday, 26 May. The WPI staff wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend...
USDA’s monthly cattle on feed report was released today. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity amounted to 11.6 million head, 102 percent of last year. Source: USDA, WPI Placements were up, but part of that is attributable to persistent drought c...
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.