The big picture for commodity markets is that imperfect weather and the lack of a peace deal in the Middle East are mandating that traders keep risk premia in prices. All other developments in ag futures stem in some way from these two factors, though the details of how, exactly, these factors are driving specific markets differ. For corn, the oil trade has largely worn off and now it’s Brazil’s weather driving the rally. For wheat, the situation in Iran is still driving fund buying, but now it’s coupled with weather and yield concerns for the U.S. Southern Plains. Soybeans have recently been somewhat immune to these impacts, but the effects of fund buying were clearly on display on Monday as futures rallied towards their...
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.