The CBOT pushed higher overnight with corn notching a new four-month high and wheat futures extending their rally, but that strength quickly faded during the day session. One of the biggest drivers for the day’s declines was the failure of used cooking oil to be included in the Biden Administration’s list of new tariffs on Chinese products. That caused a sharp selloff in soyoil and dragged soybeans lower as well. Additional weakness came from upward revisions to the Brazilian corn and soybean crops from Conab, and from better-than-expected progress in Monday’s Crop Progress/Conditions reports. Funds were light net sellers for the day but were generally reluctant to add much back to the short positions they just recently ex...
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.
With no bullish surprise out of Beijing this week and good weather taking over many global crop areas, funds spent the past couple of days selling off the peak positions they had built. CNN’s Live Updates blared, “No signs Trump and Xi resolved any thorny challenges.” By...
The long-awaited meeting between President Trump and President Xi of China has concluded, and details are elusive, though Trump stated today that he and Xi made some “fantastic” trade deals. Both countries reported the meetings as a success, but that has more to do with positioning...
Key Takeaways Weather conditions in China and India are deteriorating and threatening the wheat crops. Drought conditions in China are not without precedent, and modeling efforts suggest a modest 1.5 percent yield reduction vs. 2025. India’s wheat yields are forecast to fall 3 perc...