The markets (and most market analysts) are either all in or all out, and there has been no better evidence of this phenomenon than what has happened this year.The one thing that has become obvious in all of these markets is that there is no longer any middle ground. There are no degrees of bullish or bearish. The markets (and most market analysts) are either all in or all out. Corn is either going to $9.00 or $3.00. Soybeans are either going to $20.00 or below $10.00. No one cares where wheat will go until it happens. When times are bullish, we tend to see a contest among analysts to see who can be the most bullish. When the pendulum shifts back to the bearish side, like today, the contest is to see who can forecast the lowest prices.There...
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
Communicating importance of value-added products
Facing increasing pressure to quantify the value of export promotion efforts to investors, a U.S. industry organization retained WPI to develop a quantitative model that better communicated the importance of exports. The resulting model concluded that value-added meat exports contributed $0.45 cents per bushel to the price of corn, increasing support for that sector’s financial support of WPI’s client. In addition to serving the red meat industry with this type of analysis, WPI has generated similar deliverables for the U.S. soybean and poultry/egg industries.