The CBOT was higher to end the week with short covering and modest fund buying occurring ahead of the three-day weekend. Trading was generally slow, and volumes were light as few are looking to add risk heading into a weekend where a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine will be the focus. Tensions are growing in eastern Ukraine as ethnic Russians are provoking the issue with a car bomb that was detonated Thursday evening. There has been speculation that Russia will use instability in Ukraine (instability that it is largely creating) as an excuse to invade the country. Heading into the weekend, funds are thought to have bought 5,000 contracts of wheat (mostly HRW) along with 8,000 contracts of corn and 6,000 contracts of soybeans. Mar...
Russian Grain Markets: 29 June-3 July 2026 The new marketing season has officially begun in Russia, although bearish sentiment has been concentrated in the southern regions closest to the Black Sea ports, where export demand has been weakest. Delays in grain deliveries to inland elevators have...
What You Need to Know Today: The hot, dry weather forecast continues to drive strength in grain futures with corn and soybeans hitting another day of strong gains. Monday’s Crop Progress and Conditions data were in line with market expectations and showed relatively few concerns for the...
Yesterday we wrote about the Q1 GDP numbers and the June employment reports in an article entitled Real GDP for Q1 Relying on AI Buildout, Held Back by Consumer Spending. That article mentioned that consumer spending had become a drag on GDP. Nonetheless, real GDP in Q1 was revised upward to 2...
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.