Milling Wheat The Black Sea market was weaker last week in the absence of fresh demand. Consumers in the major destinations are more or less covered until the end of the current campaign. The new crop (August) Russian wheat offer is $30/MT below that of old crop (May). This big inverse gives consumers a strong incentive to hold minimum possible stocks at the junction between the two campaigns. Meanwhile, weather in southern Russia and Ukraine remains generally favorable for winter wheat development. The next rains there are expected to start next weekend. The market in Romania and Bulgaria is under pressure as farmers and local traders are liquidating the balance of their long positions. However, buying interests are difficult to find. T...
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.