The CBOT offered a few surprises to end the week with the major grain markets ending higher with strong buying interest. Corn futures posted a 7-cent gain on Friday after threatening their seasonal lows on Thursday with funds and commercials viewing prices below $4.75 as a value-buying opportunity. Soybeans and soymeal jumped sharply higher too on the heels of soymeal export demand, daily “flash” export sales for soybeans, and lingering weather issues for parts of South America. Finally, wheat futures were slightly higher on bargain buying and commercial/end-user demand. Overall, Friday’s trade should set the CBOT up for continued strength early next week and this week’s gains in the livestock markets are apt to do t...
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.